Earl-E makes hip-hop in the purest form, drawing on an extensive vinyl collection of hip-hop, reggae, house, funk, soul, jazz and more to set the groove. 

His art comes from a place where expression is not only encouraged, but vital. 

From DJ's plugging into streetlights in the Bronx, to MC's pounding out beats on lunch tables, or writer's bombing trains to get their work seen, art always finds a way. 

DJ Earl-E doesn't use a MPC or a SP-12. 

He doesn't use Pro Tools or Logic, or the current industry standard for production. 

He is a Disc Jockey. 

A Samplist. 

An Audiophile and Artist. 

His tools over the years have included: 

turntables, 

records, 

tape loops, 

4-track recorders, 

drums, 

drum machines, 

samplers, 

ADAT's, 

DAT's, 

microphones, 

effects pedals, 

and bootleg computers. 

DJ Earl-E doesn't make one-hit wonders, he makes ALBUMS, each one crafted from concept to cover art. 

He draws you in like the genius of a master painter, then weaves a story that captivates like a great novelist, each chapter building on the previous, yet a separate trip all it's own. 

Understanding that the details add up to a whole, he pays attention to the flow, hoping that you'll never have a desire to press "skip" on your CD player. 

DJ Earl-E is the exotic Wax Gardener, daily tending the soil of his vast vinyl library. 

Using cuttings and harvesting sonic seeds, he propagates new and beautiful blooms and interesting arrangements. 

He calls it hip-hop, but presents it in the spirit of what is was before it was called hip-hop, ya dig?

Yeah, but can he rock a party? 

DJ Earl-E has been doing that, and then some, since he got his first set of 1200's back in '92. 

Since his start at KRUI 89.7 FM at the U of Iowa, he has brought his flavor to cities all over, from First Ave. in Minneapolis, to The Whisky a GoGo in Hollywood. 

He has been producing and working with MC's for nearly as long, opening for acts like Run DMC and Slick Rick, and throwing down at underground spots like Project Blowed in Los Angeles. 

He is currently playing and recording with Rage Area, a dubtronica band out of Venice, CA. 

Earl-E has released three solo albums also: 

Breaka Don (1998), 

Environ Mentalz (2003), 

and Wax Onomatopoeia (2009), 

and produced Life Sentences with long-time collaborator, Prose, in 2007. 

He also has collaborated with the band Soul Scribes, recording Noisemaking 101 in 2009, and appeared on two Tack-Fu albums, Yen and Slang (1997) and Chained Reaction (2000).