Few artists have done more to keep the legacy of Chicago house music alive than Derrick Carter. Born in 1969, Carter learned to DJ disco records as a child, then began gigging regularly around 1988, and his singles began appearing around the same time, under aliases like Conception, The Unknown and Symbols & Instruments (with Chris Nazuka). Carter’s proximity to iconic institutions like Kevin Saunderson’s KMS label, which put out some of his earliest music, and Gramophone, a storied local record store, left him well-prepared to carry the music’s torch throughout the ’90s and 2000s, whether as a DJ, label owner or producer. Carter’s productions and remixes advance the spirit of classic house in their bumpy drum programming, soulful vocals, and mischievous electronic accents; his Classic label—co-founded in 1995 with Luke Solomon—is responsible for some of the most beloved and, yes, classic songs in the canon.