One of the current protagonists of the Chicago-spawned and meanwhile globally blooming footwork phenomenon is the Berlin-based producer DJ Paypal. Footwork music comprises a nervous soundtrack to the dance style of the same name, and Paypal approaches it with tonal openness and visual irony in his productions and DJ sets. The artist’s name and aesthetic presentation alike have their source in an up-to-the-minute commerce world. They paint, in this new context, a post-capitalist hyper-reality out of cheap logos and shiny surfaces. And the American-born footworker turns the concept of branding into something of his own: Paypal has long been considered a troll in the scene as a result of his 30 footwork edits of Drake tracks; and on stage, he hides his face behind a Chicago Bulls hat, sunglasses and a T-shirt advertising his label Teklife, one of the incubators of the Chicago footwork scene. Following the album “Buy Now”, the fantastic mini-album “Sold Out” not only earned Paypal a triple A rating on Pitchfork but also promptly fleshed out his calendar with bookings across the world. Despite the fact that associated local footwork representatives WeBoogie are more active than ever, Paypal’s presence in Berlin is scant and difficult to track—all the more reason to eagerly anticipate his set and the subsequent TSF’16 WeBoogie aftershow party!

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