I first saw this question at 8am in the morning on Tuesday and had to think
about it all day...here it is 11:30pm and I think I have a decent response.
To preface my reply I must say that everyone has a place and makes a
contribution to the universe. With that said, let me begin.
one who mixes, scratches, cuts, transforms, blends, and all the other things
that are yet un-named. Now, I grew up in West Philly (the home of the
pre-pop Jazzy Jeff and inventor of the transformer scratch) and I listened to
mix shows on the commercial and underground station...EVERYBODY did what I
described in my portrait of a DJ.
In addition, I had an Uncle (Disco Eddie) who DJ all of my family parties --
and they did a lot of that in the seventies and early eighties. I was to
young to party so my momma would always have me stay with Uncle Eddie while
he mixed all of the jams. So, at the tender age of 6 or 7, I'm handing my
uncle records as he spins.
With Philly Djs and my uncle as influences -- it only makes sense to me that
a DJ is someone who does all of those technical things to keep the party
moving.
You may get into semantics regarding DJs (it sort of like hip hop vs. rap)
but a guy like James Lavelle by virtue of being behind two turntables and
using a cross fader is "DJing." But technique-wise he's doing nothing more
than playing records...which is not a bad thing if the music that he is
playing transcends the absence of tight mixing.
I would personally be frustrated by a DJ like that because I'd be
thinking..."If I was doing this party, I'd mix this like that and that like
this and so on." But if James Lavelle has a strong fan base that appreciates
his just playing of records -- don't fix what ain't broke. Everyone is not
going to go through my though process because they aren't me and thinking
from a DJ's point of view.
I learned how to DJ on Hip Hop and R&B so when I started spinning acid-jazz,
I applied the techniques that I had learned to acid-jazz...I think that has
sort of set me apart from some djs and thus gotten me a lot of work.
(a rambling thought)
Before I got into acid-jazz, my record collection was pretty much the hip hop
and r&b of the day (read -- i didn't have the stellar jazz-funk and 70's r&b
cuts that drive people into a frenzy) so my mixing and acrobatics got me
over...I mean how do you make "Busta Move" by Young MC or "Let's Talk about
Sex" by Salt nPepa funky? By mixing the shit out of it and getting people
open on the skills. Now imagine if some of these guys who are so blessed
with these incredible record collections worked the turntables...instead of
having the music work for them...image how dope an experience that would be?
Ultimately (and personally), I'd like to see djs work for their money. Lazy
mixing or no mixing at all turns me off because I personally work up a sweat
everytime I spin and my back hurts when the night is over...but that's ME.
I'm not saying that I do turntable acrobatics all night because that can be
wack, but I work when I spin...I don't let 10 minute records play in their
entirety...I get to mixing! People pay to see that and if there was no
cover, people by another drink if the Dj is keeping them entertained. It is
like good karma.
It's been a while since I posted but I have to let you all know what I'm up
to...back on May 15th, I DJ'ed the De La Soul/Busta Rhymes party at Tramps in
NYC and just this past weekend, I DJ'ed an afterparty for an R&B awards show
in DC (party goers included the Roots, the JazzyFatNastees, Pete Rock, Chuck
D, Omar, Jazzie B, and get this Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown) talk about
pressure!!! I'm still doing Bar 6 on Wednesdays and Sundays with Wed being
Acid Jazz and Soul and Sunday being Soul Dance Classics and Old/New school
hip hop). On Saturdays I do a "upscale" cigar bar called Cafe Aubette.
nuff said
qool marv from the buttamilk farmly
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Hi you all!!
I'd like to start a discussion about the acidjazz/tr*p-h*p/jungle/... D.J.s
When i saw James "Mo' wax" Lavelle (who is suppossed to be one of the
best D.J.s) i realized he didn't mix anything, he just played one track
after another one. No technical exhibitions, no mixing masterlessons,...
just a fine selection of tunes that take everybody to the dancefloor. The
set contained lots of different stuff from the Beasties to Goldie through
The Clash(?) or the Wu Tan Clan crew.
Recently i read in a Spanish mag an interview to some Spanish D.J.s. One
of them said (and i agree) the most important thing is not the mixing
thing but to play the right stuff at the right time. Another d.j. replied
that is quite easy for people, like James Lavelle, who receive lots of
free white labels, promos,.. everyday, and he considered the mixing thing
as a very important part of the d.j. work.
I know there are many d.j.s in the list, so i'd like to know their
opinion. What do you do on the turntables? Do you try to mix and to be
creative or just to pay attention to the tunes selection?