DJ Funk
1 mix · 1996
From Chicago, Illinois
Biography
Charles Chambers, known as DJ Funk, was born January 25, 1971, in Chicago, and cut his teeth on the Midwest underground rave circuit in the early 1990s. Working alongside artists including Traxman, DJ Assault, and DJ Deeon, he pioneered ghetto house, a raw, fast, minimal sound blending Miami bass, house, and hip-hop, releasing a run of influential EPs on Dance Mania throughout the decade, including Street Traxx II, the release that first coined the genre's name.
His 1999 mix album, Booty House Anthems, was distributed nationally and sold over a million copies, and he later came to own Dance Mania itself, founding his own label, Funk Records, in 2006. Jeff Mills included his tracks in a landmark 1996 mix at Tokyo's Liquid Room, and Chambers was later name-checked by Daft Punk on "Teachers" and remixed for Justice's Waters of Nazareth EP.
DJ Funk died of cancer on March 4, 2025, at age 54.
