The Mix 067: DJ Haram

“I can’t stand all the narcissists who got famous!” chants New Jersey-raised DJ Haram with palpable levels of disgust on 'Distress Tolerance', a highlight from her recently released debut album, 'Beside Myself'.

This artist melds together woozy electronic sounds, classical, boom bap, and New Jersey club textures to create immersive post-apocalyptic worlds. It’s something she achieves without ever shirking the responsibility of speaking out against injustice (she once tweeted: “Y’all have stronger opinions about Valentine’s Day than you do about Palestine”).  

Amid downcast synths that sound like depressed birdsong and a brooding atmosphere that mirrors a contemplative walk through the city at night, the Hyperdub-signed artist (and one half - alongside Moor Mother - of critically acclaimed noise-rap duo 700 Bliss) also uses this atmospheric new song to purr out the scathing words: “Fuck these allies… they failed the litmus test.” 

"I’m definitely not scared to call people out if I feel like they are fake allies,” she says. “My music has an improvisational, free-moving element due to me being working class and completely self-taught.” 

Another new song, 'Deep Breath', combines rowdy bag pipes and distorted tribal drums to give the impression of a conga-line at an end of the world party, while the intoxicating posse cut 'Fishnets' is the flyest shit (an unknown Middle Eastern string instrument literally imitates the whizzes of a buzzing fly) you’ll hear this year. Haram laughs coolly: “A lot of my fans ask me: what instrument did you sample? What even was that noise!?

“Well, I’m not going to tell you! It’s all very undefinable, which I like, and there’s this freedom in you never knowing what to expect next [from me]. Some of the first stuff I ever listened to was IDM and noise music, stuff where you’re completely enthralled by the fact you can’t tell what instrument is which.” 

Later this year DJ Haram will be touring this album globally, serving as the support act for underground rap shaman billy woods. The two have worked together several times before, with Haram using their latest collaboration, 'Stenography', to bring the emcee’s knife-edge “babylon babble” into the ketamine-induced setting of a Bushwick-based rave. On this banger, woods' rhyming partner E L U C I D (from the hip hop duo Armand Hammer) perfectly describes Haram’s sound as being “Magnetic dub.” 

Asked whether she would ever be interested in producing a full Armand Hammer album, Haram teases: “Never say never. I know the fans would love me to produce a whole E L U C I D album!” Whatever the future holds DJ Haram is sure to be at the epicentre, creating new strains of magnetic dub while being as cheeky as possible towards those in power. To celebrate the release of 'Beside Myself', I sat down with her to discuss the new project as well as utilising field samples, dealing with industry sexism, and aiming for albums that feel more like novels. Her accompanying mix is for the late-night club crew.

There’s this moment at the end of your new song 'Walking Memory' where you can hear the buzzer of your Brooklyn apartment. Why do you tend to put those little field recordings of real life moments into the fabric of your music? Does it make the songs feel more lived in? 

That’s a great way of saying it: lived in. That little sound was actually me talking with my old roommate. The old buzzer was horrible! It had this jarring noise and it made me jump every time someone called up. Whenever I listen to 'Walking Memory' it takes me right back and, even though I’ve fully moved out now, I will turn and look towards the door [laughs]. I think - especially with an album that's multi-genre and kind of all over the place - I needed to add personal easter eggs [like the buzzer] to pull everything together conceptually. It’s to show that the glue holding all these genres together is me and my narrative.

My experience of the arts is that working class creatives are a dying breed and many artists from the bottom even struggle to tour due to rising costs. In 2025, does it feel like the rich kids are dominating the music industry far too heavily? 

I've always been someone who has had to hustle and just make my money where I can. I’ve always had to go figure shit out, you know? I find myself in situations, especially when I see what the context is for some of my musical peers, where I definitely encounter a lot of trust fund kids. There’s some rich nepotism babies who are actually quite good at making music… and I’m like damn! But I feel like what I have to offer, and my perspective, will always be more real. You will never be able to use certain techniques [like I can] and our motivations tend to be very different. I don’t think I’m going to go from rags to riches off DJ Haram, sure. But I’m not doing this to attain a certain level of success [like they are]; I’m doing this purely to create a quality body of work! I’m trying to be successful enough to break out of a poverty cycle. That’s it, really. 

Read this next: ATM is the Philadelphia collective breaking club music boundaries

I’m curious what inspired those lines on 'Distress Tolerance' about fake allies who fail the litmus test. My take was we’re seeing a lot of people saying “Free Palestine” right now, just like we saw a lot of people post Black squares after George Floyd died. But does it actually add up to any action on the ground? 

Recently I was thinking about the black square thing too, because I think that the leftists you refer to were definitely being sympathetic… but they’re also just not active organisers, right? You know, the George Floyd killing should have been the time for us to all come together as one and agree that we’re going to stop using these corporate-owned, terrible platforms to convey our political messages! That we will finally get organised on a ground level. But rather, we’re still caught up in this death loop of nothingness.         

You’ve seen New York City grow so much over the years, especially when it comes to its electronic music venues. A lot of my friends tell me the club nights are starting to feel more elitist and that this is because a less diverse group of people are now able to actually afford to live in NYC, period. Would that be accurate? 

In the US going to the club, and going to places where electronic music is actually played, is 100% getting more elitist. You have to have a lot of disposable income and be part of a certain type of lifestyle where it’s okay for you to go to the best shows, which tend to be after midnight and last to 6:AM. That means you don’t have a regular job, right? And it means you can afford to take cabs to venues that are in weird corners of the city. 

I love that you are working more and more with rappers. It’s interesting, because you don’t see a lot of big name female rap producers in the industry. Is that due to sexism? I imagine your path is much more complex than a man’s path, right?  

I’ve been putting out music for more than 10 years and I’m only just putting out my first solo album. It’s like… why is that? To me the sexism and misogyny stuff isn’t just around hip hop, but it’s an electronic and dance problem too! You even see it in jazz! Often I feel like male musicians experience me as someone who is a reward of their success. If I’m a woman coming to a studio, they seem to put me more in the category of frivolous entertainer than a working professional. The way men hire female DJs is often just another way for them to hit on girls in the club, too, to be honest. 

Talking out about this stuff has meant a lot of men are afraid to work with me, because they think I’m some troublesome, crazy ass feminist or something. What I would say is men don’t have to go through the negotiation of protecting themselves like women do. It means men in electronic music have a real competitive advantage.              

Read this next: "A glass ceiling with razor wire": The harsh reality for women working in dance music      

I always wondered what you meant in your old song 'Bless Grips', when you said “stress dream in a duffel bag”. Is that about the stresses of touring? 

Honestly, that was more me trying to paint the picture of: we’ve stuffed your body in a bag and you’re getting real stressed out inside of there! That’s some literal bloody violence. Me and Moor Moother were just being scary [laughs]. 

Penultimate question, but there's going to be people reading this who’ve never heard DJ Haram before. Why should they check your music out? 

I think that my music, especially this new album, can be a nice break from all the pitch-matched curated playlists out there. It is also something intended to be listened to in one go and to feel more like reading a great novel. We often point fingers and claim artists aren't making deep albums anymore, but I really am! 

And lastly, what can people expect from your mix for Mixmag? 

I’m presenting an anti-format mix. I want it to feel like light tucked away in darkness. What I love most about being a DJ is when you get to 2:AM and you’re only left with the people who are really in it. I love the people who are not worried about what they look like and they're also not worried about what I look like, and we’re pushing our bodies in order to stay up into the middle of the morning. This mix is for you!

'Beside Myself' is out now via Hyperdub, get it here

Thomas Hobbs is a freelance writer, follow him on Twitter

Tracklist:
Rod Lee - About To Get Ggly
Tzusing - ISMS (TNXILS)
Jana Saleh - Zuluf 2.0
DJ Technics - Bass Track
NET GALA - Warp This Pussy (For Kitty)
DJ Haram ft. Bbymutha, SHA RAY, & August Fanon - Fishnets
Deena Abdelwahed - Fdhiha
Dayzero - Gravity Phase
HxH - Beach
Nazar - DMZ
DJ Haram - Voyeur
Introspekt - Sublimate
TAH - U WISHH
Leon Thomas - MUTT (DJ Tray remix)
Slikback x Ziur - Banshee
DJ Haram ft. Armand Hammer - Stenography
Nadim Maghzal - Dabkecore شعلت
Khadija Al Hanafi - Bounce It On The Flo
Griff & Booman - What
8ULENTINA - CONDEMNED TO HOPE
DJ Haram ft. Armand Hammer - Girl Dinner
Dynoman - Jhoom Lay
RixiM MixiR - 4th arrangement
Traxman ft. Quick D - Jukepop
Hassan Abou Alam - Shalfata (3Phaz Remix)
Zi侔- Soaked
Prostitute - all hail
DJ Haram - IDGAF