Chip E

Chip E – one of the original house music dons from Chicago.

Chip E started DJing in Chicago in the early 1980s before beginning to produce his own tracks. When Chip released his ‘Jack Trax’ EP in 1985, it was pretty much the first records to mention the keywords ‘jack’ and ‘house’ in the fledgling new genre that was setting the dancehalls of the Windy City alight. With its neo chipmunk vox, ’It’s House’ revelled in its metronomic simplicity, while ‘Time To Jack’ precipitated the jackin’ craze that saw dancers jackin’ right across Chicago and beyond.

Being locked into a contract by renowned Chicago label DJ International limited his output during the rest of the 80s, although he did go on to co-produce Frankie Knuckles’s first record, and was later hailed by Carl Cox as a crucial house music pioneer. Coxy went on to collaborate with Chip on a ‘Time 2 Jack’ update and book him for some of his parties. It was at his ADE party a few years ago that Jack Said What’s Steve Mac and Carl Loben first met Chip, and became friends instantly.