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Chicago ghetto house pioneer DJ Funk has died

Chicago-born ghetto house DJ, producer, and label head DJ Funk has died aged 54, close friend and collaborator DJ Slugo has confirmed in a post on Instagram.

In a video, Slugo explained that he had confirmation from DJ Funk’s family that he has passed away. Tributes began to emerge online today, though none were officially verified by his family.

“I didn’t wanna say nothing myself until I officially got the word from his family, I had seen a lot of people post and a lot of people with misinformation,” he said. “DJ Funk has passed.”

The news follows the recent launch of a fundraiser to help cover funeral costs for DJ Funk — real name Charles Chambers — after he was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

His family shared a crowdfunder last week, explaining that Chambers had been “bravely” battling cancer, but didn’t “have much longer left”.

The crowdfunded raised more than $30,000 towards funeral costs, which his family said would go toward giving him “the tribute he deserves”.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Chambers began a career in dance music during the late ‘80s, rising to fame with a string of releases on labels like Dance Mania and Pro-Jex.

Under the alias DJ Funk, Chambers pioneered the early sound of ghetto house following the rise of ghetto tech, working between Chicago, Detroit, and other areas of the Midwest.

His 1999 album ‘Booty House Anthems’ sold more than a million copies across the US, and was followed up with two additional releases, ‘Booty House Anthems 2’ in 2006, and ‘Booty House Anthems 3’ in 2013.

In 2006, after producing a remix for Justice, he founded his own label, Funk Records – a home for his own releases, mixtapes, singles, and compilations featuring the likes of DJ Deeon and Lil’ Louis.

DJ Funk also features in a 1998 documentary, ‘Modulations’, directed by Iara Lee, tracing the history of electronic music.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter

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