“one could argue that De Leon is the ambassador of breaks, spreading a gospel of fun through ear-popping blends and remixes.” – morethanastance.com

“Chicago has spawned one of the illest break droppers in recent history,…” – Ill Skills Magazine

“He produced music, mixed it as he played and even managed to incorporate a little live guitar into his set. It was breathtaking work that can’t just be found anywhere else.” – Northern Star

“Franco de Leon, the 20 year old mixmaster who scores the show on a set of turntables and an acoustic guitar, has an unbelievable ear for rhythm.” – Chicago Journal

“…and when it comes to Chicago hip-hop, he’s worked with some of the city’s best,…” – Chicago Sun-Times

Franco de Leon is probably best known as a break dance (bboy) DJ, and is often referred to as the “b-boy equivalent of Girl Talk.” By introducing Chicago-style quick-mixing, mash-up, and live PA techniques to the music played during break dance competitions, and combining it with his thorough understanding of fundamental funk-breaks mixing, dj set building, and crowd reading, Franco de Leon’s reputation as a premiere name in B-boy Breaks Music quickly grew. He now regularly performs as the music headliner at major break dancing competitions throughout North America, at events like Montreal’s JFL-Battle-JPR, where the world’s greatest break dancers travel from around the globe to compete to his music selections. Franco de Leon has released six mixed CD compilations (including the amazingly popular Hot Butter Breaks Series) that continue to sell steadily to fans around the world, as well as creating choreography mixes for some of the breakdance culture’s most well known groups, such as Supercr3w, the winners of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew Season 2.

In Chicago, Franco de Leon is a regular feature of the nightclub scene, with several select shows a month. He can be found at some of the highest profile venues, and/or simply the hippest places to be: from parties in the uber-hip Wicker Park Area, to Chicago nightlife staples like Wrigleyville’s Smart Bar, to the new, super posh, live venues, like The Shrine in the burgeoning South Loop. Having garnered reputations as a the “DJ’s DJ”, its also common to see de Leon playing live guitar over his mixes, remixing music on the fly, and breaking the barriers of genre. He has opened for international stars like DJ Qbert (the pioneer of turntablism, who has twice requested to play tag team sets with de Leon in the last year), Derrick Carter (Chicago house legend), and Rhymefest (Grammy Award Winner).

While de Leon loves to perform as a DJ, most of his new fans first learn of him as music producer. Taking his years of studio experience as a record engineer, where he worked for the likes of John Popper (Blues Traveler, Grammy Award Winner), Rhymefest (Grammy Award Winner), Just Blaze (Grammy Award Winner, Hip Hop Producer for Jay-Z), and Malik Yusef (Grammy Award Winner), he is cultivating a growing following in several different genres, including Electronic, Dance, and Hip Hop/Rap. This can be heard on 2009’s CD release, From Here to There, an EP that showcases different studio work created over the last four years.

Franco de Leon also performs Live PA by combining turntablism, guitar, keyboard, MPC drum pads, a laptop, and his ability to remix music live. He creates non-stop dj-style sets where he recreates his original music, live on stage – much like RJD2 meets Girl Talk meets J.U.S.T.I.C.E. meets Santana.

Franco de Leon has extensive experience as a composer and sound designer, with credited work for film, television, live theater, fashion shows and web productions, as well as session-musician work for various artists. His client list is extensive, and includes entities such as NBC Television’s Taste Television Program, to Merrel Clothing’s Spring Fashion Show, to multiple productions at The Steppenwolf Theater (home of ensemble members Jon Malkovich and Gary Sinise).

Beyond his live performance and music production, Franco de Leon still enjoys competition. He has placed highly, either as a finalist or semi-finalist, in a slew of music remix and production competitions, including events such as Red Bull’s International Beat Battle and Lollapalooza’s Last Band Standing Contest.

The media has also taken note of Franco de Leon, with his name appearing in well known publications, including The Chicago Tribune (with a feature story written on him, as well as several Critic’s Choice column appearances), The Chicago Reader (with several Critic’s Choice nods), also cover story features in magazines, like Ill Skills, as well as several internet video features, college publications, local papers, blogs, and on-line articles.

Finally, Franco de Leon hosts and mixes live on his own internet radio show, Franco de Leon’s Thursday Lunch Live Mix, which can be heard every Thursday, Central Standard Time, from 1 PM to 3 PM, at http://www.ChiTownRecordBangers.com.

Franco de Leon enjoys sponsorship from Konee Rok Productions, Hand2Hand Promotions, Free Soul Tribe, and Juss Rock Underground Clothing.