I don't know if
Reid Speed knows this or not, but it feels like most of my life as a fan of electronic music has involved seeing her name somewhere. She's been doing the damn thing for the last two decades, but I think I really started seeing her name out there around '98/'99, aka the time when I really started understanding what raves were. Being in New Jersey, it's nothing to know who's doing the damn thing in New York City, and Reid's definitely been a force both here and on the West Coast.
Drum & Bass heads definitely know what time it is with Reid; her dnb roots in the NYC scene go back, doing everything from working at the legendary Breakbeat Science and being a part of the Direct Drive crew to spinning at damn near any dnb event worth its weight in acetate. She's one of the first here in the States to really champion speed garage and 2-step, and over the years she's stayed on the cusp of the bass music scene, primarily through her Play Me and Play Me Too imprints, which dabble in everything from trap to dubstep.
When you're talking about women not getting theirs in the electronic music scene, I hear you, but then I think of women like Reid Speed. She's not waiting for a hand out or help from ANYONE; her mentality appears to be "I'll be over here doing my thing; catch up when you're ready."
For her RTDMIX, Reid told me she went more "vibey" and less obvious, going all over the place in BPMs. When you see the tracklist, it makes sense; she's dropping material from
Joker and
Skepta alongside cuts from
Stareyes,
UZ,
Big Dope P, and
RL Grime. You can turn up, you can vibe out; do what you want. Reid's going to be doing her, waiting for the world to catch up.
You can stream this mix below, and if you're so inclined,
subscribe to the podcast.
