Derrick May

Derrick May is one of the Belleville Three, the Detroit trio credited with inventing techno alongside Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, schoolmates at Belleville High School under the spell of radio DJ the Electrifying Mojo. Recording as Rhythim Is Rhythim, May released Nude Photo and The Dance in 1987, followed by Strings of Life, a piece fusing Chicago house swing with a stark machine pulse that became one of dance music's most enduring anthems. In 1986 he founded Transmat Records, shaping Detroit's early sound. May has produced sparingly since, instead touring internationally as a DJ and championing the city's next generations of producers.