DJ International

DJ International, the legendary Chicago imprint originally launched in 1985 by Rocky Jones and Benji Espinoza.

D.J. International Records is a Chicago record label founded in 1985 that specializes in house music, a type of electronic dance music. In the 1980s, DJ International Records released music by key house innovators such as Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy (his 1986 remix of the It’s track “Donnie”), Hot Mix 5 member Farley “Jackmaster” Funk (his 1986 track “Love Can’t Turn Around”), Steve “Silk” Hurley (his 1985 “Music Is The Key”), and Marshall Jefferson (his 1986 song “Move Your Body”). DJ International Records also released ESP’s song “It’s You”, Dymond’s “Wild About Your Love” and Liz Torres’ “What You Make Me Feel”.

The label also had acid house, such as Adonis’s 1987 “The Poke”, and Tyree’s “Acid Over” and there were late 1980s hip house recordings, too, such as Fast Eddie’s “Hip House” and “Yo Yo Get Funky”.[1] In the early 1990s, the label released Mike Dunn’s song “Jass Yo Azz Off”. Udiscover Music called the “history of DJ International…the history of house music, the very DNA of modern dance music.”