Music
Derrick May
born 1963 · DJ, electronic music producer
Detroit-born techno pioneer, one of the Belleville Three, whose 1987 track "Strings of Life" became an anthem and who ran the Transmat label from Detroit's Eastern Market.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 63- Also known as
- Mayday · Rhythim Is Rhythim
- Detroit years
- 1963–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
May was born in Detroit, the only child of a single mother, and spent his teenage years in suburban Belleville, where he befriended Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson; the trio became known as the Belleville Three. His production career began in 1987 with "Nude Photo," co-written with Thomas Barnett, and the same year's "Strings of Life," released as Rhythim Is Rhythim, became one of the defining records of techno. He ran his label Transmat from Gratiot Avenue in Eastern Market, the stretch where Atkins's Metroplex and Saunderson's KMS also had offices and which became known as Techno Alley. From 1988 he played Friday nights at the Music Institute, an alcohol-free after-hours club at 1315 Broadway that gave the new sound its first dedicated home. In 2003 and 2004 he took over Detroit's electronic music festival on the riverfront and renamed it Movement. In 2020 several women publicly accused him of sexual harassment and assault; he denied the allegations.
Highlights
- One of the Belleville Three with Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson
- "Strings of Life" (1987, as Rhythim Is Rhythim) became a techno anthem
- Founded the Transmat label on Gratiot Avenue in Eastern Market
- Named the Movement festival while running it in 2003–2004
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1988–1989
The Music Institute
Closed · 1988–1989
Downtown after-hours club with a juice bar and no alcohol, the first venue built around Detroit techno; he held a Friday-night residency here.
Founded · late 1980s–
Transmat Records (Techno Alley, Gratiot Avenue)
Status being checked
His label's base on Gratiot Avenue in Eastern Market, the strip nicknamed Techno Alley where Metroplex and KMS also worked.
Worked here · 2003–2004
African World Festival
Riverfront plaza that hosts Detroit's electronic music festival; he ran the event in 2003 and 2004 and gave it the name Movement.