DJ Sega is a prolific producer, an incredible DJ, an important piece of the Philadelphia underground music scene, and a good dude. He was one of the first people in Philly to start making Baltimore club music and pioneered what would become the variant now known as Philly Club. His tracks—hundreds of them, remixes of everything from shitty nü-metal jams to AOL sound effects—are still in heavy rotation amongst DJs the world over. He's released music on Mad Decent (most notably) and has toured the globe.But over the last nine years, Sega has also been, in his words, "living a double life as a DJ and a caretaker for [his] disabled mother and uncle." And right now, things are bad: the city of Philadelphia has condemned their house and he is doing damage control. He has until this afternoon to get all of his family's belongings in storage and find everyone a place to live temporarily. He's raising money to this end on GoFundMe.
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I want to make it clear that Sega is a young dude in a tough situation that is 100% unrelated to his career as a DJ. He's not an old head trying to crowdfund after the scene moved on without him (something that happens with depressing frequency). He didn't squander his Diplo money on partying at the expense of his family, and nobody screwed him out of millions. Making a living as a DJ in a major city is an accomplishment by any measure and doing so while supporting two other people is a triumph.This isn't a sob story and Sega isn't looking for pity. But it is an emergency, a wound that needs immediate attention. He's met the initial goal of $1500 but there's still a lot of stuff to get sorted out. When I saw Sega's link on my Facebook feed, I did not have to think twice about contributing.@skinny412