Reid Speed began her DJ career in the New York City drum & bass underground. As a teenage raver full of passion for music she bought her turntables in early 1996 and began playing out less than a year later. Her early sets generated curiosity as one of few female DJs at the time but Reid quickly came to earn respect for her skills in the highly competitive NYC scene. By the summer of \'97 she was a resident of rave promoters Stuck on Earth and the following year a member of the Direct Drive crew.