Zach Sciacca, better known as Z-Trip, founder of the mash-up and one of America’s most influential DJs, is stoked. In less than an hour, he will walk on to the Red Bull Music Academy’s stage of Movement. Although a fixture at festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella, he’s never played this one. And he can’t wait to get it started. “Musically,” he says, “you can get away with murder in Detroit. They are so enlightened here that you can play whatever you want and they’ll go along with you.”

But before he goes on, there’s an interview to do. An intensely political person, he had talked last summer, at Electric Daisy Carnival, Los Angeles’ big summer rave, about the election, whose outcome was not yet a foregone conclusion, and how nervous he had been about the outcome. This time around, I wondered if he seen the trickle-down effects of hope filter into cities like Detroit yet.

“For a long time during the election I was nervous because of who we’ve been as a country. The face of it, anyway,” he says. “I knew my people were going to do the right thing, but I didn’t know exactly who my people were. So once people in the Midwest and other places chimed in, it was good to see the tide turn, and to see so many people embrace the change. I mean, just look at it now. The GOP is a skeleton of itself.

“So we got over the big bump. And I relaxed a bit. But Obama has inherited the worst possible situation. The biggest joy for me in the election was his press conferences. We at last have a leader who can speak and be engaged and open minded. It was proof that opportunity for real change is there. But I just worry if people are going to hang in and give him the time he needs.”

The problem now, he fears, is how people manage their expectations regarding the stark realities facing the country. “It’s still unclear how much leeway people will give the [Obama team], or how fast they expect solutions.

“Personally, deep down I don’t feel that things are going to get better until the winter. We still have a lot of shit to eat. The train is moving so hard and so fast that the crashing isn’t going to be over until the last car in the train slams into the wall. So I’m hoping a lot of people won’t judge him too fast or minimize exactly what we’re up against. Because we’re not out of the woods yet.”

Nowhere is this process more critical than in Detroit. “Detroit may be the most broken city, but there is so much pride here that I wouldn’t write it off. It’s the underdog and, as one myself, I relate to that and root for them.

“That’s why I was so excited to play this festival and why I’m planning on leaning on Detroit a little bit tonight. There are some songs that I usually play but for the most part, this one’s going to be special. I think they need it, and I hope they love it. Because for me, whether it’s Motown, the rock that has come from here or the techno, I think that the flower that grows out of the concrete here is the city’s music. This festival is the ambassador of that.”

It is also a city that doesn’t expect special favors or outside assistance. “Detroit has that ‘we’re going to make that happen’ attitude, and I champion that. So I want to tell Detroit that I get it and I don’t take it for granted. For me, this is like going to the Motherland on a pilgrimage.”

Then it was time to go to work. The Red Bull Music Academy Stage was already packed for RJD2′s stunning set but the surprise freestyle jam between the two was just a prelude to a 90-minute “exorcism” that had the crowd mesmerized from the start to the end. Later that night, his performance was the the talk of every elevator and lobby in Detroit. He killed it, in front of thousands of accomplices, happily giving him as much rope as he wanted.

Words by Neil Feineman, photos by Dustin Downing, Additional photos by Joe Gall

Photo Gallery by Dustin Downing

Additional Galleries by Joe Gall