Rock hard hotel: forget backstage—M & F captured these finely tuned divas where they sleep

Muscle & Fitness, August, 2004 by Jeff O'Connell

It's like techno with beats. Beats per minute can be anywhere from 160 to 185, which is fast, but people dance to it at half that speed, so it's very sexual. It's ferocious, but it can also be beautiful and melodic.

How many machines, records and eardrums does one destroy learning the craft?

Learning how to work a turntable can initially be the most frustrating thing you can do. I produced my first record in 1988 and started DJing in 1989, and I had one tape recorder and a Syntronic deck. So I would play the cassette and try to mix the deck into it, and it took me six months of throwing vinyl across the room to get that. It's really something no one can show you; it's up to your personality and how you mix. My trademark is to keep everything in key. I'm classically trained in piano and guitar, so I can't bear things that clash. It all has to sound good, even if it's dark.

When you have this sea of bodies moving as one to your sounds, are you feeling that?

Oh, yeah. It's the horniest thing ever, DJing and controlling a crowd. You're like a puppeteer. You know what string to pull, and they're responding, and that's the best feeling in the world. That's what got me into it. I was rocking out to a DJ, and I was like, God, you couldn't make me feel any better.

DJ RAP DATA

SPECS 5'3", 124 POUNDS

AGE "YOU'RE AS OLD AS THE MAN YOU FEEL AND HOW YOU FEEL"

EXERCISE NINJITSU, RUNNING

FAVORITE ROAD FOOD SALMON

WEB DJRAP.COM

INDIA.ARIE

In an age when young R & B chanteuses equate history with reminiscing about Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation tour, India.Arie's roots run deeper, back to the golden era of soul music and the confessional singer-songwriter movement along-side which it flourished in the early 1970s.

Hence the title of her 2001 debut, Acoustic Soul, which earned seven Grammy nominations and admirers including Oprah Winfrey and Elton John. Her 2002 follow-up, Passage to India, cemented her status as a first-rank singer-songwriter with a deep, soul-drenched voice and a knack for wrapping her positivity anthems inside muscular, radio-friendly grooves.

India certainly has the pedigree to be something of a '70s revivalist, given that her father is Ralph Simpson, who once starred with the ABA's Denver Nuggets. In fact, India figures she'd be a pro athlete if she hadn't followed her muse instead. She used to lift weights and shoot hoops with her father, but today running, yoga and a vegan diet help keep her grounded and fit while touring the world.

I've read that you started performing in college. Did you also succumb to the so-called freshman 15?

Our campus was spread out, and a lot of people would ride bicycles, including me. And I was always late. I'd be riding down the street jumping over stuff with my portfolio strapped on my back, and I really didn't know how much that was a turning point for my health until after I left school. One day I looked in the mirror, and I was like, Wow. I got strong, muscular legs naturally from my mom and dad, but after riding for two years, I was toned all over--my arms, stomach, back, legs, everything. All the baby fat was gone.