At age 15 DJ A-Trak was crowned DMC World DJ Champion. From there he simply dominated the battle circuit. One might imagine such a swift rise to virtuosity would lend itself to burn-out, but on the contrary A-Trak has continued to shift and evolve as a DJ, performer and composer.

DJing for Kanye West, as big as it is on the pop culture radar, doesn’t match the early success and stamp A-Trak put on hip-hop. That said, the venture has catapulted him to wider celebrity, making him one of the most recognizable pure hip-hop turntableists around. And, maintaining the vibe for Mr. West’s shows isn’t the only party rocking going down.

Just last week, A-Trak’s Fabric Live mix hit the streets in the UK. We used the release as starting point for a brief conversation with Alain Macklovitch.

Covering turntable artistry, the mixtape and more, we also tried to get him with a trick question. Did we? Read on and find out.