DJ Spanish Fly

Long before Memphis rap reshaped global hip-hop, and before the sound of the underground South travelled from cassette decks into clubs, car stereos and eventually the DNA of modern rap music – there was DJ Spanish Fly: the man widely recognized as the Godfather of Memphis rap.

His raw, bass-heavy tapes circulated hand-to-hand across Tennessee and the wider South throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, helping define the city’s distinctive street sound, years before the music industry knew what was happening in Memphis. Initially, their greatest impact remained in Memphis itself. Future stars such as DJ Paul, Juicy J, DJ Squeeky, and other young local artists studied his tapes, inspired by production techniques nobody else in the city had understood yet.

However, over the last decade, DJ Spanish Fly and the pioneering Memphis sound he helped create, has been rediscovered by a new global audience of engaged electronic music fans through tastemakers such as synth-collector and producer Legowelt and his seminal Memphis Rap mixes, Crystallmess, Berlin-based experimental electronic label PAN and contemporary fashion designer Kiko Kostadinov as well as NTS Radio where he holds a monthly show & Boiler Room who hosted his come-back set at Primavera Festival in 2022.