turntablism | Musicosity

turntablism

DJ Krush

DJ Krush (Hideaki Ishii) was born in 1962 in Tokyo. At an early age, Ishii dropped out of school, and joined a local gang, and a few years later, Yakuza. After watching the film 'Wild Style' in the early '80s, he was inspired, bought himself a set of turntables, and began to learn the art of turntablism. In 1987, he formed the KRUSH POSSE, which made numerous appearances as a group in late 1992 which gave him recognition for becoming the first DJ in Japan to perform with live musicians.

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Cut Chemist

Cut Chemist is the performing name of Lucas MacFadden, a solo turntablist. He is a former member of the funk Latin band Ozomatli, and of the underground rap group Jurassic 5. He became known through the Los Angeles-based rap group Unity Committee, and debuted on vinyl on the B-Side of Unity Committee's 1993 single, Unified Rebelution. The track, "Lesson 4: The Radio" was an ovation of Double Dee and Steinski's seminal hip-hop masterpieces, "Lessons 1-3."

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A-Trak

From label boss, hit producer, World Champion DJ, trendsetter, genre-mangling party-starter, to blogger extraordinaire, Alain Macklovitch, best known as A-Trak, embodies the full scope of the 21st Century musician-entrepreneur model. At the mere age of 26, A-Trak has had two distinct phases to his winding 11 year career. Stage one: after winning the World DMCs at age 15 (in 1997), he spent years as one of hip hop’s most renowned selectors.

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Mix Master Mike

Mix Master Mike (born April 4, 1970 [1]) is an American turntablist of Jewish and Filipino extraction. His real name is Michael Schwartz. He was born in Daly City, California. He first gained notoriety after performing at several live DJ competitions. Mix Master Mike later joined the ground-breaking turntablist group, Invisibl Skratch Piklz. After gaining fame, he hooked up with the Beastie Boys, working on the album Hello Nasty. He is now considered their resident DJ, replacing DJ Hurricane (who was preceded by Doctor Dre - not to be confused with Dr. Dre !).

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DJ Vadim

DJ Vadim (aka Vadim Peare, real name Andrey Gurov) is a prolific DJ from Russia, based in London. His music combines hip hop and electronica and his recording technique involves very precise sampling as opposed to looping. He signed to Ninja Tune in 1992, and founded his own independent record label, Jazz Fudge in 1995. Aside from DJ-ing, he has worked in numerous roles including A&R, promoter, and radio presenter on the BBC's "Around The World In Eight Relays".

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DJ JS-1

Over the past decade, the hip-hop turntablist has gained immense popularity and mainstream recognition. No doubt, one deejay at the forefront of this movement is Queens-born JS-1. One half of the infamous team with Rahzel, ex-beatboxer of The Roots, JS-1 has released 3 albums, “Ground Original,” “Claimstake,” & “Audio Technician” through Fatbeats Distribution, Bomb Records and Studio Distribution.

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DJ Shadow

Considered a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip-hop, DJ Shadow (real name Josh Davis) has proven himself with groundbreaking, genre-defining solo output on such respected labels as Solesides and Mo' Wax. Although Shadow's earlier works, especially 'Endtroducing.....', are known for their innovation in genres such as hip-hop, ambient, and trip-hop, his latest album, The Outsider, had several tracks dedicated to Hyphy.

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Peanut Butter Wolf

As a young kid growing up in San Jose, Chris Manak soon realized he needed an escape from the realities of suburban life in the Silicon Valley. The age of nine was his coming of age. This was the year he discovered sports (Pittsburgh Pirates), video games (Pac man), girls (Anita Balderama), and hip hop ("Rappers Delight"). Alongside partner Sweet Steve, young Chris fashioned primitive mix-tapes (using the pause button) and ran amok at the local roller rink.

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