D-Ex

Miscellaneous D-Ex Facts:
1975: D-Ex’s hobby as a (grafitti) writer begins early as he starts consistantly scripting words with markers and pens thoughout his parents household on walls, furniture, appliances, etc. This was partially a result from his admiration for various throwups and pieces that he witnessed in New York City, NY (Harlem specifically). D-Ex, however was raised in Milwaukee, WI (known for having one of the highest Black and Latino populations in the U.S.). Several years later, D-Ex eventually began to write publicly utilizing spray paint, studying the syles of Phase 2, and later Kase 2 via the documentary “Style Wars”.
1982: D-Ex begins b-boying, and by 1984, becomes a part of a young group of street dancers named Ground Crew Express. The crew names him “Cartoonist 1” for his art skills and for teaching “Cartoonist 2” a.k.a. “James Branski” how to break. He also used the name “Cyclone” and “The Fly” during this era. His main influences initially were the Rock Steady Crew and the New York City Breakers, as well as the Lockers (and later, Boogaloo Shrimp).
1984: D-Ex teaches himself the art of Hip-Hop deejaying after being influenced by Grand Mixer D.ST (now DXT). That same year he begins emceeing after memorizing Run-D.M.C.’s self titled debut album verbatum, while studying Jam Master Jay’s interaction with the two emcees. Shortly thereafter, he learns the art of human beatboxing after analyzing the talents of Buff Love (Fat Boys) and Doug E. Fresh.
1985: D-Ex starts recording and producing his own songs with a “cheap $100 Mattel Electronics drum machine” while “pause mixing” breaks together on “a cheap $100 Sears double cassette recorder with built in mics” and a turntable. He re-names himself the “D.E.F.” (a.k.a. “Dangerous Exterminata of Foes”) and add another “D” for extra flavor. He then added his former b-boy name “The Fly” and attached it to the beginning, henceforth his new psedonym “(Da Fly) D.E.F.-D” (also D.Ex.F).
1989: D-Ex, finding a suitable, rugged vocal style that he was comfortable with using, starts recording tracks for his first underground tape with DJ Professional (formally known as DJ Finesse) and manager Tim “Da Bookie” under the name “Black Steel”, which was later changed to the abstract “…Pest Realm”.
1991: D-Ex builds with the Nation of Gods & Earths and helps co-cultivate it's foundation in St. Louis (Saudi), along with Khidar Shalik and Born (Baheem) Allah.
1993: Now starting to go by the name “D-Ex” more often, he signed an album deal with Total Trak Productions (responsible for The L.A. Dream Team, D.J. Quik, AMG, 2nd To None, Sylk Smoov, Mad Flava and others) to release a group album with “Doom” (not to be confused with Zev Love X) for Priority Records. D-Ex left the group shortly thereafter, finishing college at SEMO and recording new solo material. The Doom album never materialized due to various industry politics, however D-Ex still performs as a DJ for the crew to this very day.
1994: After graduating college with a B.A. in Graphic Design, D-Ex began to explore the music industry from a different angle. He began hosting a Billboard-nominated public access music video show named “Phatclips” and co-founded an indie magazine with Dante “DP” Scaife entitled “Phat Hip-Hop Magazine” (which promoted spot date concerts as well). Late in that same year he began guest hosting a radio program on KDHX 88.1 FM named “Street Vibes”, founded by Ron “G-Wiz” Butts. By 1995, he was a regular on the show. During this period, D-Ex joined a new b-boy crew with old school roots named the “Gateway City Breakers”, who received minor media attention in the Source magazine.
1998: D-Ex founds a new radio show on KDHX with DJ Alejan (1998 DMC U.S. finalist) entitled “Da Science” and starts filming, producing and editing a four-part Hip-Hop video documentary entitled “Raw Footage”. D-Ex and DJ Professional, by this time known as “Wax Murdaraz”, began looking for a third DJ to peform scratch routines with as a live DJ band. This led to B-Money, Furius “Iceman” Stylz, DJ K-Nine, Charlie Chan and Mocha Sunflower joining the crew by the following year (eventually King IXL linked up with camp shortly thereafter). It was during this era that D-Ex learned how to simultaneously beat juggle and emcee.
2000: Originally planning to just assist the battle DJs in his crew, D-Ex decides to enter nationwide and worldwide DJ competitions. He then started Wax Murdaraz Professional DJ Skool in the basement of his house in 2001, teaching all aspects of the art of deejaying. By this point, D-Ex was also deejaying for another group of emcees named “Altered St8s of Consciousness” who released 12” vinyl recordings and CDs independently.
2003: D-Ex retires from battling at the Kool Mixx National (USA) Finals collecting a solid $3,700 in cashed checks. He then returns to audio recording as well as his visual art background, working with Kenneth “Kenny K” Kinds as “Blue Fortune”, an indie design company.
2005: Wax Murdaraz release the “City Ta City Killin’ Spree” album on the crew’s own indie label, Deep Krate Recordingz. The album was executive produced by the crew, as well as scratch DJ legend Rob Swift. By now, WM Pro DJ Skool expanded to housing DJ battles (Wax Murdaraz After Skool DJ Brawl) and a video show named after D-Ex’s late 90’s documentary, “Raw Footage”.
2007: D-Ex founds “Deep Krate Radio”, Wax Murdaraz official weekly radio broadcast on KDHX, which by this time is streamed worldwide at www.kdhx.org. D-Ex also releases his solo album “Good Mournin’ Amerikkka”, which features cameos from his crew, as well as scratch composition innovator Tat Money (Steady B, Kwame, etc.) in May of this year.
Wax Murdaraz "City Ta City Killin' Spree" album can be purchased online at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/waxmurdaraz or through iTunes.
D-Ex's "Good Mournin' Amerikkka" album can be purchased online at http://cdbaby.com/cd/dexmusic or through iTunes.
D-Ex hostin' "Raw Footage" video show with skratch DJ legend Rob Swift and Nocturnal Sound Krew's DJ Deception, circa 2005...