WHO Local jungle and Brazilian hip-hop spinner DJ Chocolate and reggae veteran DJ Patrick Roots have only been working the decks together since 2004, but their magical, rhythmic sets sound like they’ve been mixing together for much longer. They put smiles on the faces of reggae and non-reggae audiences alike and always support local artists on each of their radio shows — Chocolate on CKLN 88.1 FM every Monday and Patrick Roots on CIUT 89.5 FM hosting Reggae Riddims every Wednesday. Patrick’s been a major force at the U of T station for 20 years, when he got his start playing high-school dances in 1988. Chocolate first stepped up to the decks and radio mic in 1994 and went on to start Toronto’s all-women DJ collective Chicks Dig It, open the first woman-owned vinyl mastering and recording studio Scratch Free and manage artists including the Dream Band and Kidd Rasta & The Peacemakers for her own company, Natty Posse Entertainment. She and Patrick crossed paths in radio and naturally teamed up, playing the reggae festival circuit, events like Harvest Festival and Promise’s Cherry Beach Sundays. Along with their residencies at Thymeless on the first Friday of every month and on the third Saturday of every month, Chocolate is working with BrownEyes Entertainment on concerts (like the Luciano, Queen Ifrica and Etana show at Sound Academy on May 11), a new monthly gig starting in June with Progress Negus at Harlem, with Juno-nominated reggae artist Lyndon John X for IMOK enterprises and managing the all-woman reggae outfit known as the Natty Posse Band. Meanwhile, Patrick Roots is gearing up for the massive live-to-air Jamaica Day on CIUT July 26.

WHAT Reggae, dub and jungle. “Anything that moves your heart, mind and hips,” says Chocolate.

WHERE April 12 at Nufunk.ca’s Tribute to Bob Marley with David Gang, Tonya P, Empress Deeqa and more. El Mocambo (464 Spadina Av). Doors 9pm. $10 with canned food donation.

FAVOURITE RECORD OF ALL TIME Chocolate: “That’s impossible! Off the top of my head, maybe the Best of Luciano ‘cause I love every single song, or the Bob Marley Songs of Freedom box set.” Patrick: Bob Marley, "Positive Vibration."

FAVOURITE RECORD RIGHT NOW Chocolate: Queen Ifrica “Fyah Muma.” Patrick: Etana “Roots.”

FAVOURITE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW www.dancehallmusic.de and www.jamrid.com “For their riddim databases [to find] the name of current riddims, songs, artists, producers and labels,” says Chocolate. “It’s harder to keep track of which tunes are [what] than it is to mix them in a club!”
Patrick: www.stoplying.ca “The stuff they won’t tell you on the news.”

DIGITAL OR ANALOG? “Analog all the way baby!” says Patrick. “It just sounds better, warmer and phatter. Really, for reggae, giving up the low-end harmonics is sacrilegious. We both play CDs too out of necessity, but Chocolate is still well-known as the Vinyl Woman.”

WHAT IS VITAL TO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE?
Chocolate: Lactose-free mochaccinos from Second Cup.
Patrick: Music.

WHAT GLOBAL ISSUE CONCERNS YOU MOST RIGHT NOW? “We just did a fundraiser for the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario,” says Chocolate. “Sickle Cell disorders affect millions of people all over the world and awareness thereof is crucial. We’re going to do our fundraiser for the SCAO every year, and make an international recording project within the global reggae community that can benefit equivalent organizations the world over.”

WHAT IS YOUR RING TONE RIGHT NOW?
Chocolate: Desmond Dekker, “Israelites.”

WHAT ACTOR WOULD PLAY YOU IN A BIOPIC? “If Nicole Kidman, Janis Joplin and Jack Black could be melded into one person, they’d be the perfect representation of me,” says Chocolate.
Patrick: Denzel Washington.

WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?
Chocolate: “Bharati Mukherjee’s Desirable Daughters — It’s my week off, so I don’t have to read anything technical or legal and she writes so beautifully, she could make the phone book sound profound!”
Patrick: “Danny Scheinmann’s Random Acts of Heroic Love. Chocolate’s grandfather recommended it and he is a very wise and insightful man.”

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