Roy Davis Jr., born in L.A. and raised in Chicago, is in no uncertain terms a legendary DJ, Producer and Remixer, and one of the key pioneers of Chicago House music. His 30-year career has contributed to defining Electronic music of today.
Davis was introduced to the world of dance music by the likes of DJ Pierre, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Marshall Jefferson and Lil' Louis in the late 1980s. Long before this however, he was introduced to the decks when he was 13, mixing breaks, Italo Disco and then years later, House, Techno and Acid.
In 1993, while still an athlete in college, Roy Davis Jr. decided the leave the familiarities of Chicago behind to become an A&R and record producer alongside long time neighbourhood friend, DJ Pierre for Strictly Rhythm in New York. While still based in Chicago, Davis Jr. went out to New York on a weekly basis, and subsequently went on to start his Strictly Rhythm sub-label, Red Cat Records.
A record which has risen to prominence over the past three decades, and remains one of the records hailed by many as helping kick-start the UK garage scene, ‘Gabriel’, was released in 1996, written and produced by Roy Davis Jr. alongside singer-songwriter Peven Everett. It would be released by Large Music and then XL Recordings. The record reached the top UK Charts and is still celebrated around the world as one of the most recognisable house tracks and bass-lines of all time.
With the success of ‘Gabriel’ today part of Roy’s legacy, he went on to release records such as ‘About Love’ and ‘Rock Shock’, which was released on one half of Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter’s, label, as well as ‘All I Do’, which has become one of Davis’ many cult classics.
As one of the creators of the house music sound out of Chicago, Roy Davis Jr. holds this rich heritage close to his heart, as expressed in one of his more recent tracks, ‘The Untold Story', released in 2018 on The 312 House Society compilation on his Creative Limited label.
Roy Davis Jr. has not only focused his career on his own solo productions, but also a number of collaborative projects, including his work with Phuture and Marshall Jeffersons Umosia; his collaborative alias project, The Believers with Steve Graeber, in which he saw the success of ‘Who Dares To Believe In Me’ released on Strictly Rhythm; and his production and remix works for the likes of Lil’Louis ‘Club lonely’, Morcheeba, Seal, Terry Dexter, Mary J. Blige, Eric Benet / Faith Evans, Patti LaBelle, Christina Milian, Modjo ‘Lady’ and more recently, Elton John favourite, Winston Surfshirt and Rudimental. He has also scored music for the Alvin Ailey Broadway Musical, 'Grace’.
n 2019 at the annual Chicago Festival, Chosen Few, Roy Davis Jr. was inducted into the Frankie Knuckles DJ Hall of Fame, where more than 50,000 house music fans witnessed and celebrated this milestone of his career.
Throughout his career, Roy Davis Jr. has performed in some of the most notable clubs around the world including Ministry of Sound (London), Fabric (London), Le Bain (New York), Smartbar (Chicago), Sound (Los Angeles), Club Gold (Tokyo), Club Yellow (Tokyo), Wildchild (Ibiza) and festivals such as Bestival (UK), Festival No 6 (UK) and Back To The Source (Morocco) to name just a few. During his career, Roy Davis Jr. has DJ’d in every continent other than Antarctica.