SAKE
DJ Sake was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1970. By the age of 12 he had already started scratching, not knowing that this was to be the foundation for his future. In 1984, after watching the early hip hop movie ‘Beat Street’, learning the art of cutting and scratching became his obsession – Hip Hop had changed his world forever.
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A few years later, he founded Fresh Beats Productions together with the then unknown Ya Kid K (Technotronic / Pump Up The Jam); together they performed at the first Hip Hop gigs which had begun to emerge across Europe – from the Rap Attack in Amsterdam to Stalingrad in Paris, as well regular work in Germany. However there was, at that time a legendary club in Belgium called Funk You – a club known internationally for its good, loud funk music. In 1997, long before MTV had hit Europe, Tony McKenzie- all round entertainer and founder of Funk You employed Sake in the club. Within a year, with the help of Bigga and Safe P, Sake shaped himself into a one-man show. His love for hip hop helped to change the club scene and inspired many of today’s top European DJs.
In 1991, Sake became the DMC Champion for Belgium however whilst his interest in this style of DJing faded, his love for hip hop continued to grow and by 1995 Sake had built up some impressive skills - DJing, MCing, songwriting and producing. Meanwhile House music started to take over from Hip Hop / R&B as the main music of choice in European clubs. Many DJs made the switch as it was more lucrative financially, but Sake stayed true to his heart and secured a residency in a small room in Café Local, a large, trendy club in Antwerp.
In 1997, he soon attracted the attention of Rene Boonstra, owner of Mondial in Holland which together with Challenge were the first ‘superclubs’ in Europe happy to host urban music club nights. This was the perfect setting in which to express himself freely and reach out to a large volume of people on a weekly basis. Five months later, he joined forces with his long-time rival in the business – DJ Cosmic. The Supreme Team was founded in October 1997 and it wasn’t long before Sake & Cosmic became the most sought after DJ team in Europe, playing at all the big artist after-parties – from Jay-Z to P Diddy, Usher to Missy, J-Lo to Destiny’s Child – they did them all – including a memorable night with The Artist Formally Known As Prince. Together they filled many big clubs and venues, - from the Tunnel and Cheetah’s in New York, the Palladium in Cologne, London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Arena Stadium in Amsterdam, Salle Vagram, the Monkey Bar in Paris – right back to Who’s Who’ Land, Flanders Expo and Antwerp is Burning in Belgium. They even started an urban TV show called ‘The 411’ .
In 2005, DJ Sake went solo once again and keeps himself on top of the game and king of the clubs promoting the likes of Akon, Kid Capri, Tomekk, Cut Killer, Kid Capri, Abdel & DJ Jazzy Jeff, as well as developing younger, less experienced up and coming DJs in Europe. To date, Sake still continues to play at Mondial managing one of the most successful events there - ‘Hot Sunday Nights’ which celebrates it’s 11th Birthday in 2008.