Darren Emerson (born 30 April 1971, Hornchurch, England) is a dance music DJ and previously a member of UK electronic outfit Underworld.
Emerson began mixing hip-hop records at the age of 14 and by 16 was DJing regularly at local venues in Essex. He began to explore house music and quickly acquired a reputation as one of the top British DJs - demand for his services saw him playing at clubs such as The Milk Bar, Limelights and Venus.
In 1990, Martin Prudence, brother-in-law of Rick Smith, introduced Emerson to Karl Hyde who invited him to become the third member of Underworld. 1993's dubnobasswithmyheadman was their commercial breakthrough onto the then burgeoning British electronic dance scene. While working on their second album, 1996's Second Toughest in the Infants, they released the single "Born Slippy .NUXX", which was an instant hit following its inclusion on the soundtrack to the movie Trainspotting. Emerson also emerged as a much sought-after remix talent, with remixes for such diverse acts as The Chemical Brothers and Björk.
Darren parted ways with Underworld in 2000 to concentrate more on his solo career as a DJ and remixer and also as a label owner. "Global Underground: Uruguay" (2000) and "Global Underground: Singapore" (2001) soon followed on the Global Underground label, with "Episode 1" on his new Underwater label following in 2002. He continued to release tracks by himself and new artists on the Underwater record label and eventually gained its own night at super club Pacha, Ibiza alongside fellow DJ Erick Morillo, to hold a joint Underwater/Subliminal Records night. During its second summer at Pacha, his Underwater Records night won 'House Event' of the summer at the DJ Magazine awards. After its success, Emerson decided to host its own full night at Pacha, Ibiza which became an extremely popular night on the island.
Over the past few years, Emerson has been busy touring the world whilst preparing for his own solo debut album. Rarely playing in the UK apart from his bi-monthly resident slot at London club The End, he still finds time to release an annual Underwater Records compilation every summer. In 2007 he performed at Sensation White in the Amsterdam Arena.
In 2008, Darren released another compilation for Global Underground - Bogota. In 2010 he launched a new record label DETONE, on which he has so far released the club tracks Gracelands and Decisions.