Ballroom Beatz Creator, Icon DJ Vjuan Allure Has Reportedly Died

News broke on social media Monday night that Dj Vjaun Allure St. Laurent, an icon in the ballroom scene credited with helping to pioneer the current sound of balls, died. There is little known about his death but he was in his late 30s.

With the tag of "Vjaun Allure Magnifique Elite Beats" at the start of many of his tracks, Allure helped to move the ballroom community on from Masters at Work's "The Ha Dance" and the classic tracks that were popular at the time. 21 years ago, he began crafting and remixing tracks specifically for ballroom, effectively creating a new genre -- this began in 2000 with a track that has come to be known as "The Allure Ha." The sound, which sampled "The Ha Dance," has become the go-to sound for vogue fem.

His work goes back further though, as Allure had been DJing for about a decade prior to that. He started Djing in Naples, Italy while he was there on an exchange program. His work in the ballroom scene and as a DJ has seen him travel all over the world often as a DJ but sometimes also as an educator. His sound, so pervasive that he has been called in as a collaborator of various projects outside of the scene as well.

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" Our roots are drenched in the beat - no matter what genre a beat will make us all move any race, creed, or color," he once told Tenz magazine about the enduring appeal of house music and disco. "House and disco kept that beat and delivered messages of all kinds - joy, love, peace, hope, even bad news, and sadness. They've lifted our spirits and opened our minds and continue to do so. It is definitely the feeling in these songs."

In 2016, RuPaul released Butch Queen, his sixth original studio album. The project was produced by Allure as well as Matt Moss and Ellis Miah. Allure is featured heavily on the album, with five tracks. Among them are "Category Is ..." and "Feel Like a Woman." He reportedly met RuPaul in Washington D.C., when he played for one of the host's appearances. At the time he slid him a CD and Ru later emailed the producer through his website. He has also worked with Missy Elliott, Ashanti, Ultra Nate, Cazwell, Diplo's Mad Decent/Jeffres Records, Bok Bok's Nigh Slugs Records, Mike Q, Gangsta Boo, Marcello Niespolo, DJ Simi, Harmonica Sunbeam, Sahara Davenport, and more.

As someone who could still be spotted DJing balls all over the world, a smiling face in the DJ booth or even sometimes voguing a little bit behind the boards when his enthusiasm for his own mixes boiled over, his legacy and impact will never be forgotten.

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