Booty Bass-ics: DJ Tittsworth

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JESSE TITTSWORTH IS not a porn star.

Though his birth name is tailor-made for nudie flicks, Tittsworth is a DJ from D.C. who borrows from the club music of Baltimore to create a sound that's as raw as Charm City's filthiest minimalist-electro grooves but not as stuck in a rut. Where a pure B-more club track could feature a variation-free drum loop and a frequently raunchy vocal chant for two minutes — with the crowd going nuts for it throughout — Tittsworth's tunes draw on electronica as a whole.

"I was really into [drum 'n' bass] and a lot of forms of dance music for nearly a decade before my interests started to wander," he said. "D 'n' b and most [electronic dance music] at that time was super serious — a bunch of guys with their arms crossed, debating compression techniques. After a while I missed humor, light-hearted partying — girls! [laughs] That's when I started to venture into party-rocking by way of mixing many different genres."

After many mixtapes and 12-inches, Tittsworth has finally brought his eclectic booty bass-isms to a full-length CD, "Twelve Steps" (Plant Music). While Baltimore club music provides the basis for most of the tracks, Tittsworth's ear for hooks, melody and structure elevates the songs from clubland exclusivity. Plus, a collaboration with singing sisters Nina Sky and rapper Pitbull on "Here He Comes" — featuring a vocal melody lifted from Hall & Oates' "Maneater" — show Tittsworth isn't afraid to try and take B-more's sound out of the I-95 corridor (as well as the indie-hipster world) and nudge it closer to the mainstream.

Tittsworth's artistry and hard work are finally starting to pay off, too.

"When I first started to put my own club records out, there was a lot of early criticism from the [Baltimore] vets," he said. "Initially, I was seen as inauthentic — being from D.C. and being non-black certainly didn't make it any easier. ... As the times changed … I'd start to hear the comments change. ... Next thing you know, I'm DJing with these cats," including Baltimore club legends DJ Scottie B and DJ Technics.

Then again, if Tittsworth was never accepted by his peers, he could always quit DJing and go into porn.

» 9:30 Club, 815 V Street NW; with DJ Assault, Dave Nada, Will Eastman, Gavin Holland and Roll Wit Us All Stars, Fri., Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m., $15; 202-265-0930; 930.com. (U Street-Cardozo)

» For more of our Tittsworth interview, and to download two free mixtapes, visit our Sound Bets blog.

» FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING this weekend and read more stories like this one in Express' mighty Weekend Pass section, on newsstands Thursday.

Photos by Carleton Hall