dj rootsqueen: QUEEN ADDIE

Annah Carlson, better known as Dj Rootsqueen, is a seasoned veteran behind the decks with 12 years of experience under her bun. Atlanta, Ga. is her home base but she has rooted her name throughout the South, Midwest, and the Eastern coast. Rootsqueen has held many residencies at some of the more notable hotspots in downtown Atlanta such as Django, the Royal, and Apache Café. Her current endeavors include a solo mixtape project titled “Queen Majesty” (expected for release August 1), a mixtape “duet” with Dj Lord of Public Enemy titled “Natural Born Killahs”, and a forthcoming business collaboration with D4L Records titled “Born Angels”. This project will focus and feature Atlanta’s finest female talent including djs, models, vocalists, dancers, designers, stylist, Etc. . . .Twelve years doing anything is commendable. That’s when this 28 year old Florida native began djing; 12 years ago, at the age of 16. Originally named Manga, Rootsqueen began djing dancehall oriented raggamuffin (UK jungle). Before she was 17 she was djing in clubs longside mentionable UK drum and bass talent such as Ray Kieth, Dazee and Chigaboo, and Rabbit in the Moon. When Rootsqueen relocated to Atlanta in 2001, she was immediately crowned with a residency at Nomenclature, a very popular spot in its heyday. Nomenclature allowed for a lot of creative freedom and Rootsqueen (still “Manga”) began playing dub, lounge, hip hop and reggae.Shortly afterward, Rootsqueen became an official Konkrete Jungle resident, an affiliation which she is proud to bear. She is still revered to this day from Hive to Survival Crew and is still involved with Konkrete Jungle alumni. Under the name “Manga”, Rootsqueen played, planned, or booked talent such as Bad Company, Ed Rush and Optical, Andy C, Technical Itch, Pish Posh, etc. . . Nevertheless, Roots never let go of her insatiable desire for reggae, hip hop, and the roots from which it came. In 2003, she quit playing jungle all together and gave all her jungle records away. According to Rootsqueen,“I turned my back on jungle because I wasn’t feeling the direction in which it was going anymore. The new style of jungle (drum and bass) lost its reggae and hip hop influence. That is what I originally liked about it. If it doesn’t have an amen, it’s not true to form. It made me feel cornered as a d j. I gave it a good run, but I had to move on and grow as a person and as a performer.”The following year allowed for Rootsqueen to reinvent herself and re-emerge as “the 45 Queen”. During an 8 month Hiatus in Florida, she began djing out again at several “root down” events and amazed people with her vast knowledge of soul, funk, rare grooves, dub, ska, and rock steady. During these shows, Rootsqueen (45 Queen at this point) caught the eye of Tampa’s Zulu Nation Chapter, who were longtime friends of hers. A couple weeks later, she was studying infinity lessons as a card carrying Zulu Queen. One night at a party, one of them bigged Roots up on the mic as “Rootsqueen” and it stuck like glue. By late 2005 Rootsqueen was getting booked for both reggae and hip hop events from Florida to Detroit. Thanks to myspace, House Shoes (J. Dilla’s d j RIP) and his band booked Rootsqueen for 3 shows in the Midwest area (Detroit, Chicago, and Kalamzoo). “When I went to Detroit and was treated like a royalty by my favorite hip hop group’s crew (Slum Village), it let me know I could take it on another level. I already had ties in with their affiliates in Detroit, but that was the icing on the cake. It was my first roots booking in which I received a substantial amount of paper. I remember thanking the Most High for rewarding me for praising him. That is the point in which I knew I was following my calling.”In 2006 Rootsqueen was settled back in Atlanta and by summer she had djd at every legendary Hip Hop club (real hip hop) and had djd longside most every heavyweight in Atlanta such as Dj Lord, Dj Rasta Root, Dj Jamad, and Bobbito. When 2006 was at its end, Rootsqueen became the official Dj for Dinco D of Leaders of the New School. She even put together a 3 show Florida tour while she was on hiatus in Florida (again).2007 arrived and hip hop died. “It still lives deep in my soul. “ Roots explains, “But it’s hard when kids today are coming up in a commercial state of rap, but they missed out on a whole era and fail to realize why Rap is still around. And all the real hip hop heads won’t give anything commercial a chance, ever. So it’s difficult to play both sides. I live and breathe for Golden Era hip hop and bask in neo-nostalgia but I still enjoy Jeezy and T Pain. It’s such an inner conflict.”This, and the incredible fan base and feedback she was receiving for her dancehall notoriety won out and that is when she began to focus primarily on reggae. During her 5 month hiatus in Tampa, she began djing with PoisonDart Sound, one of the most notorious Jamaican Soundsystems in the world. To Roots, it was even more satisfying than being Konkrete alumni.“That’s how I got to be cool with Stone Love, Bass Oddysey, and other Jamaican dj’s.” recalls Roots. “Kirky C and Patrick saw my potential and took me seriously as a selector. That instilled so much confidence within me. No matter where I go, no one can come test the soundly champion, big up Dj Rootsqueen! Big up Jiggy Queen! What and indescribable feeling!”While in Florida, Roots released two mixtapes, “Iron Maiden” and “100% Juggling” Both of which were highly praised among her peers. Upon returning to Atlanta, Rootsqueen teamed up with Jah Prince and Shotta from Cartel Sound to do a series of themed parties (uniform, for example) The first party is “Party Like a Rasta”. And the next one will more than likely be a uniform party.“I have the utmost respect for Jah Prince as a Dj and as a person” dotes Rootsqueen. “His affiliation with hip hop (Smokin Needlz, Phife’s label) is very similar to mine and with these parties we can bring a little bit of Jamaica to an American atmosphere with open arms. Big up Taj Anwar and Crew Love! And big up all my new Jeru’s! We are stronger together than we ever were apart. Respect.”Nowadays, if She isn’t djing for a special event, you can find Rootsqueen early juggling over the weekend at the Royal Peacock.“Its funny” laughs Rootsqueen “when I was young I would get mad about having to play first, and now after playing primetime for so long, I love early juggling. Poisondart taught me the importance of early juggling. Senator would early juggle and make me play all the late night dance tunes and I would get jealous cause I wanted to play Real Rock Return, not Martial Arts (example). So now I love early juggling. It gives me the opportunity to show off why I am called Rootsqueen.”Stay tuned for Dj Rootsqueen mixtapes and collaborations. She has her own domain coming soon. And remember the real message behind the music. Rootsqueen represents the strong and powerful woman who smiles in the face of adversity. She is a soul soldier who is an inspiration to white women in a black world, to black women who can realize there are some down ass white chicks out there who love them, and an inspiration to those who have become musically disenchanted. BIG UP DJ ROOTSQUEEN AND THE WHOLE ENTOURAGE!!! STAY DOWN FI DI CROWN AND UP FI SHO!!!
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