Fast Facts about the legend Derrick May
born April 6, 1963
There is no doubt that Derrick May is a living legend. As a member of the Belleville Three, along with Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, he helped create a movement still influencing people today. As an early Chicago house pioneer, he was influenced by the Electrifying Mojo radio broadcasts and DJing style, of the Electrifying Mojo radio station.
With many worldwide successes, May is also an only child raised single-handed by his mother in Detroit. After completing his educational journey, he gained a place at a university with a football scholarship - but he soon tired of this and retreated to Detroit to work in an arcade! This proves that no matter how big someone is, you never honestly know where they came from.
It was May's understanding that a club he could call his own led to the founding of the Music Institute with the rest of the Deep Space family. As Detroit's underground music community developed, May, Atkins, and Saunderson DJ'ed there alongside Eddie "Flashin" Fowlkes and Blake Baxter.
May became one of the first American techno artists to tour England due to his 1987 single Strings of Life. In addition to remixing for many pop acts, he was also heavily recruited by straight dance acts seeking attention in clubs. Around the turn of the century, May suffered a series of setbacks.
At one point, May considered forming a Kraftwerk-styled techno supergroup named Intelex with Atkins and Saunderson. However, May's contract with Trevor Horn's ZTT Records fell through, and he later declined several invitations from major labels. This came as a shock to many. Instead of riding the fame train, he only accepted what he believed in.
May has also fallen under the aliases of Mayday, and Rhythim is Rhythim. Sometimes it is better to change your identity from time to time - he most certainly proved it. He has ranked somewhere on the list of most indecisive individuals; I wonder why!
May lived in Amsterdam for some time but returned to Detroit when Atkins and Saunderson opened the Music Institute, a dance venue. As a result of its success, Richie Hawtin, Stacey Pullen, and Carl Craig have become DJs and music producers.
A free Memorial Day weekend event, Focus Detroit Electronic Music Festival, was organized by May in downtown Detroit in 2000. Over 1.5 million people attended the festival, including techno music fans from several countries.
While DJing others' music on late-night radio shows like WJLB's Street Beat, May also began purchasing electronic synthesizers and drum machines and recording the rough-hewn tracks that would define techno.
While techno thrived in Detroit, it was slow to catch on in the rest of the country. Many of the labels' sales came from Europe and the rest of the world. May and his partners soon had to jet overseas on weekends to entertain audiences and sell records to stores and distributors hungry for their music.