Craze

Aristh Delgado, professionally known as DJ Craze, is a Miami-based DJ and turntablist who works across hip hop, Miami bass and drum and bass. He was born in Managua, Nicaragua on November 19, 1977. At age three he left Nicaragua with his family, spent a short time in San Francisco, and then settled in Miami, Florida, where he currently lives.

Craze came up as a turntablist and scratch DJ. He is best known for technical turntable work and live DJ sets rather than a large catalogue of studio albums. His competitive breakthrough is concrete: he won the DMC World DJ Championships three years running, 1998, 1999 and 2000 — a rare consecutive hat-trick that foregrounded his precision cutting and beat juggling on a global stage.

As a DJ his mixing style is highly technical and performance-led. He combines rapid cuts, tight flares and beat-juggling between decks, frequently using multi-deck setups and quick crossfader work to transform hip hop and Miami bass material into high-tempo club sets. Those techniques translate when he plays drum and bass: he adapts scratch patterns and juggling to faster tempos, keeping tight, percussive edits on breaks and sharp rhythmic stabs between tracks. Signature elements in his sets are rapid-fire scratch sequences, precise timing on the downbeat, and multi-layered juggling that interrupts and reshapes break patterns rather than simple long blends.

Although better known for DJing and turntablism, Craze has released recorded material and run labels. His albums include Crazee Musick (1999) and Scratch Nerds (2002). He has released and operated labels such as Cartel and Slow Roast Records, through which he has put out music aligned with his mix-oriented, bass-forward aesthetic. Those releases document his crossover between hip hop, Miami bass rhythms and elements that suit drum and bass DJs — short edits, percussive emphasis and punchy low-end hits.

Specific, verifiable career highlights are straightforward: the three consecutive DMC World DJ Championship titles (1998–2000), the two named albums (Crazee Musick, 1999; Scratch Nerds, 2002), and his activity running Cartel and Slow Roast Records. Each of those items traces how his role as a turntablist fed into recorded projects and label work rather than a traditional producer-led discography.

Public statements naming individual artistic influences are limited in available sources. What is verifiable is the mix of genres he operates in — hip hop and Miami bass techniques inform his approach to drum and bass sets — and his profile as a turntablist who applies scratch and juggling vocabulary to dancefloor tempos. He remains based in Miami and continues to be identified by those factual touchpoints: Aristh Delgado, DJ Craze, DMC champion (1998–2000), albums Crazee Musick (1999) and Scratch Nerds (2002), and operator of Cartel and Slow Roast Records.