Biography of DJ Dlee
Alexey Tagantsev, better known as DJ Dlee, is a talented musician who, unfortunately, is no longer with us today. He worked hard on creating musical compositions for himself and many other famous Russian performers. That is why at present the memory of him still lives in his songs and in the hearts of dozens of people to whom he was close. Our today’s article, dedicated to a man whose name will forever remain a part of Russian musical history, is also intended to be a kind of tribute to the memory of the artist.
Childhood and family of Alexei Tangantsev
The future famous DJ was born in the small town of Velizh, located near the border with Belarus. Here our today’s hero spent the first years of his life, but later moved to Moscow. The Russian capital has become a real home for the musician. That is why at present, in many biographical texts, it is Moscow that is marked as the birthplace of a famous musician.
DJ Dlee and Timati
Alexey Tagantsev received his secondary education at school No. 21, which was distinguished by in-depth study of the English language. It was here that the future famous DJ began to get involved in music for the first time. He literally fell in love with rap and hip-hop, and therefore, he soon began to purposefully translate foreign (mainly American) compositions into Russian.
Subsequently, this young guy seemed a little. And soon he began to write his own compositions. It is noteworthy that the musician himself calls one of the reasons for his passion for music the low quality of the musical material presented in Moscow nightclubs. Coming to the next party, Alexei Tagantsev, in his own words, noted the low quality of the selection of material and the poor technique of the DJs. So at some point he decided to do everything on his own. That is why I started to get involved in DJing.
Star Trek DJ Dlee
In 1996, Alexei began performing for the first time in Moscow clubs. During this period, he chose the pseudonym DJ Dlee (“Long”), under which he is known today.
Playing in clubs and performing at various music festivals, our today’s hero constantly honed his technique, and therefore at some point moved to a leading position in the world of Russian club music.
In 2000, our today’s hero began to fruitfully cooperate with the Yu.G. group. Within the framework of this project, Alexey worked as a team DJ, and also was engaged in writing and “honing” the musical material of this creative team. With his active support, the live album “This is just the beginning” was recorded.
Subsequently, the musician began to work as a solo artist.
In 2003, DJ Dlee received the prestigious Funky Street music award, which honors the best performers in a calendar year. After that, he signed a contract with the Soyuz label and was nominated as a contestant from Russia at the London DJ Art Festival. That evening, our today’s hero played turntables for almost a day in the famous English club Ministry of Sound. However, all efforts were not in vain, and as a result, DJ Dlee was recognized as the absolute world champion in the R&B category.
After that, the young musician became a welcome guest at all club parties in Europe and Russia. It is quite remarkable that in the early 2000s, the R&B style was not yet as popular in Eastern Europe as it is today. Therefore, Alexey Tagantsev is rightly considered by many to be one of the pioneers of this direction, as well as one of those performers who predetermined the development of R&B in Russia and other Eastern European countries.
The Best of DJ Dlee
However, our today’s hero gained the greatest fame after he began to collaborate with various young performers. As a producer, he was engaged in the search and promotion of talented rap artists. With his active support, groups such as VIP77, Banda, as well as rapper Timati appeared on the Russian musical stage.
DJ Dlee dies in horrific car accident
Cooperation with the last of these artists turned out to be the longest and most fruitful. Together they released Timati’s debut album, Black Star. In addition, Alexey Tagantsev also became the author of many songs presented on this album, including the famous hit “In the Club”, thanks to which the name of DJ Dlee became known throughout Eastern Europe.
Subsequently, our today’s hero also worked closely with another well-known Russian hip-hop artist – Legalize. As part of the joint project, the musician’s official mixtape, LIGA’MIX, was released. The album was presented to the public in 2009. However, Alexey himself did not have time to enjoy the well-deserved success.
The demise of DJ Dlee
Late in the evening on July 12, 2009, a talented performer died in a car accident that occurred on the thirty-seventh kilometer of the Minsk highway. Alexei Tagantsev was driving to his country dacha at the moment when a Mercedes crashed into his car, flying in the oncoming lane at high speed. Subsequently, the perpetrator of the accident received three and a half years in prison.
Farewell to the musician and his funeral took place on July 16 in Alexei’s hometown – Velizh.
Personal life of DJ Dlee
After the death of Alexei Tagantsev, his wife Elena remained. It was she who was preparing the funeral ceremony in honor of the deceased spouse.