These Hip-Hop & House Classics Influenced Secondcity's Gorgeous Summery Sound

Whether it's for playing out at a club or listening at home, DJs and producers typically have an encyclopedic hoard of music, new and old. In The Last Record, they tell us about the last three songs or albums they've purchased, and why these were important additions to their music collection.

This week, we spoke to Secondcity. The Chicago-raised, UK-based producer just released his new single, "Kwelanga," on Toolroom Records. You can catch him this weekend at Dystopia Festival in Belgium and Abode at Sanseis in Ibiza.

When I was a kid, everyone was into American hip-hop and everyone wanted to be the next Eminem. 36 Chambers was a cool album that I loved so much during that time. I was reminiscing about it around two months ago, and I remembered that I had the CD at my mum's house, where all my old stuff is located. I found the CD case, but not the CD, so I went online and brought it about a month ago.

It's one of my favorite albums. It has so many memories from when I was 14 or 15. I got my first pair of decks when I was 14 and I used to mix hip-hop. I had four to five hip-hop albums and started to mix them constantly. Before I could really afford to buy records, that's all I had–– 36 Chambers was the first ever album I owned.

I've loved this record for years and just recently bought it on vinyl from my friend. He has a massive record collection. When I went through it about a week ago, he had five copies of this record that I've wanted to buy for years. He ended up just giving it to me, which was amazing.

It's a really old record. I wanted to get a copy to start playing in my sets. It's the perfect record for boat parties and sunsets, even sunrise and closing sets. I was obsessed with the musicality of it and the way it was produced.

I've listened to loads of other stuff from Parker, but this was one of the main records that stood out to me so much and I really enjoyed. Some of his older records have been included in my collection. It's [music] that feels really special. When I first heard [this record] six years ago, it inspired what I wanted to make at the very beginning of my career and why I wanted to make house music, and I guess led to "I Wanna Feel." It took a lot of inspiration from that kind of vibe. Not necessarily the piano, but more the musicality and the feel of it and the way it was so soulful and cool.

It's one my favorite records, which I've started playing a lot more in my sets in the last six months, especially outdoor parties and festivals. I've recently bought it digitally. It's just a record I absolutely love playing and listening to, a no brainer to buy.

After mixing hip-hop, I started mixing electro. When I first got CDJs after having records, I started mixing Jack Beats, Bloody Beetroots and Daft Punk. They were records everyone was DJ'ing when we were younger and had house parties. Stuff like "Around The World," in 2002-2003, were the go-to records and what we loved listening to then. It's funny. I'm still playing it 15 years later.

I moved to a different studio recently and got my vinyl collection and my decks set up there. I went through older records I had and remembered stuff I used to play, wishing I had certain records. I found a copy of Daft Punk's "Burning" on vinyl, which I really like, which sparked me wanting to get "Digital Love."