NYC: DJ Cam / DMC Championships

Michael Aregood (maregood@comcastpc.com)
Mon, 17 Aug 1998 11:40:42 -0400

Greetings all. Yea i agree with Nat about this DJ Cam thing. Although i
find it hard to come down too hard on a dj if i had a good time. I was
really bent on hearing some blunted jazz shit though (isn't that why
anyone would go see him?!!!!) I don't get it, this is the second time
this has happened. I found it incredibly amusing that he had a mixing
bitch over there mixing records while he scratched! haha... anyway, i
guess having 4 turntables doesn't necessarily make you sound like DJ
Food. There is a certain dynamic that comes from a bit of spontaneity
and the two dj's playing off each other that was completely
non-existent. Aside from that though, there were some dope tracks that
were dropped, jungle and other wise. I hooked up with sandman (after
meeting a handful of other nappy headed black gentlemen! =)) and nick
from the list which was very cool, and had a great time. What's up
fellas! Nickodemus played a fat set which i was diggin' more than Cam's.
Lot of instrumental fat beats, leaning towards the electronic side,
Indian flavors, bit of jungle, and dope ass conga's and worldly
percussions throughout, coming in and disappearing to reappear later.
all flowing.

That was Thurs. But Saturday.... Saturday was the goods! Irving Plaza
was the site of the 1998 Techniques 1200 USA DJ Championship, and it was
insane! Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, GrandMixer DXT, and Afrika
Bambatta (who wasn't there) were all inducted into the DJ hall of fame
and got up and gave the lowdown on the events surrounding the invention
of mixing, repeating the break, and scratching. Very cool. Roc Raida,
Jazzy Jeff, Crazy Legs as well as many others i am forgetting were in
attendance. There was a team of dancer/breakers that were unreal (one
guy looked like he was going into a seizure while standing up, under
water) I wasn't into the one hip hop act that came out, they looked like
a bunch of construction workers and shouted and swore much louder than
the music. wack. Menelik performed and that was cool... and Cash Money
(Philly in the house!) played a set to get the crowd hyped. All the
contestants were good. My favs were Doh Boy, ShortCut, and Craze. Dj
Dummy had a sample that attacked 4 of the DJ's personally which was
hilarious... I think he used Big Daddy Kane to tell the one kid to go
back to Kansas... haha. The Beat Junkies rocked shit on four turntables
and it was mindblowing. aaaanyway. 1st place champion. DJ Craze. 2nd DJ
Shortcut. 3rd DJ Dummy. An amazing, amazing night. Probably not so much
for my girlfriend who i dragged there. (she likened it to a beauty
contest! AAARRRGGGGHH.)

argo