Austin DJ Crizzly turned our December crunk and wired when he released his collaboration “Crunk & Wired” with Prismo. Crizzly, who started DJing in 2010 after dropping bootlegs and mixtapes, has been called the Crunkstep master, melding hip-hop styles with bass-heavy drops and percussion. This year, he’s opening for Datsik on his 40-date Ninja Nation Tour. His audiences may have changed since he starting DJing in high school at dances, weddings and anywhere with an outlet (Crizzly’s played at Ultra Miami, EDC Las Vegas, Coachella, Lollapalooza and SXSW) but his ratchet sets beget the same marathon dance parties.

We chatted with Crizzly about his beginnings, inspirations and working with Prismo. Hop to the next page to read the full interview.