Miss Dre’s discography includes a multitude of hard-hitting house heaters, drawing inspiration from genres like tech house, techno, and even bass music. Since putting out her first song in 2018, the San Francisco-based artist has quickly risen the ranks, playing HARD Summer, Day Trip, Diplo’s Higher Ground, and receiving support from Justin Martin, Gene Farris, and Claude VonStroke in the past year alone.



Dig deep into the sound of this skyrocketing DJ, producer, and singer who is garnering the attention of tastemaker labels Dirtybird, Psycho Disco, Farris Wheel, and Country Club Disco. Read on for five of Miss Dre’s top tunes.



1. Something Special





This tune made its debut in early 2022 via Gene Farris-helmed label Farris Wheel. “Something Special” is indeed just that. In her Gray Area Spotlight interview, Miss Dre excitedly explained that the single has “been received really well, [it] got a lot more engagement than I thought” and that it “was really fun to make.” Currently charting as Miss Dre’s best-selling song on Beatport, it’s clear “Something Special” is a standout track from the triple-threat.


2. Club Cravings





This track from Miss Dre’s Country Club Disco EP “was super inspired by the wants and intentions of people when they go into a club and what they're needing out of a club environment.” This mindset helped Miss Dre hone in on the core motif of the song, with the artist sharing that this thought process was what set off “Club Cravings.”


3. Technocality





One of Miss Dre’s biggest hits, “Technocality” happened to be one of her most intuitive creations as well. “[The song] was so easy for me to write, it almost wrote itself,” she said. “I was having a lot of fun with that one. When I was making it, I could hear the tonality, and I knew it would be picked up by one of my top record labels.” When Gene Farris let Miss Dre know that he did, in fact, want to release “Technocality,” it affirmed the Bay Area DJ and producer’s initial feelings around the single. “It was funny, I had this sense of knowing,” she said.


4. Give It To Ya





Miss Dre has a unique ability to predict the future success of singles like “Give It To Ya,” released on Psycho Disco. Similar to her experience getting “Technocality” picked up by Farris Wheel, she explains that she’s “had that intuition sometimes with other tracks. With ‘Give It To Ya,’ I knew it was going to get picked up by Psycho Disco. Sometimes you just know.”


5. Follow Me ft. Niles Shepard





Miss Dre reached Beatport’s #1 spot with “Follow Me,” her collaboration with Niles Shepard released on Slothacid. Prominently featuring Miss Dre’s sultry, magnetic vocals, the story of how the song came together explains the simplicity and fluidity behind it. “Jim and Cam [aka Niles Shepard] sent me the track," she said. "It was probably 80% done, they did most of the production on that one. They had the vocals already in mind, and they hit me up to record an idea. I did it in five minutes, and that was kind of that. [It was an] easy collab.”

5 House Tracks by Miss Dre Sure to Ignite the Dancefloor 

Every artist has a moment in which they realize they want to pursue their chosen craft. Tech house DJ, producer, and vocalist Miss Dre (real name Drea Kaplan) fell in love with dance music watching a set from Dirtybird darling Justin Martin.




Attending the 2014 iteration of Northern Nights in the California Redwoods to hear bass music artists spin, a young Drea was unexpectedly introduced to the heady four-four rhythms of house from the San Francisco tastemaker. Eight years following her fateful journey to music festival Northern Nights, she is now providing direct support for Justin Martin, with the legendary house music mainstay requesting her to open for him and rinsing her tracks in his own DJ sets.



Miss Dre speaks highly of Martin, recalling the path that set her down this course. “It’s honestly synchronicity,” she said during Gray Area’s Spotlight interview. “I met his girlfriend three years ago. I didn't even know it was his girlfriend, we just clicked. She started supporting me and we became good friends. Then he came to a show of mine, and he's just so incredible. He's so nice, so humble, and just a sweetheart.”





Martin’s support of new artists helped Miss Dre to find her footing in the house scene, including him eventually asking her to rework “Lezgo” for the 10-year anniversary remix pack for his debut album on Dirtybird, Ghettos and Gardens. “It's very full circle and endearing,” she says. “He definitely [played] a big part in me wanting to produce house music.”



To other budding house heads, Miss Dre effuses on the impact Justin Martin has had on her love of the genre and eventual career in the music industry as an artist and songwriter. “He makes very diverse music; he's able to be very eclectic,” she says. “How can you not like it? It's very easy to listen to. If someone is a newbie to house music, I recommend Justin Martin. You can't not like him.”

Miss Dre’s Full-Circle Moment with Dirtybird Star Justin Martin

As a steadily rising name in dance music, Miss Dre is igniting the charts with singles released by legends like Gene Farris and Claude VonStroke. A tastemaker in her own right, she is keeping an ear out for the future of house music. Read on for the artists Miss Dre thinks could be about to blow up.


1. Amara





Amara is a favorite of Miss Dre’s. ”She's so talented,” the San Francisco-based DJ, producer, and vocalist said during her Gray Area Spotlight interview. Soulful, eclectic rhythms are a staple of Amara’s sets, heard at Dinah Shore, Vancouver Pride, and Outfest. A fun fact: Amara once guested on Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project, playing a DJ.


2. HoneyLuv





Miss Dre cites Honeyluv as a major inspiration, saying, “She's really starting to climb the charts.” 2022 was a landmark year for the former basketball player and US Navy sailor, peaking with performances at EDC Las Vegas and HARD Summer as well as her own North American tour.


3. Adapter





Adapter is frequently rinsed in Miss Dre’s sets, and she professes that she “loves his style of production.” The Italian DJ, producer and Dirtyclub party founder has played alongside techno stars like Adam Beyer and received support from Richie Hawtin and Loco Dice, among a slew of others.



4. Hannah Laing





Having released tunes on Solardo’s Sola, Patrick Topping’s TRICK, Jax Jones Presents, and Spinnin’ Records, Hannah Laing is an unstoppable force. The Scottish DJ has received the acclaim of Pete Tong and Danny Howard, played residencies in Ibiza, and had tracks supported by FISHER and Peggy Gou.


5. Maxinne





Australia-born, UK-based DJ and producer Maxinne is on Miss Dre’s radar for her energetic sound. It has landed her releases on Farris Wheel, Circus Recordings, and Hot Since 82’s Knee Deep in Sound. Maxinne recently guested on the latter artist’s radio show, giving listeners a taste of her heavy tech-house sound.



6. Zendlo





Miss Dre collaborated with Zendlo in 2021’s “What You Do,” dropping the red-hot vocal house track on Jauz’s Bite This! label. The Salt Lake City native has previously released on Insomniac Records, Box of Cats, Sink or Swim, and Techne, among others.



7. Wongo





Millions of plays on Spotify later, Australian producer, DJ, label head, and Need2Freak party founder Wongo is a name that ought to sound familiar. Wongo has worked with Yolanda Be Cool and A-Trak in addition to running the buzzy label Box of Cats.



8. Siege





Belgian DJ and producer Siege is an alum of record labels Toolroom, Saved Records, Truesoul, and We Are The Brave. He has previously remixed Weiss’ smash hit “Feel My Needs” in addition to garnering support from Franky Rizardo and Hot Since 82, to name a few of the artists on board with his unique tech house grooves.



9. Jeff Service





Scorching-hot house beats are coming out of Phoenix, Arizona courtesy of Jeff Service’s sound. The Ficus Tree Music label owner is well known in the underground house scene for rolling, peak-time tunes like “Cold Shoulder.”



9 Up-and-Coming House Artists Miss Dre Thinks You Should Know

Miss Dre (real name Drea Kaplan) is known to most for her hard-hitting tech house sound as a producer, vocalist, and DJ. She has released on renowned labels like Farris Wheel, HARD Records, My Techno Weighs a Ton, and many more over the course of her career.





Hits like “Technocality” and “Down Like Me” didn’t always come easily to Miss Dre, however. Like other great producers, she had to find her footing as a musician first. “When I turned 20, I got my first DAW, Logic,” she said during Gray Area’s Spotlight interview. “I was dabbling, trying to figure it out. Production did not come easy for me. It took me a lot of work to learn to produce and make a good track that keeps dancers engaged. After two years, I moved to Ableton, and I felt way more creative. Then, I got a mentor and started going from there.”



Perfection takes time, even if a scroll through Instagram might make you think that every idea a producer like Miss Dre puts down is a winner. But that wasn’t the case for the Dirtybird flock member. She unveiled her first single "Down Like Me" on SoundCloud holding her breath, hoping for a hit. “I only released my first song after I'd made at least 100 tracks,” she says. “It was daunting for me to release my first track. I wanted people to perceive me as a good producer, but looking back in retrospect, you just need to get your first track out. Because it's just going to set you off, and you're going to make 1,000 more tracks after that one.”





Combating the imposter syndrome that comes with creativity is a challenge for everyone, even Miss Dre. She recalls that with the release of her first song, she was “so in my head, and now my sound doesn't even sound like that anymore” because “artists are always growing.” With hard work and dedication, Miss Dre has found her niche and has fully cemented herself as a tastemaker in tech house.


Miss Dre’s Advice to Producers: “You Just Need to Get Your First Track Out”

United States

MISS DRE

OCHO Episode 9

Talk to anyone in the San Francisco house music scene and they’re bound to know the name Miss Dre. In recent years her sphere of influence has grown much bigger than the Bay Area, however.

Her steady climb has landed songs of hers like “Give It To Ya” and “Something Special” on key house labels such as Psycho Disco and Farris Wheel, respectively. A prolific vocalist, she also sings on dance tracks—perhaps most notably Niles Shepard’s Beatport #1 “Follow Me” via Slothacid. Her tour schedule as a DJ has grown in step with her recordings, taking her to cities across the US. Miss Dre is a house music triple threat, and she’s just getting started.

Singing was her first musical pursuit, one she started exploring all the way back in elementary school. Miss Dre, whose real name is Drea Kaplan, picked up guitar soon after and dabbled in everything from R&B to punk rock.

By the time she was a teenager, bass music found its way into her musical awareness. Then, in 2014, she attended her first music festival: Northern Nights. It was there that she witnessed a DJ set by Dirtybird sweetheart 

, who was still soaring off the success of his debut artist album, 

 Experiencing his eclectic sound signature in a live setting opened her mind to the possibilities of house.

Justin Martin

“His house music was still kind of bassy, you know?” she says. “Since sonically it was bassy, it was easy for me to get into.”

Buzzing with inspiration, Miss Dre took it upon herself to learn how to produce music. She didn’t perfect her creative process overnight, though. “When I turned 20, I got my first DAW, Logic,” she says. “I messed with that for two years—it was honestly not very logical to me. I then moved to Ableton, and it was way easier.”

After two more years of honing her craft, Miss Dre produced a track she deemed worthy of calling her debut release. “Down Like Me” came out in 2018, and while she recalls feeling “a lot of frustration” while working on the track, it gave her the jumping off point she needed.

“That was the first track I ever released, after I’d made, like, 100 tracks,” she says. “It was probably just daunting for me releasing my first track, like it was a big deal because I wanted people to perceive me as a good producer. You look back in retrospect, and you just need to get your first track out. It’s going to set you off, and you’re going to make 1,000 tracks after that one.”

Miss Dre did indeed write many more tracks after that first release. Slowly but surely, she climbed the label ladder. "Sometimes you have big intentions, and then some record labels are like 'No, it's not for us,' and you get 20 more nos and wonder, 'Oh, dang, is this track gonna get picked up?'" she says. "And then finally, it gets picked up by one that's way bigger who you didn't expect to pick it up, and you're just like, 'Oh my God!'"

On the other side of that long journey, Miss Dre has grown much more confident in her path. She says that tracks like “Technocality,” her second single chosen by house tastemaker 

 for release on his Farris Wheel imprint, practically write themselves. Sometimes, she says she’ll even hear a project’s tones play back on her speakers and intuitively know which label will pick it up.

Gene Farris

This uncanny sort of kismet has become a common theme of Miss Dre’s rise. Justin Martin, who first whetted her appetite for house music eight years ago, now frequently supports her music and requests that venues book her to open for him. As if things couldn’t come any more full circle, he even enlisted her to reimagine “Lezgo” for a 

"Synchronicity and magic have played a big role in how I got integrated in this industry," Miss Dre says. "I met [Justin's] girlfriend, like, three years ago, and I didn't even know it was his girlfriend. We just met at housie and clicked, and then she started supporting me. We became good friends, and then he came to a show of mine—and he's just so incredible. He's so nice, so humble, and just a sweetheart. He supports a lot of younger," green artists.

There’s no denying that Miss Dre is making a long-lasting mark on house music. She’s not done, either—not by a long shot. Stay on the lookout for more from this emerging DJ-producer-singer-songwriter.

Gray Area Interview: Miss Dre

Talk to anyone in the San Francisco house music scene and they’re bound to know the name Miss Dre. In recent years her sphere of influence has grown much bigger than the Bay Area, however.

Read the full Spotlight: https://grayarea.co/artists/miss-dre/spotlight

▪️Follow Miss Dre▪️
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/missdremusic/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/missdremusic
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/4EFAuQI8Ou0bmpf5Vh1P5P?si=HKekInfuTsaeFPXfF_ztbw
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/miss_dre
Beatport - https://www.beatport.com/artist/miss-dre/700079

Connect with Gray Area:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/entergrayarea/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/enterGrayArea
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/entergrayarea
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@entergrayarea
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/3nGJIfQ
Website - https://grayarea.co

#grayarea #missdre #housemusic

Talk to anyone in the San Francisco house music scene and they’re bound to know the name Miss Dre. In recent years her sphere of influence has grown much bigger than the Bay Area, however.





Her steady climb has landed songs of hers like “Give It To Ya” and “Something Special” on key house labels such as Psycho Disco and Farris Wheel, respectively. A prolific vocalist, she also sings on dance tracks—perhaps most notably Niles Shepard’s Beatport #1 “Follow Me” via Slothacid. Her tour schedule as a DJ has grown in step with her recordings, taking her to cities across the US. Miss Dre is a house music triple threat, and she’s just getting started.





Singing was her first musical pursuit, one she started exploring all the way back in elementary school. Miss Dre, whose real name is Drea Kaplan, picked up guitar soon after and dabbled in everything from R&B to punk rock.



By the time she was a teenager, bass music found its way into her musical awareness. Then, in 2014, she attended her first music festival: Northern Nights. It was there that she witnessed a DJ set by Dirtybird sweetheart Justin Martin, who was still soaring off the success of his debut artist album, Ghettos & Gardens. Experiencing his eclectic sound signature in a live setting opened her mind to the possibilities of house.



“His house music was still kind of bassy, you know?” she says. “Since sonically it was bassy, it was easy for me to get into.”



Buzzing with inspiration, Miss Dre took it upon herself to learn how to produce music. She didn’t perfect her creative process overnight, though. “When I turned 20, I got my first DAW, Logic,” she says. “I messed with that for two years—it was honestly not very logical to me. I then moved to Ableton, and it was way easier.”



After two more years of honing her craft, Miss Dre produced a track she deemed worthy of calling her debut release. “Down Like Me” came out in 2018, and while she recalls feeling “a lot of frustration” while working on the track, it gave her the jumping off point she needed.



“That was the first track I ever released, after I’d made, like, 100 tracks,” she says. “It was probably just daunting for me releasing my first track, like it was a big deal because I wanted people to perceive me as a good producer. You look back in retrospect, and you just need to get your first track out. It’s going to set you off, and you’re going to make 1,000 tracks after that one.”



Miss Dre did indeed write many more tracks after that first release. Slowly but surely, she climbed the label ladder. "Sometimes you have big intentions, and then some record labels are like 'No, it's not for us,' and you get 20 more nos and wonder, 'Oh, dang, is this track gonna get picked up?'" she says. "And then finally, it gets picked up by one that's way bigger who you didn't expect to pick it up, and you're just like, 'Oh my God!'"



On the other side of that long journey, Miss Dre has grown much more confident in her path. She says that tracks like “Technocality,” her second single chosen by house tastemaker Gene Farris for release on his Farris Wheel imprint, practically write themselves. Sometimes, she says she’ll even hear a project’s tones play back on her speakers and intuitively know which label will pick it up.





This uncanny sort of kismet has become a common theme of Miss Dre’s rise. Justin Martin, who first whetted her appetite for house music eight years ago, now frequently supports her music and requests that venues book her to open for him. As if things couldn’t come any more full circle, he even enlisted her to reimagine “Lezgo” for a Ghettos & Gardens 10-year anniversary remix pack.





"Synchronicity and magic have played a big role in how I got integrated in this industry," Miss Dre says. "I met [Justin's] girlfriend, like, three years ago, and I didn't even know it was his girlfriend. We just met at housie and clicked, and then she started supporting me. We became good friends, and then he came to a show of mine—and he's just so incredible. He's so nice, so humble, and just a sweetheart. He supports a lot of younger," green artists.



There’s no denying that Miss Dre is making a long-lasting mark on house music. She’s not done, either—not by a long shot. Stay on the lookout for more from this emerging DJ-producer-singer-songwriter.



MISS DRE

Articles

Staley Sharples

Staley Sharples

Staley Sharples

Staley Sharples