DJ and producer Danny Akalepse may be familiar to a certain strain of longtime NYC night owl as a slinger of all things soulful and beat-heavy, via such soirées as Props with pal Rich Medina. But by day Akalepse is the cofounder, with Leon Michels, of venerable Brooklyn independent Big Crown Records. Born from the ashes of the beloved Truth and Soul Records, Big Crown’s sound encompasses not just the cinematic soul of El Michels Affair and Godfather-style testimonies of Lee Fields (both formerly of T&S), but nouveau R&B chanteuse Lady Wray, tropical funk mob Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band, lo-fi pop duo the Shacks and psych folksters Paul and the Tall Trees, among others. It's a well-rounded aesthetic that's also a manifestation of Danny’s fine sensibility as a selector, and on the latest episode of Across 135th Street, host Chairman Jefferson Mao taps into that sensibility for an hour of tracks and a chat with the Big Crown big dawg.
