I’m sure what I’m saying isn’t anything new, but I’d like to rant my opinion about the digital movement and what kinds of personal reactions I’ve experienced in the last 4 years. With the music recording industry completely evolving to digital, it’s no surprise that Serato Scratch Live was released. I was completely clueless as to what was so appealing about it because I walked around with blinders on, still spinning vinyl and collecting (BTW, I now have Serato – it beats lugging crates; however, DJ principles still don’t change for me). About 4 years ago, I still remember spinning at a club and lugging my vinyl for the gig. I did a lot of live blends and mixed out quickly into the next song – something I always prided in doing. The other DJ spinning was using Serato, and I remember when I finished my set, he came up to me and was like, “Yo, I didn’t know you were doing that live – people can do it that fast?” I know all of you old school/vinyl DJ’s are already rolling your eyes with this question. This is where my rant shall begin.
What is it about this type of question that makes me irritated? Is it the fact that pure Serato DJ’s don’t respect where DJing came from? Is it the fact that someone else is getting paid for just being able to do simple, sloppy, compilation mixes? Is it the fact that the lack of basic turntable skills ruins the image of talented DJ’s to the general public? Yes, yes, and yes.
You see, I got into DJing solely based on just wanting to scratch. That’s all I practiced the first year. Oddly enough, I never learned how to mix music until shortly after.
What comes to your mind when you look on a flyer and it says “Old School” music all night? Given the musical terrain and fan base of today, I’m saddened to think that in my mind, you might think of stuff from the late late 90’s. Paperboy’s Ditty or Puff Daddy's All About the Benjamins (yes, that was his name before Diddy) is not old school. By definition, "Old School" hip-hop ended around 1984 when Run DMC broke out into mainstream. Artists like Afrika Bambaataa, The Treacherous Three, Funky Four Plus One, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, are true old school where rhymes were more party based and used relatively few syllables per bar of music.
"New School" hip-hop then covers everything from Public Enemy to Jay-Z to Lil’ Wayne, and most fans of hip-hop are familiar with this movement. This travels from political expression to ghetto stories to multi-syllable rhymes.
1. If you see us bobbing our head in deep concentration, DON’T BOTHER US. We’re trying to mix in the next song and incessant waving and looming isn’t helping.
2. Unless you’re at a wedding, high school Homecoming, or karaoke bar, DO NOT ask for requests. We have things called “sets” where we previously pick a list of songs to play with very intricate transitions and mixing, so we’re not going to abandon that for your Top 40 Radio Song. Would you walk up to a band on stage and ask them to play “Single Ladies by Beyonce” all night? Nuff said.
3. No, I will not let you, your cousin, or your friend get on the turntables to DJ. That’s like me coming up to you at a traffic light asking, “Can I drive your car?” Your dude may be DMC World Champion, but I’m not getting some total stranger on my $3000 equipment.
