Todd Terry is a US house DJ, producer and remixer from Brooklyn, New York, born in 1967. He works in electronic and house music and has been active since the late 1980s, when he helps shape a club-oriented strain of house with a recognisable production style.

Career

From the late 1980s, Terry produces and performs music that draws on classic disco, Chicago house and hip-hop-influenced sampling. His early work is widely regarded as important in the development of progressive house and modern deep house. He normally performs on four turntables and often plays his own material.

He becomes known for a number of tracks and remixes that circulate widely in club culture. His original productions include “Weekend” and “House Is a Feelin’”, while “Something Goin’ On” and “Keep on Jumpin’” both reach the UK Top 10 and also hit number one on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The latter tracks feature vocals by Jocelyn Brown and Martha Wash. He also works with Shannon on the 1997 hit “It’s Over Love”.

Terry is also associated with two of the most noted crossover remixes of the house era: “I’ll House You” by the Jungle Brothers and “Missing” by Everything But the Girl. In 1999 he releases Resolutions, a record that incorporates drum and bass elements.

Aliases and groups

He records under several aliases, including Swan Lake, Orange Lemon, Royal House, Amy Studt, Black Riot, CLS, Dredd Stock, House of Gypsies, Limelife, Hard House, Tyme Forse and Gypsymen. He is also linked with Freestyle Orchestra, Dream Team and Todd Terry All Stars. The name Masters at Work also appears among his aliases in the available information, though it is also identified with Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez and “Little” Louie Vega.

Labels

Terry is associated with Big Management Ltd., Freeze Records, Loudhouse Records and Sound Design.

Style and recognition

He is known for a sound built from samples and for an approach that combines house with disco, Chicago influences and hip-hop attitude. He earns a reputation as one of the best-paid DJs in Europe and the United States, and among fans he is sometimes called Todd the God and related variants of that nickname.

Other appearances

In 2004, “Weekend” by the Todd Terry Project appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the house radio station SF-UR.