Before he founded Fools Gold Records in 2007, A-Trak announced his presence to the music world by taking home the trophy at the DMC World DJ Championship in 1997. Now, the 35-year-old tastemaker is looking to give other up-and-coming DJ's and producers the same opportunity.

In a recent interview with the folks at Billboard, A-Trak revealed plans for his first annual Goldie Awards, which will be a new tournament featuring DJ battles and beat battles. Judging the contestants will be music world luminaries like Diplo, Just Blaze, DJ Craze, Destructo, Mija, and Mannie Fresh.

Hosting the event, which will take place at New York's Brooklyn Steel, will be none other than 2016 XXL Freshman Dave East, whom A-Trak feels embodies a link between the past and the present.

"Dave East is the homie. To me, Dave East really represents a really good bridge of classic and new, and that's a lot of what the Goldie Awards needs to represent," A-Trak told Billboard.

A-Trak makes an interesting point about East. The Harlem-bred MC often showcases the same sorts of lyricism rap classicists love, while still having a style palatable enough for younger rap fans to enjoy. Plus, he's definitely a pretty cool dude. Respect.

The first annual Goldie Awards will be presented by Fool's Gold/Thump/Noisey/TMWRK on Sept. 7. It should be a dope event, and we've got no doubt East will hold it down.

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