Matching Beats

2007-02-06 10:29 a.m.
Sometimes I just forget my reasoning for things... Been hanging with VG over weekends recently and realized that I haven't actually explained some of my ideals in quite some time.

She asked why I quit DJing and I gave my very basic long-story-short answer. "I didn't want to be 30 years old trying to be hip to young crowds playing bullshit I don't even like," which is true. But it's not my real reason...

So I dropped her this email today...

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Oh, as a preface. The day-to-day with my boy S was basically a day full of breaking sessions, mc battles, poetry sessions, djing parties, dj battles and graff missions, and a little basketball. This was all day every day (besides occasional school and work) for about 3 - 4 years.

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So we were talking the other day about why I quit DJing. Though my answer was true, it wasn't the original reason. Funny we were talking about people phoning it in most of the time and I'm the worst of culprits. I think I mentioned on Saturday night as we were dozing off that I don't have the quick wits an intelligent person requires.

Anyways, I first came to NY for very idealistic reasons. I told you how my boy SO and I lived our day-to-day for a couple years. Most of this was before everyone and their grandmother started talking about the '4 elements' or 'pillars' as you called them or whatever. We were just out having fun.

Funny sidenote, you remember when everyone was all 'me too' about the four retarded elements'? Like "yeah yo, there's 5 elements, cuz beatboxing is a big part of hip hop." And then people tried to add Fashion as one. Fashion!! Alright, digression over...

I got it in my head that I'd have to eventually make it to the mecca of it all. In most written history, it was all born or at least publicized in NY, so I had to come to NY to understand it better. Of the many, that was one of the main (and very private) reasons for my move to NY.

I started branching into the scene. Introduced myself to graff artists on the street, met heads at Fat Beats, hit a few parties, mostly smaller localized ones. Sometimes I'd pose as a journalist for CR (I did work for CR Mag as head designer, but it went under about a year before my arrival), sometimes as an up and coming graff artist or dj. Went to the Rocksteady Reunions, clubs, bars, breaking sessions, graff missions with locals, etc. I just wanted to see what the deal was here.

It's hard to describe but I was saddened by most of it. I specifically remember being at a De La concert - which was actually one of the best shows I've ever been to. I went to the breaking circle to see how the talent was holding up. I saw some of the sorriest breaking on the planet in that circle and the WORST end of it was all the applause. Everyone was so supportive of each other regardless of any actual talent.

On the subway a few days earlier, I heard a group of kids - about 15 or 16 - reciting freestyles that they'd written for later that night. That one might have to sink in for a bit.

Graff artists were cool, but just never did much more than bomb shit. No murals.

And the DJs. The true heartbreak of this city. The DJs were HORRIBLE. They never matched beats, EVER. They screamed at the crowd through most of their sets, they would spin records back 10 or 15 times, they put slow shit with fast shit with no warning, they tried to scratch when they Really should not have, and They Never. Matched. Beats. Their egos were apparent while their talents were few and far between.

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(just adding this here, wasn�t in the email)�
I�ve heard the argument that crowds don�t care about the technical side of DJing. I know this well. I said nothing of the technical side. When a crowd has to stop moving and adjust to the next song, something�s wrong. The job of the dj is to keep a continuous flow of the crowd. Hype them up and calm them down as you wish, but don�t confuse them. All the things I mentioned above confuses them. I promise, the difference is remarkable.

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And I do mean absolute generalizations here. In my first 3 years here, I'd seen maybe 2 out of 50+ dj's who were actually respectable and talented. But the worst end!? The very worst. How much props they got. The crowds adored them. They adored the weak breakers, they adored the pre-scripted, completely bullshit mc's, they adored the garbage dj's.

Hip hop was about to die a horrible death, and that disease began here. Within the next couple years, it spread nation wide.

And now, my boy S still holds it down. And he's fucked for it. 2 kids that he rarely, if ever, sees, primary source of income are djing and teaching bboy classes. I had to talk him into a job at cvs (that my mom hooked him up with), just so he could keep up with child support. He's literally noted as one of the best breakers in the midwest and he's completely shat upon otherwise.

A lot of days I feel like I abandoned him, my city and my culture. They all wilted together and I went on to having my own life at a distance. I tried to warn a lot of them . fuck NY. Don't worry about getting down in NY. They're all bullshit here.

But it was too late. The Rap Industry took over (a child of NY hip hop), and hip hop died long, long ago as a result. As did my DJ career.