In 2006, “Walk It Out” was the sound of clubs, school dances and car stereos across America, a sparse, bouncing record with a dance to go with it. The man behind it, the Atlanta rapper and DJ Anthony Platt, known as DJ Unk, died on January 24, 2025. He was 43. His wife, Sherkita Long-Platt, announced his death, and his former label, Big Oomp Records, called him a true ATL legend. No cause of death was immediately given.
Snap music
Platt grew up in Atlanta and started as a DJ before he began rapping. He signed with Big Oomp Records, a local label, and became one of the leading figures in snap music, a stripped-down Atlanta style built on finger snaps, deep bass and simple chants, made for dancing. Snap music spread from Atlanta’s clubs and skating rinks to national radio in the mid-2000s, alongside acts like D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz.
Walk It Out
“Walk It Out” climbed to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum. Its remix featured André 3000 of OutKast and Jim Jones, a sign of how far the song had travelled. Unk followed it with “2 Step”, another dance hit, and his album Beat’n Down Yo Block! In the same period he worked with artists including T-Pain.
Illness
In 2009 Platt had a heart attack, which he later blamed on stress, constant touring and an unhealthy lifestyle. He scaled back his career afterwards. By the time of his death he had been largely out of the spotlight for more than a decade, but Big Oomp Records and fellow Atlanta artists paid tribute to him as soon as the news was announced, a measure of how much the city still associated his name with its sound.
Snap music lasted only a few years as a craze, but “Walk It Out” outlived it. Almost two decades after its release, the song is still played whenever a DJ wants a whole room on its feet.