South Rakkas Crew's Dennis "Dow Jones" Shaw says he pulls down hefty checks for the sonic backdrops (aka "riddims") he crafts for dancehall stars like Beenie Man, Elephant Man and Bounty Killer. Previously, he teamed with old pal and current SRC-mate Alex G. to build beats for a little band called 'NSYNC.
Shaw will be spinning South Rakkas Crew beats and records by other artists Saturday at Crowbar.
In the studio, he and his crew have also remixed tracks by Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears. So, yeah, Shaw's finances are probably straight. But that wasn't exactly the case when he first dubbed himself "Dow Jones." "I said it and everyone laughed — but liked it," Shaw says from his home in Orlando. "That was back in the day when Puff Daddy, Biggie Smalls and Bad Boy were big, and you needed a name that's over the top and means money."
Shaw became Dow Jones while living in Toronto, where the Jamaican native was raised. As a youngster, the now-30something DJ/producer began making beats on an old-school sequencer called the Notator 2.0, a popular model in the late '80s. "I started DJ'ing as a kid," Shaw recalls. "I used to hang out with the Kilowatt Sound Crew. I was 13 years old, traveling in the back of the rental truck, carrying the equipment. We used to play basement parties and clubs. If the DJ got bored, he'd throw one of us a bone and give one of us a chance on the turntables."
After graduating high school, Shaw enrolled at Harris Institute for the Arts in Toronto. He majored in audio engineering and management. The turntabilist already had his eye on the business end of making beats. "It's always been something I've loved, it's in my blood," Shaw says. "But when I enrolled at Harris, that's when I said this is what I want to do."
Shaw is quick to point out, "I'm not a musician. Alex is definitely more the musician, but he had no formal training. I could sit down at a piano and play something I've written, but I can't read sheet music — no way. Thank God for computers."
Shaw and Alex started working together in Toronto, and it would be Alex who lured Shaw to Orlando. In 2000, Alex relocated to Florida to do production work for the bass/rap act 95 South (responsible for the 1993 novelty smash "Whoot, There It Is"), which led to him working with a freshly formed boy band named 'NSYNC. In two years, Alex G. had established himself and sent for his buddy, Shaw, who then moved to Orlando to be Alex's manager. "[Alex] came down to work with 95 South while we were in the middle of a project," Shaw says. "He was going to be gone a week, then three weeks, then a month. I was like, 'Dude, we gotta finish this thing.' But he was like, 'Dude, you gotta leave Toronto.'
"It took two years for him to convince me," Shaw says. "Alex did remixes for 'NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears. He said, 'Come down and manage my company,' and I set up shop. I was working three jobs to be able get in the studio to record stuff in Toronto; I was struggling up there. But it's been full-time in Orlando since day one."
As Shaw built his beatmaker chops, he wanted to branch out into working with dancehall artists. As a native Jamaican, he's been passionate about that musical style all his life. Alex was down for the collaboration. "I make really raw beats, and he polishes it up," Shaw says. "Everything we do is fresh and new. We didn't go in there and try and copy anything in Jamaica or dancehall."
Although Alex and Shaw collaborate closely in the studio, this is Shaw's gig. He'll be joined by a hype man who goes by "Agony" on Saturday in Ybor City. Attendees can expect Shaw to spin South Rakkas cuts in the beginning and then wing it from there, depending on the crowd. Whereas in the studio he crafts beats meticulously, the DJ gig forces Shaw to make decisions on the fly. "I see what it looks like, what they want, see how people react," he says. "Some crowds want hip-hop, and then I run with it. Some want all dance or more of an electronic thing. I just read the crowd. It's really hard to prepare beforehand; every place is different."
So manning the turntables is more exciting than being in the studio?
"It's stressful," Shaw says. "I wouldn't call it exciting when you're standing up there and people are saying, 'Entertain me.'"
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2008.