It's something I have been meaning to write about for a long while now but didn't get round to it.
Although I haven't really listened to much hip hop over the last 6 years or so I still feel that the whole culture is embedded within me and would still consider myself a fan. The problem is I am still fascinated with how it was back in the early 80's until say 1998.
If you are a fan (new or old) I think you should check out Scratch. A film which was released back in 2001 and focuses on the music aspect of hip hop.
It covers almost all the important aspects of DJ'ing and turntablism which has been there from the very start. The "story" begins in the early 70's, and follows the evolution of turntablism as an art form up until early 2000.
It features a range of DJ's from Afrika Bambaatta to The Invisibl Skratch Piklz to DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist.
One of the highlights for me is The Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow sections. They both talk about the art of diggin for records which in my opinion is what a hip hop DJ was all about. Having that record that no one else had and covering the label so no one knew what the tune was when you drop that needle on it.
Cut even goes as far as explaining that when a friend of his travels around different cities he makes a point of ripping out all the record sections of the yellow pages so that no one else knows where the record stores are located. Genius.
I think it's that aspect which I loved.
Then Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike of the Invisibl Scratch Piklz came out with their own pressed battle weapon 12". Although Shadow in the documentary states this as being a giant leap forward, I'm not so sure if it was for the best. Here they removed the secrecy by allowing people to see what records they used and in effect were kind of challenging DJ's to buy these records and to try to come up with better routines.
I must admit I own a few battle weapons but looking back I think it was these records which slowly made me lose interest in the art form. Long gone were the days of searching for that rare disco or funk track as many of these were widely available on one single 12" or even album.
Then as technology advanced we were introduced to the likes of Serato - A vinyl emulation software application which allows manipulation and playback of digital audio files using traditional vinyl turntables or CD players.
DJ's now don't even have to carry bags of records and worry about things like warped records etc.
I recall an interview with Jazzy Jeff who highly recommended Serato saying when he travelled abroad it reduced his luggage and costs and he didn't have to worry about losing valuable records etc. I guess there are pros and cons to this but I feel a lot of DJ's are using these types of software as an aid to help them DJ. Alot come with build in bpm counters and some even mix the tunes for you. Now am I missing the point here but where is the fun in that??
I for one know I spent alot of time locked away in my bedroom as a kid practicing hard how to beat match and even harder practicing scratch routines. I enjoyed going out and searching for records, pulling them out of their sleeves to check if they were warped at all and then before DJ'ing sorting my records out, lining them up with stickers and checking the centre hole wasn't too big. DJ's like a small hole!!
It would be good to hear your thoughts on this subject - especially from the younger generation, as I may be missing something with the way technology has evolved. I just think alot of the fun has gone out of the art form.
Cheers
I Still like his work
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