Deejay ready to plant teeth in party scene

When Goldie released "Timeless," critics lauded the the album as a landmark for the drum and bass genre of music. The year was 1995. As it turns out, the album was nowhere near the beginning nor the end of Goldie's contribution to art and music.

Goldie is, according to the entertainment site Launch.com, "to the U.K. dance scene what Andy Warhol was to New York's '60s art scene: an impresario, a figurehead, an arbiter of taste and style." That's saying a lot for a deejay who is as famous for his gold-capped teeth as he is for his music.

Goldie got his start as a graffiti artist in England's Midlands region. His skills won him entry into the international hip-hop community. "Hip-hop allowed me to express myself artistically for the first time," he said. He exhibited in New York, appeared in Africa Bambatta's 1986 film "Bombing" and moved to Miami in search of vandalistic peers.

He began making music when he moved to London in the early 1990s, where he derived inspiration from the hard-core techno-dance scene with its dark music, hybrid sounds and pulsing beats. "I'd always been the sort of kid who wanted to belong," he said, "and felt like I'd found a home."

He cut his dreadlocks and started cutting tracks. "At first," he said, "I was just this deranged kid at [the club] Rage with gold teeth shining, this nutter talking a million miles an hour." But his label, Metalheadz, quickly became a respected name in the industry.

Goldie will be performing in Seoul on Friday at the Ritz Carlton hotel's Grand Ballroom. Organized by 02 Production, the event, dubbed "Angel," is part of the company's series of parties featuring electronic dance music. About 1,200 people are expected.

A representative of the party promotion company, Tommy Kim, said Goldie's reputation in the U.K. dance scene was the reason the company wanted to bring him here. "We want to add some spice to the dance music scene in Korea," he said.

For ticket information, visit the Web site at www.02pro.com or e-mail presale02@hotmail.com.

by Joe Yong-hee