Ghetto house icon DJ Deeon has died

Ghetto house icon DJ Deeon, real name Deeon Boyd, has died.

The producer, DJ and label owner sadly “gained his wings”, earlier today (Tuesday 18 July) in hospital in his home city of Chicago. The news was revealed in a post to the artist’s Facebook page.

“Admin Jim here,” the post reads. “I’m sorry to announce the legendary artist, producer, DJ, label owner and my friend Deeon ‘DJ Deeon’ Boyd gained his wings today. The family thanks you for your support and will announce arrangements in the coming days. Thank you for your understanding.”

While the cause of death has not yet been confirmed, Deeon had been publically suffering from the effects of diabetes and pneumonia for some time and in 2002 was diagnosed with Stage Four Lymphoma. A crowdfunding campaign was launched in 2020.

Despite all of this, however, the Chicago legend continued to regularly release new music right up to May 2023. Last Thursday, he took to Instagram to post a photo of himself in hospital.

DJ Deeon helped drive the ghetto house genre, sometimes referred to as juke or booty house. This sassy and outrageously sexy sound takes elements of hip-hop, Southern rap, Chicago house and techno, and blends them, resulting in uncompromising club tracks.

Boyd pushed ghetto house in Chicago alongside the likes of DJ Funk, DJ Milton and DJ Slugo, who together played as DJs On The Low. He went on to release seminal tracks on Dance Mania, Teklife and Numbers such as Freak Like Me, WANNA GO BANG, and House-O-Matic, and also made music under the names Debo, Playground Productionz and Low End Theory.

Tributes have been pouring in from across the Chicago scene and further afield in electronic music. Take a look at some below:

30+ Years and so many damn memories. Playground Productions 4 Life… There will never be another DJ Deeon, DJ Slugo & DJ Milton (DJs On The Low). You will be missed but never forgotten!!! R.I.P my brother I Love You!!!

Low End Legends!!!

Slugo https://t.co/mLyrhoRK2G

— DJ Slugo (@djslugomusic) July 18, 2023

Not many people have influenced the world of music the way this man has. This is such a great loss. A true legend. Dj Deeon is one of the key inspirations for many of us in this movement. Irreplaceable. Thank you OG 🙏🏾 Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/YSnpY91Wzs

— MoMA Ready (@moma_ready) July 18, 2023

RIP DJ Deeon. It would be hard to overstate his importance to Chicago and all of dance music. He was also an extremely sweet guy who will be missed terribly. Damn.

— The Blessed Madonna (@Blessed_Madonna) July 18, 2023

Omg this is sad.

RIP DJ DEEON – A REAL LIFE LEGEND https://t.co/yVQhBYndV2

— SHERELLE 🌐 (@iamsherelle) July 18, 2023

very sad to hear about the death of dj deeon. along with paul johnson he taught me so much about how rhythm works in dance music. he managed to distil so much groove into so few elements. i really owe him https://t.co/4rmkampHwE

— matthew herbert (@matthewherbert) July 18, 2023