DJ Producers – “Can you rock it like this?”
In hip-hop, there is a natural progression for the DJ to become a music producer. Historically, rap records were, and some still are, built upon samples from records. Typically, the DJ has always had more records, or access to a large variety of music and equipment, than anyone else. Therefore, the DJ often knew what breaks and beats to sample for hip-hop music production, and how to construct the songs.
Today, there are still DJ-turned-producers in the music industry. However, recently I came across a post on Instagram where one such DJ was posted online as the producer of some hit record. This got me thinking about DJ Mustard and DJ Snake, as well. No, I don’t know every DJ in the world, nor in America for that matter. But, it seems weird to me when people of whom I’ve never heard, much less heard them scratch a record (real or otherwise), claim to be DJs. My question is this, do any of these new DJ/Producers actually DJ…and not just press buttons? In this post, I’d like to give the spotlight to DJs-turned-Producers that inspired me. Unlike these new cats, they created classics (whether mainstream or underground) while flexing their turntable skills all the while.
Marley Marl – You can’t mention hip-hop music without mentioning the Juice Crew. And you can’t talk about the Juice Crew without its leader, DJ Marley Marl. As the producer, Marley Marl created the archetype that blossomed years later in hip-hop; individual artists united as a crew. Aside from Rick Rubin, Marley was one of the few New York producers that constantly incorporated a heavy TR808 kick drum in their music, in addition to supplying a lot of cuts and scratches for his artists.
Sir Jinx – When Ice Cube went solo from N.W.A., he enlisted the sonic production help of the Bomb Squad, who were at the top of the hip-hop production food chain at that time. However, at the helm of his production team was his longtime friend and DJ, Sir Jinx. Initially in The Stereo Crew, later named C.I.A. with Cube, Jinx has been the backbone of his homie’s career. Some of the best examples of his turntable work can be heard on Cube’s early albums, as well as Yo-Yo’s debut album.
DJ Premier – If you don’t know about DJ Premier by now, you cannot…seriously, you cannot call yourself a fan of Hip-Hop music. As one-half of the certified legendary duo Gang Starr, Preemo has laid a foundation of sound that almost every amateur hip-hop producer (especially ones that sample) has emulated at some point. Not only are his beats something of magic, but dude has nice hand skills on the turntables. I remember studying the scratches on classics like “Take it personal”, “Dwyck” and “Who’s gonna take the weight” like it was ’92 all over again.
Pete Rock – Along with producers like Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest), Butterfly (Digable Planets), and DJ Premier (Gang Starr), Pete Rock (of Pete Rock & CL Smooth) made rap fans turn to Jazz as a source of inspiration. Unless you played in the band in high school, you probably didn’t listen to Jazz as a teenager. However Pete had teens and amateur producers scouring their parents’ record collections and used-record bins, hoping to help create something new. Because of him, I started diggin’ Cal Tjader (look him up) and going back to my parents’ stash of artists that I didn’t fully appreciate before (Wes Montgomery, being one). Any PR/CL fan could tell you that the interludes were some of the best parts of their albums, offering delectable sampled breaks. However, Pete is also nice with his hands, scratching perfectly selected vocal samples, usually from classic Hip-Hop songs (noticeably, a lot of Juice Crew pieces). Appropriately so. As Heavy D’s cousin, Pete also earned his stripes learning under Juice Crew leader DJ Marley Marl. Talk about Hip-Hop royalty.
DJ Mike Fresh/DJ Toomp – T.I.’s dope boy fantasies hadn’t begun to develop when his future producer DJ Toomp was putting Atlanta on the map with his rhyme partner MC Shy D., and co-producer DJ Mike Fresh. Very few emcees had two DJs, that I remember. MC Hammer had DJ Redeem and The Lone Mixer, and before that Doug E. Fresh had DJ Chill Will and DJ Barry B. However, Mike Fresh and Toomp were the most impactful to me. While producing mega-classics for Shy D., Toomp and Fresh were also giving a clinic on how to scratch. These cats fitted right in with the DJs from Florida who were riding the Bass wave. After Shy D left Luke Records, Mike Fresh stayed to continue making hits and remixes for Luke’s roster. He’s still DJing across the U.S. Toomp…well you should know by now. Toomp became one of the premier producers of Hip-Hop after linking up with the King of the South and created a few anthems you might have heard of shawty.
Bomb Squad – Before they were the sonic statesmen for Public Enemy and Ice Cube, the legendary Bomb Squad were DJs. Yes, DJs. Known as the Spectrum City DJs, these guys rocked parties in Long Island, controlling the radio airwaves at Adelphi University where Chuck D. attended. Public Enemy actually formed out of Spectrum City. Since Hip-Hop records were very limited at that time, Chuck was recording his own songs with Spectrum to be played on their college radio show. This led to a deal with Def Jam, and the rest is history. The Bomb Squad went on to become the best production team ever…at least in Hip-Hop. No one person, or group, has yet matched the versatility of sounds that they patched together (Organized Noize comes close). Most likely, it’ll never be duplicated due to the cost of sampling in the current recording industry.
Mr. DJ – As a member of mighty, mighty Outkast, Mr. DJ obviously provided the cuts for most of their albums, except the double-opus Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. You might have noticed that his DJing was less applied as they progressed through their catalog. That was because he, along with Big Boi and Andre 3000, formed Earthtone III to produce their own albums. Music production then became his primary focus. His sound stamp can be found on many Dungeon Family classics, numerous Southern rap legends’ songs, as well as tracks by Lenny Kravitz and Mos Def. These days, the ATLien is still making dope songs and flexing his hand skills at his Camp David (his real name is David Sheats) studio compound in Georgia.
Dr. Dre/DJ Yella – Although Dre gets most of the attention out of the pair, I have to believe that Yella contributed just as much to the success of N.W.A. Otherwise, why would he even be in the group? As members of the World Class Wreckin’ Cru, they contributed to the electro-funk sound that dominated the West Coast in the ’80s. There, we got to hear Dre (maybe Yella too) get busy on the turntables, but they flourished during the N.W.A. years in their DJ/producer roles. After N.W.A. disbanded, we got to hear Dre flex on The Chronic while Yella picked up the slack at Ruthless, working with Eazy-E, MC Ren and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Shortly thereafter, not much else was heard from these guys on the turntables.
DJ Quik – Mr. David Blake. Aside from Prince (RIP), this was and still is THE one person I would love to watch work in a studio. I would like to say that Quik is a triple threat; DJ, producer, and emcee. However, he’s damn good at engineering too. Now, how many producers do you know that can do all of that proficiently? Quik came out right after I started DJing myself, so I definitely listened to his scratching (which was pretty impressive). I have to credit that with him coming from Compton. West Coast DJs were much like Florida DJs in that their music was substantially up-tempo, so they had to be able to cut the record just as fast. That skill led to a lot of quick hands (no pun intended), Quik being one of the dopest. As for being a producer, I truly believe that this man is overlooked way too much. People often speak of Dr. Dre when it comes to producers from Cali, or just in general. However, Quik is better than Dre and any other solo Hip-Hop producer in my honest opinion. Check his catalog if you don’t believe me.
DJ Scratch – EPMD first had Diamond J, then K-La Boss, but they weren’t complete until they were introduced to DJ Scratch. While preparing to tour with the icons Run-DMC, DJ Jam Master Jay asked EPMD to take his homie DJ Scratch on tour as their DJ. After having two DJs already, Erick and Parrish were leery. Jay said that if it didn’t work out on tour, he would send Scratch home himself. Suffice it to say that DJ Scratch has been their DJ ever since. During his time with EPMD, he took part in producing some of their songs. However, he said that he was never credited for them. The only credit that I remember seeing was a co-production credit for “Funky Piano” on the Business As Usual album. That ode to Scratch, as does the rest of their albums, enabled us to get a glimpse at greatness. He stills continues to DJ (impressively), on top of expertly producing hip-hop hits. Another note I’ve always thought was interesting, is that his cousin is DJ Magic Mike.
Magic Mike – Being a native Floridian, I grew up on Bass music (aka Miami Bass). And the history of this genre would be incomplete without Orlando’s own DJ Magic Mike. Before he was 18, he was the DJ for Miami legend Beatmaster Clay D. (a dope producer in his own right). Like most of the artists, producers, and DJs of the Bass scene, which was underground and regional to the Southeast U.S., Mike wasn’t getting any acknowledgement or credit for his work. So he headed back to Orlando and started his own label, production company, and rap crew. I still find it amusing that I was admiring his skills with Clay D before I even knew who he was. But, when I started comparing his solo work with cuts he did with Clay D., I definitely could hear his style. Mike inspired me because not only is he one of the sickest DJs of that era, who also made killer beats, but he proved that you didn’t have to be from a major hub like Miami to be great.
Mr. Mixx – Probably one of the most influential producer/DJs in my life is Treach DJ Mr. Mixx, of the 2 Live Crew. True, most people only know 2 Live for their raunchy songs, but they did more than that. And Mr. Mixx is more than just a DJ. Producing the bulk of Luther Campbell’s artists in the ’80s and ’90s, he was to Luke Records (then Luke Skyywalker Records) what Mannie Fresh was to Cash Money Records. Basically he was Mannie before Mannie. Mixx was, and still is, a vicious DJ on the turntables. Before anyone else that I remember, Mixx was the best at cutting comedy or spoken records into rap songs, finding rhythm in something that most people overlooked.
DJ Jazzy Jeff – I was in Detroit on summer vacation in 1988. One of my older cousins who lived there drove my family to the airport so we could fly home. During the car ride, he did something that would change my life forever. He played DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Live at Union Square” performance. This performance was from 1986; two years prior! This goes to show how Jeff was ahead of his time. Along with DJ Cash Money, DJ Jazzy Jeff (both taught by DJ Grand Wizard Rasheen) and DJ Tat Money put Philly on the map for their turntable skills. Though I had heard Cash Money (with MC Marvelous), and would hear Tat Money later (with Kwame’), Jeff was the one that pushed me to think beyond what I had previously heard on the turntables. That routine had me mystified for years, as I tried to figure out how he did that. Later, Jeff would not only become the standard for other DJs, but he also became a well-respected producer; crafting hits for himself and the Fresh Prince, as well as other artists.
DJ Joe Cooley – Whenever the topic of my most influential DJs come up, I HAVE to mention Joe Cooley. He’s in my top 5; with Magic Mike, Jazzy Jeff, Mr. Mixx, and Jam Master Jay. Though I didn’t know it at the time, he was the first DJ from the West Coast that caught my attention. Truth be told, he and his partner Rodney O. (assisted by General Jeff) were the FIRST artists or group that I had heard from Compton back in 1986 (to my knowledge), before N.W.A. The West Coast and the South always had a connection when it came to Hip-Hop; our musical tastes were the same, and we were both shunned by New York. Rodney O. and Jeff’s self-produced music was 808-heavy, and usually shake-ya-booty fast or riding-in-the-car slow, with samples and beat breaks that we used in the South. As if that wasn’t dope enough, Jeff’s cuts were quick, clean, and very precise. Usually, back then, to get your scratches that sharp you had to use the line switch on your mixer; sometimes breaking it. Even still, it was difficult for most to get them to sound that sharp at 110+ beats-per-minute. Listen to “Supercuts” or “Cooley High” and recognize a real DJ.
Jam Master Jay – He was the person that made me want to be a DJ. He was the first one that I remember having a song dedicated to him, showcasing his skills. He was the one to influence, encourage, and educate many DJs that came after him. He was the late great DJ Jam Master Jay. Jay was a very integral part of Run-DMC; the soul, the backbone, or the glue if you will. Jay’s style led Run and D to dress like him, trademarking their wardrobe Steton hats, shelltoe Adidas (no laces), and all-black attire. While Jay might not have been known for battle-style DJing or fancy tricks, he definitely held his own on the turntables. Jay kept up with DJ trends as they evolved; always staying true to showmanship. What some people may not know is that he was also a drummer and producer, taking over the production helm from Rick Rubin and Larry Smith to produce Run-DMC’s music. He was a supporter of the upcoming generations. He started JMJ Records and signed artists like Onyx and 50 Cent (before the gunshot wounds made him famous). As mentioned previously, he introduced EPMD to DJ Scratch. He was a DJ, a producer, a husband, a father, a friend, a visionary, an entreprenuer, and an icon. Everyone in Hip-Hop loved him. I’m still heartbroken to think of what more Jay could have been, had someone not selfishly taken his life. His legacy will forever remain intact, and his son has followed in his footsteps to become an illustrious DJ himself. And no matter what, a smile comes across my face whenever “Peter Piper” comes on.
Vinyl Words 