DJ Rafik 2007 World DMC Champion October 9, 2007
Posted by tablist in DMC World, Events, Turntablists.1 comment so far
A new DMC World Champion has been crowned at Indig02 on the 7th of October 2007. Congratulations to DJ Rafik of Germany who proved the most skillful turntablist of the night. Not to say there wasn’t some tough competition from DJ Fly, Yasa and Australia’s own Perplex.
Check out the video of Rafik’s the winning routine below.
An interesting piece of trivia is that Rafik apparently teamed up with producer Le Jad to prepare / produce his set (just as Netik did for his 2006 winning DMC set). Seems like Le Jad is the man to be working with these days.
The official results were as follows:
1st – Rafik (Germany)
2nd – Yasa (Japan)
3rd – Fly (France)
Congratulations to all contestants involved.
UK DMC Finals 2007 June 27, 2007
Posted by tablist in DMC World, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
While I’m here wallowing in the DMC Championships of the past – the 2007 Championships are well on the way. This week brings the UK finals to the Shepherds Bush Empire. The best turntablists from around the UK have fought it out in the regional heats and will be battling for the title of UK DMC Champion and a chance at taking the coveted World DMC Title. The regional heat winners from Bristol to Birmingham and Liverpool to London include X-Rated, Rasp, Mr Eclipse, Andy H, Furious P and JFB. Which one will be representing the UK in the Worlds this year? I know I’ll be there to find out.
The night is hosted by Cutmaster Swift, Trip and DJ Billy Biznizz, and will feature performances from DJ Netik (Defending World DMC Champion), DJ Tigerstyle (2003 Battle for World Supremacy Champion), DJ Troubl’ and Beardyman. With a line up like this and many bloodthirsty DJ’s it is sure to be a huge night.
Tickets are £12.50 available from DMCWorld.com , www.ticketweb.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.co.uk
See you there!
Dedicated Beatheads Unite! June 7, 2007
Posted by tablist in Mixtapes, Production, Turntablists.add a comment
I was over at the old turntable radio site today, and to my pleasure they have posted a new podcast. This month it has been taken over by DJ Scientist & DJ Snatchatec AKA The Dedicated Beatheads. The podcast features a smooth new Turntable Radio intro thanks to DJ Baku, I personally quite like the dark beat with the layered melodic sounds – nice work on that one Baku and TTR.
The rest of the podcast that follows definitely excites, with beats & shards of scratches that encompass a newer sound of turntablism production that grabs you. In some ways it reminds me of a style that is something similar to Ninja Tune thrown into a blender with Q-Berts Wave Twisters. A fair portion of the cast is an excerpt from The Dedicated Beatheads album Sound Convention Volume 1 but also contains tracks from the archives of DJ Scientist & DJ Snatchatec’s combined work.
Make sure you check out The Dedicated Beatheads podcast on Turntable Radio. Check out The Dedicated Beatheads website for more info on and to buy Sound Conventions Vol 1. Also check out the DJ Scientist & DJ Snatchatec individual websites for more of their work.
G-Smooth takes Denon DJ All Star title May 30, 2007
Posted by tablist in DJ G-Smooth, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
Australian turntablist DJ G-Smooth has collected yet another title to his name. G-Smooth took out the Australian title to go on and compete in the Asia Pacific finals in Bangkok, Thailand. Competing over 15-20 minutes each on two DNS3500 CD Players and a DNX1500S four channel mixer, the competition was tough but no match for the experienced tablist who wooed the judges and crowd with his impressive array of skills and knowledge of the equipment.
Usually feeling at home on his trusty battle set up of Technics 1200 MK II’s and SH-EX 1200 Mixer, he is no stranger to all forms of DJ equipment and will make use of whatever is at hand. Here’s a small caption about his set taken from the Denon website:
” G-Smooth began with an impressive display of scratching and transforming pushing the limits of the DN-S3500 Active Platter and DN-X1500S Flex Fader. G-Smooth was clearly a battle DJ challenging all his opponents with some very good use of gangster movie samples and a confident stage performance. Great use of the hot starts for instant drumming and impressive beat juggling placed G-Smooth as top contender for the competition.” Read More.
With an extra title now under his belt and the World DMC’s looming, all we can do is wait and see what G-Smooth has up his sleeve next.
For more info on G-Smooth and his current work check his MySpace Page.
An intimate night with DJ Shadow May 28, 2007
Posted by tablist in DJ Dexter, DJ Shadow, Events, Hip Hop, Turntablists.add a comment
Loaded and Triple R present
An intimate night with
DJ SHADOW & MC Gift of Gab (Blackalicious)
Daddy G [Massive Attack] & Dexter
This is a rare showcase and tickets are strictly limited.
Full Live Visual Show feat. MC Gift Of Gab (Blackalicious)
Hailing from California’s Bay Area, the elite DJ Shadow is set to deliver a not-to-be-missed, distinctive live performance alongside longtime comrade Gift of Gab (Blackalicious) at Melbourne institution, The Forum, on June 7th.
Ensconced as one of San Francisco’s most instrumental personas in the Bay Area movement, DJ Shadow is the embodiment of the city’s spirit, a temperament paralleled by sister city Melbourne and articulated by Melburnians. Suitably, after his previous sell out Outsider tour, DJ Shadow invites MC Gift of Gab to be a part of a fresh, carefully crafted showcase for Melbourne, an audience armed with an artistic intellect to relish in the full spectrum of imagination and all it brings to light.
Shadow and Gift of Gab are a united creative force to be reckoned who share a sentiment for progressive independent artistry. They were fellow crew members in the early day and founders of the underground award winning hip hop label SoleSides later reinvented as hip hop collective Quannum Records; the label under which Gift of Gab (as one half of Blackalicious) released Nia (2000) and Blazing Arrow (2002) as well as first solo album 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (2004).
Perched alongside the current dons of the hip hop world including The Neptunes, Dr. Dre and Timbaland; DJ Shadow’s gamut of creative works range from trip hop and ethereal soundscapes through to rocking west coast hip hop, including his most recent collaboration with Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest).
DJ Shadow’s legendary live performance is an amazing spectacle enhanced by visuals, coupled with MC Gift of Gab, this is definitely a show that will leave you in awe and aching for more. And this may also be your last chance to see Shadow on these shores for several years to come so best be quick.
Catch the Shadow before he disappears!
Supported by heavyweights Daddy G [Massive Attack], Dexter and Mike Hunt.
DATE & VENUE
Thu June 7, Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders St, Melbourne
Box Office: (03) 9299 9700
SUPPORT. Daddy G, Dexter and Mike Hunt
TICKET OUTLETS.
$79 + BF. Available through www.loadedentertainment.com.au
Available through Ticketek – All stores 132 849
Central Station Records – Melbourne, Click n Drag – St Kilda, D M C Beats – South Yarra, Mighty Music Machine – Chapel St, Northside Records – Fitzroy, Polyester Records – Fitzroy
We live on a Hip Hop Planet… April 12, 2007
Posted by tablist in Hip Hop, Turntablism, Turntablists.add a comment
I found this article from National Geographic when browsing Remix Theory the other day (check it out some time).
It makes for very interesting reading. The reason for posting this on a turntablism site may be obvious to some but not others so I thought I would justify it. Basically the backbone of Hip Hop is the DJ as we all may have heard. But Hip Hop is made up of a number of elements; MCing, DJing, Graffiti, B-Boying and Beat Boxing (not to forget the others named by KRS-ONE; street fashion, street language, street knowledge, and street entrepreneurism). So, basically, turntablism is an integral part of the hiphop culture and without hiphop there might not be turntablism as it is today. What follows is a quote from the first page of the article;
Text and Image source: National Geographic, Interactive Edition, April 2007
Whether you trace it to New York’s South Bronx or the villages of West Africa, hip-hop has become the voice of a generation demanding to be heard.
“This is my nightmare: My daughter comes home with a guy and says, “Dad, we’re getting married.” And he’s a rapper, with a mouthful of gold teeth, a do-rag on his head, muscles popping out his arms, and a thug attitude. And then the nightmare gets deeper, because before you know it, I’m hearing the pitter-patter of little feet, their offspring, cascading through my living room, cascading through my life, drowning me with the sound of my own hypocrisy, because when I was young, I was a knucklehead, too, hearing my own music, my own sounds. And so I curse the day I saw his face, which is a reflection of my own, and I rue the day I heard his name, because I realize to my horror that rap—music seemingly without melody, sensibility, instruments, verse, or harmony, music with no beginning, end, or middle, music that doesn’t even seem to be music—rules the world. It is no longer my world. It is his world. And I live in it. I live on a hip-hop planet.
High-stepping
I remember when I first heard rap. I was standing in the kitchen at a party in Harlem. It was 1980. A friend of mine named Bill had just gone on the blink. He slapped a guy, a total stranger, in the face right in front of me. I can’t remember why. Bill was a fellow student. He was short-circuiting. Problem was, the guy he slapped was a big guy, a dude wearing a do-rag who’d crashed the party with three friends, and, judging by the fury on their faces, there would be no Martin Luther King moments in our immediate future.
There were no white people in the room, though I confess I wished there had been, if only to hide the paleness of my own frightened face. We were black and Latino students about to graduate from Columbia University’s journalism school, having learned the whos, whats, wheres, whens, and whys of American reporting. But the real storytellers of the American experience came from the world of the guy that Bill had just slapped. They lived less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from us in the South Bronx. They had no journalism degrees. No money. No credibility. What they did have, however, was talent.
Earlier that night, somebody tossed a record on the turntable, which sent my fellow students stumbling onto the dance floor, howling with delight, and made me, a jazz lover, cringe. It sounded like a broken record. It was a version of an old hit record called “Good Times,” the same four bars looped over and over. And on top of this loop, a kid spouted a rhyme about how he was the best disc jockey in the world. It was called “Rapper’s Delight.” I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. More ridiculous than Bill slapping that stranger.
Bill survived that evening, but in many ways, I did not. For the next 26 years, I high-stepped past that music the way you step over a crack in the sidewalk. I heard it pounding out of cars and alleyways from Paris to Abidjan, yet I never listened. It came rumbling out of boomboxes from Johannesburg to Osaka, yet I pretended not to hear. I must have strolled past the corner of St. James Place and Fulton Street in my native Brooklyn where a fat kid named Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, stood amusing his friends with rhyme, a hundred times, yet I barely noticed. I high-stepped away from that music for 26 years because it was everything I thought it was, and more than I ever dreamed it would be, but mostly, because it held everything I wanted to leave behind.
In doing so, I missed the most important cultural event in my lifetime.
Not since the advent of swing jazz in the 1930s has an American music exploded across the world with such overwhelming force. Not since the Beatles invaded America and Elvis packed up his blue suede shoes has a music crashed against the world with such outrage. This defiant culture of song, graffiti, and dance, collectively known as hip-hop, has ripped popular music from its moorings in every society it has permeated. In Brazil, rap rivals samba in popularity. In China, teens spray-paint graffiti on the Great Wall. In France it has been blamed, unfairly, for the worst civil unrest that country has seen in decades.
Its structure is unique, complex, and at times bewildering. Whatever music it eats becomes part of its vocabulary, and as the commercial world falls into place behind it to gobble up the powerful slop in its wake, it metamorphoses into the Next Big Thing. It is a music that defies definition, yet defines our collective societies in immeasurable ways. To many of my generation, despite all attempts to exploit it, belittle it, numb it, classify it, and analyze it, hip-hop remains an enigma, a clarion call, a cry of “I am” from the youth of the world. We’d be wise, I suppose, to start paying attention.”
Read the complete article at National Geographic, Interactive Edition. Definitely a great read for turntablists and hip-hop heads – check it.
(Posting theme music: DJ Goldenchyld – Ear Infections)
A 5-year young Turntablist September 25, 2006
Posted by tablist in Turntablism, Turntablists.1 comment so far
WOW! DJ A-Kidd – you da man. This is impressive. Keep it up and you are set to be a cornerstone of the future of turntablism. For more info on this up and comming DJ – see DJ P Gunz Myspace Page (his Dad).
Just imagine the skills he will accumulate over the next 20 years – or even 10. Step aside A-Trak, this kidd might just win a DMC title at a younger age than you!
Dj Craze Beat Juggling Set September 25, 2006
Posted by tablist in Beat Juggling, DJ Craze, Turntablists, Videos.3 comments
DJ Craze rips up a tight set. This guy has some crazy juggling skills. No wonder he has so many DMC Championships under his belt. Check out the DJ Craze website.
Gonna try and post some more turntablism videos soon. Keep posted.
2006 PBS DJ Competition September 25, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ G-Smooth, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
Numark and Akai Pro presented the 2006 PBS DJ competition held at First Floor last Friday the 15th of September.
Congratulations to G-Smooth in taking out the title and taking away the AKAI Pro MPC1000. G-Smooth has also previously claimed the titles: ITF Scratch / ITF Team / VIC Scribble Jam Champion and is slowly collecting more to his name. Make sure you keep an eye on this smooth tablist. G-Smooth MySpace page.
Heres a few more details obtained from the PBS Website about the 2006 PBS DJ comp:
PRIZES
1st Prize – AKAI Pro MPC1000
2nd Prize – Numark Fusion 494 CDJ Pack
3rd Prize – Numark DM 1050 Mixer
JUDGING CRITERIA BASED UPON:
1. Set flow and dynamics (strong emphasis)
2. Musicality and listenability
3. Technical merit, skills and tricks
4. Originality and creativity
5. Crowd reaction, stage presence
JUDGES:
DJ KC (3x AUS DMC champ, 5th DMC Worlds 1993, United DJ Mixing School)
Prowla (DJ, producer, artist, Nuffsaid Records)
DJ Manchild
DJ Mu-Gen
FORMAT
10 minute battle/party set. Strong emphasis on programming and set flow as well as tricks. Primary heat stage to be followed by a three person final to determine places and prizes for first through third.
For more info about 2006 PBS DJ Comp and other events sponsored by PBS visit their website pbsfm.org.au
2006 World DMC Championship Results September 14, 2006
Posted by tablist in DMC World, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
The 2006 World DMC Championship Results are in. Congratulations to DJ Netik in taking out the World DJ Championship. Well deserved.
The results were as follows:
WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st: Netik (France)
2nd: Yasa (Japan)
3rd: Rafik (Germany)
BATTLE FOR WORLD SUPREMACY
1st: DJ Coma (Japan)
2nd: Troubl’ (France)
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
1st: C2C (France)
2nd: Disablists (UK)
Congratulations also go out to DJ Coma and C2C for taking the Battle for World Supremacy and Team Championship titles respectively. C2C have now won three team championships in a row! These guys are unstoppable!
Discuss this years World DMC Championships in the turntablist forum
See the DMC World site for more info, results and photos
2006 Australian DMC Results August 15, 2006
Posted by tablist in DMC World, Events, Turntablism, Turntablists.1 comment so far
The Australian DMC DJ Championship finals were held last Saturday 12th of August at Hi Fi bar. The heat was on and competition strong as the competitors battled it out for the Australian title and a trip to London to compete for the World title.
The results were as follows:
1st: Perplex
2nd: Snair
3rd: G-Smooth
All three of the top place holders performed excellent sets. The judges would have had a very difficult job in deciding the winner but Perplex proved to be the better tablist (I would be interested to see the score breakdown). Congratulations Perplex and good luck at the Worlds.
Props to G-Smooth who had the crowd bouncin with a bangin’ set. He arguably deserved second (if not first) place. Watch out for this guy – won’t be too long till he will be sent to the worlds – he got skillzz.
DJ Shadow – Walkie Talkie clip July 25, 2006
Posted by tablist in Beat Juggling, DJ Shadow, Scratching, Turntablists, Videos.add a comment
With DJ Shadow playing in Melbourne this week I thought it appropriate to post some work of his. This is the Walkie Talkie filmclip of DJ Shadows infamous album The Private Press.
Be sure to hear about his gig here on turntablism.com.au
QBert Kryptonite Turntablism July 13, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ QBert, Scratching, Turntablism, Turntablists, Videos.7 comments
Watch the all time master of turntablism tear it up for 8 minutes. The technique, the style…it is from another planet. I need one of those crystals.
DJ Shadow @ The Palace – July 25/26 June 18, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ Shadow, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
DJ Shadow / Mos Def Australia & New Zealand Tour
Tour dates and venues:
- July 22, 2006 Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay, Australia
- July 23, 2006 Hordern Pavilion Sydney, Australia
- July 25, 2006 The Palace Melbourne, Australia SOLD OUT
- July 26, 2006 The Palace Melbourne, Australia
- July 28, 2006 St. James Auckland, New Zealand
- July 29, 2006 Townhall Wellington, New Zealand
- July 31, 2006 The Barton Theatre Adelaide, Australia
- Aug 2, 2006 Metro City Perth, Australia
FIRST MELBOURNE SHOW HAS SOLD OUT
[See inthemix.com.au for more details and to buy tickets]
More Info on the DJ Shadow / Mos Def Tour
DJ Shadow 2nd show *July 26* The OUTSIDER Tour presented by Michael Coppels and inthemix
Hip hop master DJ Shadow returns to Australia in July for a stunning set of shows to highlight his upcoming new album, “The Outsider”, due for a late July release.
As well as the ground-breaking beats and innovative video for which he’s renowned, Shadow’s live set will feature vocalist/MC’s, Lateef Daumont and Chris James.
Joining Shadow in Sydney for what will be the block-rocking hip-hop double bill of the year is pioneering consciousness rapper/actor, Mos Def.
DJ Shadow / Mos Def Tour June 18, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ Shadow, Events, Turntablists.add a comment
DJ Shadow
10 years ago, Josh Davis, aka DJ SHADOW, dropped a bomb on the music world in the form of “Entroducing” – following that up with 2002’s most innovative album “The Private Press” – which confirmed his position as one of the world’s most progressive producer/DJ’s.
In 2002 DJ SHADOW not only sold out every show on his all too brief visit to Australia – including 3 nights at Melbourne’s Forum – but he brought down the house each night to a thunderous, rabid and rapturous response. Armed with 3 video screens, a couple of decks, cd players, sampler and laptop, SHADOW produced a rocking show that not only displaying his formidable mixing, scratching & tweaking skills, but also his love of music.
SHADOW has been in the studio putting down tracks for his new album, entitled “The Outsider” Outsider”, and has warned his fans to expect a “risky record, very different” to 2002’s ‘The Private Press’ Press’. Says Shadow: “The album is very diverse, and reflects the fact that I don’t fit comfortably in any one genre. My critics see that as a problem, but I don’t…it’s simply the way things are. I’ve never really fit into any one clique. That’s why the album is called ‘The Outsider’ Outsider’. …I can’t see playing it safe at this point in my life.” He added “there’s songs on this album that I think blow away almost anything else I’ve ever done”.
Mos Def
Joining DJ SHADOW in Sydney and Melbourne is the one and only MOS DEF. One of hip-hop’s most promising newcomers in the late 90’s, Mos Def has continued to expand his reach.
After establishing himself as an actor, Mos Def extended his artistic horizons by turning to rap music. He began by affiliating himself with the local New York hip-hp scene, appearing on tracks by such esteemed groups as De La Soul and da Bush Babees.
In 1998 Mos Def collaborated with Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek to release “Black Star” which shook up the hip-hop community and became one of the most discussed rap albums of its time. Drawing on the socially conscious, thoughtful rap music to celebrate Afrocentricity rather than gangsta-ism, Mos Def became championed as a genuinely important MC in an age of gangstas and angry thugs.
A year later he backed it up with his first solo effort, Black On Both Sides, again garnering further attention and praise.
In the early 2000’s, he returned to acting, appearing in several films including the critically acclaimed Monster’s Ball. He began working on the Black Jack Johnson project with several iconic black musicians – keyboardist Bernie Worr (Parliament/Funkadelic), guitarist Dr Know (Bad Brains), drummer Will Calhoun (Living Colour) and bassist Doug Wimbish (Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Living Colour), culminating in the 2004 release of his 2 nd solo album, “The New Danger”.
DJ Babu – Duck Season Vol. 1 June 11, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ Babu, Mixtapes, Turntablists.1 comment so far
Here is a small excerpt of DJ Babu – Duck Season Vol. 1. Check it out – its an excellent mix tape for the turntablists and hip hop heads alike.
I am using a little widget I found at radioblogclub.com.
Souls of Mischief @ Prince Bandroom May 27, 2006
Posted by tablist in Events, Turntablists.add a comment
SOULS OF MISCHIEF (USA)
Tickets Buy Tickets
Adult (Standing) $30.00Times
2nd July : 9pm
From the legendary Hieroglyphics Crew out of Oakland, CA
Phesto, A-Plus, Tajai, Opio are the mighty
SOULS OF MISCHIEF
+ special guests N’FA (1200 Techniques) with Band & REASON feat. PAC D and DJ 563(UK)
on Friday 2nd June
Tickets $30 + booking fee from Missing Link, Central Station, Polyester, Greville, Obese Records, Prince of Wales public bar (cash only 12 noon – 9pm, 7 days), phone book 03 9536 1168 (credit card only, 10am – 6pm Mon – Fri) or book online here now!
Doors 9pm
VENUE: Prince of Wales, Bandroom
29 Fitzroy St (Cnr Acland St), St Kilda, VIC 3182
PHONE: (03) 95361168
Grandmaster Flash @ The Forum May 21, 2006
Posted by tablist in Events, Turntablists.add a comment
Falcon Touring Presents…
GRANDMASTER FLASH
plus
DEXTER [DMC Champ]
and Mike Hunt
SATURDAY JUNE 3RD, 2006
Forum Theatre
154 Flinders St Melb
Over 18s Only. ID is required.
Doors open 8pm
Tix $49+BF and strictly limited
available through
Ticketek – All stores 132849
Polyester Records – Fitzroy – (03) 9419 5137
Northside Records – Fitzroy – (03) 9417 7557
D M C Beats – South Yarra – (03) 9824 1211
Central Station Recs – Melbourne – (03) 9642 5744
Source: Hardwarecorp Website (for more details)
Scratching & Beat Juggling Videos February 10, 2006
Posted by tablist in DJ Netik, Turntablists, Videos, ie.MERG.add a comment
Yo! The infamous Choppa_HeAvy pointed towards a dope site; Hand Control. They have HEAPS of crazy scratching, beat juggline and battle videos of turntablists such as; ie.MERG, Netik, D-Styles, Mike Bookie, Toadstyle and the Birdy Nam Nam crew. This joint has the most freely available, decent quality Turntablism Videos I’ve seen on the net. Take note of, and bookmark their video section – some crazy dope shit there. ie.MERG shows off his tight beat jugging skills and classy cuts in DJ Craze’s Miami Studios. Netik’s flawless scratching routines never fail to please – gotta love his style. These guys have a NICE collection – check it out. Also worth noting are the Audios and Loops/Players sections. Definately worth checkin out! Two faders up T T.
Old School Turntablism November 24, 2005
Posted by tablist in Turntablism, Turntablists.add a comment
Hip-hop turntablism can be traced to the 1970s, if not earlier. DJ Grand Mixer DXT is credited with inventing turntablism(though other sources credit Grand Wizard Theodore), the rhythmic scratching of a record on a turntable, then using different velocities to alter the pitch of the note or sound on the recording, making the turntable a fully performable and improvisational instrument (Alberts 2002).
One of the earliest academic studies of the turntable (White 1996) argued for its designation as a legitimate electronic musical instrument — a manual analog sampler — and described turntable techniques such as backspinning, cutting, scratching and blending as basic to the repertoire of the virtuoso hip hop DJ. White demonstrated that the proficient hip hop DJ must possess many of the same skills required by trained musicians, including a keen sense of timing, sharply-developed hand-eye coordination, technical competence and creativity with his material.
New DJs/turntablists/crews like Roc Raida, Q-Bert, Gunkhole, A-Trak, Noisy Stylus, D-Styles,, Birdy Nam Nam and Kid Koala owe a distinct debt to Old School DJ’s like DJ Kool Herc, Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and DJs of the “Golden Era of Hip-Hop�?, who originally developed many of the concepts and techniques that evolved into modern turntablism.
