Hear the DJ Get Wicked

DJ Wick-It's phone is ringing. It's been popping off ever since we first met up for a bit of Sunday afternoon crate-diggin' at The Groove in East Nashville. The plan is to talk about his latest mixtape and the one-year anniversary of Mashville, his monthly residency at The End. There have been a steady stream interruptions already: phone calls galore and random scenesters that stop by to say what's up. Wick-It is a man about town, an artist on the rise. And alas, your correspondent has a bit of trouble focusing on anything when surrounded by thousands of records that are ripe for the rummaging—but that's why I'm a Wick-It fan in the first place. There is a truly special bond between all those afflicted with acute musical ADD, and Wick-It has got it bad.

In the seven years since Wick-It began rocking the ones and twos, he's developed quite a following among the heads of Nashville's hip-hop underground. He's been juggling regular, low-key gigs at outsider outposts like Café Coco and Liquid Smoke (frequently accompanied by co-conspirators like DJs Kidsmeal and Eticut, MC 24/7 and Spoken Nerd) while steadily rocking bigger shows at established joints like The End and Exit/In. Pulling from the vast array of American pop sounds, Wick-It has found a formula that rocks the nerd and the newbie alike. Imagine a happy dream world where Herb Alpert and Timbaland brush elbows with Tool and Biz Markie, a world full of reverie and familiarity for the normal folks but still obscure enough that the geeks feel tough.

"I want to strike a balance between what works and what's fun," he says, as we flip through the soul section, shooting the shit about the classic turntablist film Scratch and waxing rhapsodic about Herbie Hancock's insanely influential tune "Rockit." He explains the evolution of Mashville, his genre-smashing monthly showcase. It began as somebody else's party where he and "Jesse [Kidsmeal] used to just show up...and chop it down." Now, it's a more intensive promotional preoccupation. And as the gang of residents has slowly been whittled down to a core of Wick-It, Kidsmeal and "the muscle behind the hustle," DJ Orig, the audience has kept growing, with the last installment seeing the best attendance yet.

This is how the game has worked since Wick-It relocated here from Owensboro, Ky.—a steady progression from one step to the next, from guitarist to DJ to producer and, occasionally, rapper. Wick-It is that rare breed of hip-hopper, a humble kid with an incredible sense of humor who makes some extremely affable art for good-time get-togethers. Whether it's the Ennio Moricone-meets-Cerrone Italo-electro of "Warp Zone," the self-deprecating hair-metal salute of "Glam Rock Baby" or one of his stellar mash-ups, Wick-It possesses a goofy charm that is best explained by the title of his latest album: Serious Fun. It's an easygoing vibe and devotion to the fundamental principles of the party that keep his dance floors full and his fans foaming at the mouth. Wick-It remembers what most in his field forget—it's not about flossin', it's about fun.

We continue to rap as his stack of vinyl grows. He's involved in a new project, The Billy Goats, that's a collaboration with MC 24/7 and MC Iller (otherwise known as Dick Miller, the singer for local indie pop outfit The Darling Hearts) that promises to bridge a gap between two of the city's more insulated scenes. Wick-It also explains his idea for an obscurity-only listening party, where the city's best DJs would bring out their strangest, least-danceable records for an evening of weirdo one-upmanship, which may be the coolest thing we've ever heard.

Eventually it dawns on us that the afternoon is almost gone, and our bank account will be empty if we don't stop searching the stacks soon. The irresistible draw of recorded music has roped us both in again, and Wick-It is with me all the way. As we wrap up our purchases and say our goodbyes, it dawns on me why I've been following this kid's career for so long: The dude is serious fun.