Ghetto House Pioneer DJ Deeon Has Died

Chicago-based ghetto house pioneer DJ Deeon has died.

An update posted to the artist’s Facebook page on Tuesday (July 18) by an administrator states that “I am sorry to announce the legendary Artist, Producer, DJ, Label owner, and my friend Deeon ‘DJ Deeon’ Boyd gained his wings today. The family thanks you for your support and will announce arrangements in the coming days. Thank you for your understanding.”

No cause of death was provided, although the producer has suffered myriad health issues including cancer, multiple strokes, diabetes, quadruple bypass surgery and a leg amputation. The producer recapped his list of health challenges in a 2020 fundraiser to cover his medical bills. Last week, he posted a photo of himself in the hospital with the caption “pray for me.”

DJ Deeon was a pioneer of ghetto house, a house subgenre developed in Chicago in the early 1990s that was driven by 808 and 909 drum machines and sexually explicit lyrics. The producer was namechecked in Daft Punk’s 1997 track “Teachers” for his contributions to the genre, including the classics “Bomb 96,” “Wicked,” “Back 2 Skool” and “House-o-matic.”

The producer is being mourned by the dance music community, with Defected Records — who released the Lee Walker and DJ Deeon collab “Freak Like Me” in 2016 — writing that “his music and productions transcended genres and were loved by the whole dance music community. His impact on our scene is huge. Sending our thoughts and love to his family and friends.”

Fellow Chicagoan The Blessed Madonna posted a tribute noting that “It would be hard to overstate his importance to Chicago and all of dance music. He was also an extremely sweet guy who will be missed terribly. Damn.”

Listen to “Freak Like Me” below.