- D. Painter

DJ KLEVER is one of a very small club.  Just as Olympic Champions runners or swimmers don't transition into the professional football league it is rare to see the best turntablists (competition trick DJ's) transition well into the club or radio professions.  So what makes Klever and his former Allies Crew members, Craze & A-Trak, so special that they can take on the Hip-Hop and Dance worlds?

Starting as a teen in the Southern mecca known as Atlanta, Klever, a skater with a love for drumming, took on DJing and soon was obsessed with practicing juggling and scratch routines.  In 2000 he won the American DMC competition and represented the US in the World Championships, a feet he repeated in 2001.  In his post competition days he teamed up with Miami based DMC Champ, Craze, with whom he released a series of Break Beat albums and began gravitating towards dance music with his eye on a world club audience.  As the Electro scene began to rise from the underground a door opened for more aggressive and non traditional dance DJ's to begin getting the attention typically reserved for Trance and Techno mixers.

With titles under his belt and a tour schedule that keeps him guessing what time zone he's in, there is still one hurdle left to jump before reaching the acceptance he desires, producing music.  On the verge of the release of his new material he took some time to step away from his family while on some much needed down time to talk to us about his battle for recoginition, his philosophy on the game, and he reflects on the recent passing of celebrity American DJ, DJ AM.