A Trak

Alain Macklovitch, known professionally as A-Trak, was born in Montreal, Quebec, on March 30, 1982. He developed an interest in music at the age of ten, specifically in scratching records. Macklovitch quickly became proficient, finding mentors in local Montreal DJs Kid Koala and DJ Devious.

His career significantly began in 1997 when he won the DMC World DJ Championship at the age of 15, becoming the youngest and first Canadian champion. Between 1997 and 2000, he won five World Championships, including titles from DMC, ITF, and Vestax. During the late 1990s, he co-founded Audio Research, a Montreal-based record label, with his brother Dave and Willo Perron. This label released hip hop and turntable records until its official dissolution in 2011. He also played at the first Coachella Music Festival in 1999 and was a member of the acclaimed DJ crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz.

A significant turning point came in 2004 when Kanye West recruited him as his tour DJ. For three years, A-Trak toured globally with West, performing at major events like MTV specials and the Grammy Awards. He also contributed scratches to West’s albums “Late Registration” (2005) and “Graduation” (2007), notably on the 2005 single “Gold Digger.” In 2007, he co-founded Fool’s Gold Records with Nick Catchdubs, an independent record label credited with launching the careers of artists like Kid Cudi and Danny Brown. His collaborative project Duck Sauce, with Armand Van Helden, gained international recognition with their 2010 hit “Barbra Streisand,” earning a Grammy nomination in 2012. Throughout the 2010s, he cemented his status as a prominent figure in electronic dance music, regularly performing at major festivals and founding the Goldie Awards in 2017 to celebrate DJing.