Gregory Joseph Keltgen, better known by his stage name DJ Abilities, is an American

underground hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

producer and DJ signed to

Rhymesayers Entertainment Rhymesayers Entertainment (sometimes abbreviated RSE) is an American independent hip-hop record label based in Minneapolis. History Rhymesayers Entertainment was co-founded in 1995 by Sean Daley (Slug), Anthony Davis (Ant), Musab Saad ( Sab th ...

who is based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He is a founding member of

Eyedea & Abilities Eyedea & Abilities (often abbreviated as E&A) was an American hip hop duo from Saint Paul, Minnesota, consisting of rapper Eyedea and DJ Abilities. The duo was founded in 1999 and became a prominent figure of the underground hip hop scene, be ...

alongside

Eyedea Micheal David Larsen (November 9, 1981 – October 16, 2010), better known by his stage name Eyedea, was an American rapper. He was a battle rap, freestyle battle champion and songwriter from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Larsen had appeared as a ...

, and Semi.Official alongside I Self Devine. DJ Abilities is a member of 1200 Hobos and was also a member of

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

at one point. He has won two regional DJ championships for the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

region.

Career

DJ Abilities released '' First Born'', a debut album with the rapper

, in 2001. He handled the turntable work on

El-P Jaime Stuart Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has ...

's 2002 solo debut album ''

Fantastic Damage ''Fantastic Damage'' is the first solo studio album by American hip hop artist El-P. It was released through Definitive Jux on May 14, 2002. It peaked at number 198 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Music videos were created for "Stepfather Factor ...

''. Two more collaborative albums with Eyedea, '' E&A'' (2004) and '' By the Throat'' (2009), were both released on

. Eyedea & Abilities has been honored with a star on the outside mural of the

nightclub First Avenue, recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue. Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh. DJ Abilities won the Midwest regionals in the 1999 and 2001

DMC World DJ Championships The DMC World DJ Championships is an annual DJ competition founded by the Disco Mix Club (DMC) which began in 1985. It has been described as a "pre-eminent competitive DJ event". History Competitors are each given 6 minutes to perform, with win ...

. ''

City Pages ''City Pages'' was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a ...

'' noted that he and Eyedea for their ability to interact in live on stage performances, as well as on record.

Discography

DJ mixes

* ''Finally'' (1997,

) * ''...For Persons with DJ Abilities'' (2000, Rhymesayers Entertainment) * ''Now! That's What I Call Fuck Off'' (2012, self-released) * ''The Blends'' (2014, self-released)

Productions

Deep Puddle Dynamics Deep Puddle Dynamics was a collaborative group featuring underground hip hop artists Sole, Doseone, Alias and Slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. T ...

- "Deep Puddle Theme Song", "Thought vs. Action" and "Where the Wild Things Are" from '' The Taste of Rain... Why Kneel?'' (1999) All E&A albums.

Guest appearances

* Rusty Ps - "All I Have" from ''Out of Many'' (2001) * Unknown Prophets - "The Wrong Route" from ''World Premier'' (2001) *

- ''

'' (2002) * Mr. Lif - "Return of the B-Boy" from '' I Phantom'' (2002) * One Be Lo - ''L.A.B.O.R.'' (2011) *

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, singer and activist. He made his recording debut on Outkast's fourth album ''Stankonia'' (2000), and guest appeared on the duo's Gr ...

- "Go!" from '' R.A.P. Music'' (2012) * Seez Mics - "Post Pathic Profiteers" from ''Cruel Fuel'' (2014) * One Be Lo - Baby (Being a black youth) (2020)

References

External links

*
DJ Abilities
on

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abilities American hip-hop DJs Rhymesayers Entertainment artists Living people Midwest hip-hop musicians American hip-hop record producers 1979 births