Toronto Raptors DJ 4Korners on his new EP and career

TORONTO — He has the power to set the mood for 20,000 basketball fans at Toronto Raptors games and give a boost to new musical acts by playing them to a massive arena.

Now 4Korners, the official DJ of the Raptors and the second-longest-running DJ in the NBA, is releasing his debut EP on his own label.

This, on top of the dozens of club gigs he plays around the world every year and collaborations with artists including New York electronic duo TWRK and Toronto rapper Jazz Cartier. 

A busy life, to be sure, but he’s a clutch performer.

“I don’t get sick,” the Toronto native, whose real name is Kirk St. Cyr, said in a recent interview.

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“I’ve only missed one DJ gig in my life due to sickness and it was just because I had the flu and I was throwing up at 9:59 and I was supposed to go on at 10 o’clock. Other than that I’ve powered through whatever I’ve had to power through.

“Even if you’re feeling horrible or if you’re not in the mood for it today or whatever, I love what I do so much, as soon as I get there I’m fine. I’ll be sick after.”

The mixing maestro seemed destined for his job.

An avid basketball player, he tried out for his York University varsity team but didn’t make the cut. He turned his attention to his dad’s DJ equipment instead.

His DJ work brought him back to the basketball world 12 years ago when he was headhunted for the Raptors while spinning at a Roots Canada event.

He chose his DJ name out of a desire to journey to the four corners of the Earth and now he’s doing just that through his job.

“I believe in speaking things into existence,” he said. “So I figured that if I make it my name, that’s the strongest possible way to make this happen — and now I’m travelling.

“Except for being here at the Raptors games, I’m pretty much always somewhere else.”

4Korners also plays at team parties, where he gets to see the Raptors sing karaoke (Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” is the rookies’ initiation song, he revealed) and cut a rug.

“Jakob Poeltl, the rookie, is not a good dancer,” 4Korners said with a laugh when asked about the Raptors’ grooves.

“Patrick Patterson is a good dancer. He’s probably the most outgoing of everyone on the team.”

4Korners, who was the DJ for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, takes requests via Twitter and from players.

“This is taking it back a bit but Chris Bosh used to really, really like the song ‘Stanky Legg,’ so I would play it and he would do the dance during the warmups and then get ready for the game,” he said.

Unknown artists also make his Raptors’ sets, if he likes them, and 4Korners feels he’s helped some acts break through.

“As a DJ, it’s my job to introduce people to new music, and as a Canadian, I love introducing people to new Canadian music,” he said. “It’s kind of a big deal for the artists as well, when they get to hear their song played in that type of arena.”

Perhaps another DJ will do the same for 4Korners’s new singles, the bass-heavy bangers “Get Down, Freak” and “Told Me Shake It.” They’re from his upcoming hip-hop/electronic EP “Changes,” due out early next year on his label Wrong Angle Records. A third, more radio-friendly single, is due out in January.

“Most people know me as a DJ and now that I’m putting out my own original music, the perception is kind of changing,” he said. “That’s why I’m calling my EP ‘Changes.’”

Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press