Releases by Mixer / D.J.
D.J. YELLA
| Year | Release Title | Label | Mix Title | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Scratch Party 1 | Z Rock | SCRATCH PARTY #1 | 00:09:36 |
| 1984 | Mix-Trix | Kut-Up | MIX-TRIX In Vibe | 00:07:02 |
| 1984 | Mix-Trix 2 | Kut-Up | MIX-TRIX #2 | 00:06:16 |
| 1984 | Mix-Trix 3 | Kut-Up | MIX-TRIX #3 The Break Mixer | 00:08:13 |
| 1984 | Mix-Trix 4 | Kut-Up | MIX-TRIX 4 Roxanne Can You Feel It | 00:08:34 |
| 1984 | Prime Kuts | Prime Kut | PRIME KUTS | 00:06:31 |
| 1984 | Scratch Party 2 | Z Rock | SCRATCH PARTY #2 | 00:08:53 |
| 1984 | Scratch Party 3 | Z Rock | SCRATCH PARTY 3 | 00:07:08 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series I | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES I Part 1 | 00:15:28 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series I | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES I Part 2 | 00:13:40 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series I | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES I Part 3 | 00:15:01 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series I | Roadium Mixtape | PRINCE MIX | 00:14:23 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series II | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES II Part 1 | 00:15:04 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series II | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES II Part 2 | 00:15:02 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series II | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES II Part 3 | 00:15:03 |
| 1984 | Thee Traffic Jams Series II | Roadium Mixtape | THEE TRAFFIC JAMS SERIES II Part 4 | 00:15:07 |
| 1985 | Prime Kuts #2 | Prime Kut | PRIME KUTS #2 | 00:15:28 |
| 1985 | Prime Kuts #3 | Prime Kut | PRIME KUTS #3 Traffic Jam 12 | 00:11:38 |
| 2003 | The Ultimate Lessons 3 | Starchild | SCRATCH PARTY 3 | 00:07:08 |
| 2004 | The Cut Up!: A History Of The Scratch | Scratch Ticket Productions | MIX-TRIX In Vibe | 00:07:04 |
| 2004 | The Cut Up!: A History Of The Scratch | Scratch Ticket Productions | SCRATCH PARTY #1 | 00:09:39 |
| 2004 | The Cut Up!: A History Of The Scratch | Scratch Ticket Productions | SCRATCH PARTY #2 | 00:08:56 |
| 2004 | The Cut Up!: A History Of The Scratch | Scratch Ticket Productions | SCRATCH PARTY 3 | 00:07:13 |
Information:
There were many bootleg mixes released in the early to mid 80's that originated from the West Coast of America and there is much speculation as to who did them. Based on my research, I have deduced that D.J. Yella was involved in the creation of all the mixes listed above. To back this up, I have detailed my analysis and sources below, but please let me know if you have any information that contradicts anything shown.
It is widely known that D.J. Yella and Dr. Dre were the D.J.'s in the World Class Wreckin' Cru and that they played for Lonzo Williams at his Eve After Dark and Dotto's nightclubs. It's unclear exactly which D.J. contributed to each mix apart from the Scratch Party and New York Scratchmasters series (which Yella confirms in his autobiography), but based on the evidence below I have deduced that Yella did the Mix-Trix series (because they were on the Kut-Up Records label that Lonzo owned and Yella was Lonzo's mix guy) and that Dre and Yella did the Prime Kuts series together (because they did the Traffic Jam mixes for KDAY together and this series is linked to those mixes). Below are extracts from the books that I have based this information on so you can decide for yourself.
As a precursor to the below, in Tony A.'s 2019 documentary 'The Roadium Mixtape Documixery', Lonzo says that he is the owner of Z Rock records and Kut-Up records, so when he refers to Yella being his mix guy below it seems logical that Yella did the uncredited mixes on those labels.
In D.J. Yella's autobiography titled 'Straight Outta Compton: My Untold Story' published in 2021 the following passage appears which confirms that Yella mixed the Scratch Party series and Dre mixed the New York Scratchmasters series...
"One day I was listening to this new 12-inch vinyl that came out. It was called 'Carbon-Copy'. I said "Wow, that's neat. It had all kinds of scratching and mixing on it just like the mixtapes I did at the club!". But this is what you would call a bootleg record. What do I mean by that? It is an unlicensed published work of another person's music, which is illegal. I know there was no permission given. (In other words, it's a straight rip-off.) But that's how we do it in the ghetto. I brought the idea to Lonzo about making a one-sided bootleg record called 'Scratch Party'. But I told him, "Let's go into a better studio that has a 4-track tape recorder in it". If you don't know what a 4-track tape recorder is, it's a machine that records multiple tracks at the same time, but it's all separated. I can scratch on two of the tracks, and the other two I can lay the music on. His response was, "Okay, let's do it. I'll pay for it". Then I thought about the old mixtape from the club. I told him, "Just pay me upfront for it. I don't want to wait on record sales". I shouldn't have been so quick on the draw. I should have had more patience and took the record sales because it sold more than I thought. And how much did Mr. Entrepreneur make? $600. Not bad for a mix, but the money only lasted a couple of days. I thought I was cool with the money. But I found out a year later through the grapevine that it sold a few thousand units on the street. Well, at least, I'm a little smarter this time around. I told him, "Instead of the $600 for one volume, let me do volumes 2 and 3 for $1200". It made me feel a little better. But I still didn't get it or understand. The record sales still went through the roof. I feel like there's a competition. Did I just say competition? I hear there's another rival out there making bootlegs and they call their's "New York Scratch Masters". Now I have to turn the heat up on the mixes. They gotta be even better. I'm starting to make volumes 4, 5, and 6. Looks like my pockets are getting a little fatter! So, we come up with and make a new volume called "Scratch Dance". Now the competition is on. I finally find out who's making these "New York Scratch Masters". Not only are they NOT from New York, but they're also from the same crew - The Wreckin' Cru! Surprisingly, it's Dre and Unknown!".
In Lonzo Williams' autobiography titled 'N.ot W.ithout A.lonzo' published in 2015 the following passage appears which indicates to me that Yella mixed the Mix-Trix series as all four Mix-Trix records were released before the New York Scratchmasters series had ended (meaning that Dre was still with Unknown D.J. at this stage) and Lonzo states that Yella was his mix guy and that he owned Kut-Up Records...
"By this time, I'm also making my bootleg mixed 12-inches. D.J. Yella was my mix guy at the time. My friend and business partner, Andre aka the Unknown D.J., had recruited Dre before I did and put him on his team for mixes. We both made mixed 12-inches, and it was always a fight for new music. So Dre's mixing for Unknown and Yella's mixing for me, but because I have all the connections with the record stores, I'm getting the most money. I'm the King of this right here. Something happened two months later - Dre wasn't happy with Unknown. Now he's coming to work for me, doing mixes for me. Shortly after that, the mixing business kinda fell apart because everybody and his mama started doing the same thing and it kinda got dilluted. We moved onto legitimate records".
Another passage from D.J. Yella's autobiography is as follows, which links Dre and Yella to that series of mixes as the third mix in the Prime Kuts series is named 'Traffic Jam 12'...
"First up, Lonzo picks up this 4-track tape recorder so we can make better mixes. A radio D.J. named Greg Mack from 1580 K-DAY gave us a call. He wanted me and Dre to do some mixes. They were for his 5:00 show called 'Traffic Jams', which aired Monday through Friday (and to my knowledge, I think we were the first to do mixes in LA on the radio). So, I made the first mix. It went very well, and we got very good ratings on his show. After that, me and Dre would alternate every other day making the mixes. We didn't make no money off of it, but we did it for the love of D.J.ing. But there's a couple of issues. Here's the first issue. Even though they are only 10-minute mixes, it would take us about 2 to 3 hours to make it on a 4-track recorder because we're trying to put so much into it, with all the scratching and mixing, plus they all got to sound good. Now here's the second issue. The radio station is in Hollywood, but Lonzo's house is near Gardena, California, where we make the mixes. If you don't know the distance, it's about 20 miles and takes 30 minutes to drive there without traffic. So, we have to have the mix there by 5:00 p.m., and we don't usually have the mixes ready until about 3:00 p.m. That means we have L.A. traffic to Hollywood, and that's a two-hour drive. And that means I have to drive like a bat out of hell just to make it by 5:00! We did this crazy drive five days a week. You know that got old real fast. So, that lasted just a few months."
Another passage from Lonzo Williams' autobiography is as follows which adds further weight to my above assumption that the Prime Kuts series were connected to the KDAY Traffic Jam mixes...
"Greg Mack had an idea for a fifteen-minute mix for KDAY's Traffic Jam. There was no money in the budget to pay us, but they agreed to give us commercials to advertise Dooto's. I didn't trip off the money, because a true hustler finds a way to convert energy to money, and that's exactly what I did. I asked Greg to give us a commercial spot before and after the fifteen-minute Traffic Jam. A ten to fifteen-second spot would be feasible. All they had to say was, "This Traffic Jam is brought to you by the World Class Wreckin' Cru. They are live every Friday at Dooto's Music Center located at 135th and Central." He agreed. Greg would give us old used tape from the station. Dre and Yella would do the mixing in the four-track studio that I built. I would shoot it down to the station daily, and then I would turn around and make the Traffic Jam a twelve-inch bootleg mix and sell it. We were pimping and counter-pimping to get our money. Think about it...I didn't have to pay for advertising, and Dooto's was off the chain every Friday night - a lot of extra exposure."
To further back-up the above, in the book named 'The Big Payback' by Dan Charnas the following passage appears...
"Greg Mack needed D.J.'s who would work solely for the value of exposure. He found them when he paid a visit to Dotto's a new club run by Alonzo Williams after the county sheriff's department had started harassing him at Eve's. Lonzo, who regularly paid to advertise on KDAY, offered Mack his Wreckin' Cru D.J.s, Dr. Dre and Yella, in return for free on-air plugs. Dre and Yella became KDAY's first mixers, taping daily blends of R&B and rap music called 'Traffic Jams' at Lonzo's home studio for Greg Mack's nightly show."
Below is a summarised biography of D.J. Yella created using Google Gemini in March 2026...
Early Roots: World Class Wreckin' Cru
Before the "World's Most Dangerous Group" existed, Antoine Carraby (Yella) was a prominent DJ in the Los Angeles club scene. Alongside Dr. Dre, he was a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru, a group that blended electro-hop and disco. This era was crucial as it's where Yella and Dre honed their chemistry as a production duo.
The N.W.A Era (1987–1991)
When N.W.A formed, Yella transitioned from a club DJ to a powerhouse producer. He is one of the few members who remained with the group from their debut, Panic Zone, through their final studio album, Niggaz4Life.
Production Style: Yella was the co-producer on nearly every track N.W.A released. While Dre was often the visionary, Yella was the technical backbone, masterfully handling the sampling, drum programming, and turntable work.
The "Wall of Sound": He helped pioneer the use of dense, funky samples layered over heavy, aggressive percussion, a departure from the more minimalist beats coming out of New York at the time.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a member of N.W.A, cementing his legacy in music history.