S. Samuel
Renowned hitmaker DJ Scratch has named his all-time five favorite deejays ranging from hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash to DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Admitting the difficulty in nailing down only five, Scratch’s primary picks dated back to 1980’s legends.
“It’s hard to pick five as far as deejays are concerned,” Scratch explained in an interview. “Grandmaster Flash. He’s a person that invented the quick mixing. He invented slip mats. Common things that we don’t think about. Somebody had to actually invent that in order for us to use that and it was Grandmaster Flash. Number two, Grand Wizzard Theodore. The inventor of the scratch…Number three, DJ Cash Money. Why? Because he’s DJ Cash Money. [He’s] one of the most advanced deejays of our time.” (All Hip Hop)
Within his Top 5, Scratch also included himself in the limited list.
“DJ Jazzy Jeff, number four, he’s known for the transformer, he’s a technician,” Scratch added. “He didn’t create the transformer but he perfected it and he’s the one who made the whole world do the transformer scratch. Him and only him. Number five? Me. Not because I’m saying it’s me — but I actually did put that work in and I influenced a lot of what deejays do today and a lot of things deejays did ten years ago is stuff I created twenty years ago.” (All Hip Hop)
Last year, Scratch made headlines for winning a competitive “Master of the Mix” reality TV series.
The competition, which kicked off in the Hollywood Hills and traveled to Sin City, Miami, New York, and London, saw fierce competition from 6 other renowned deejays including: DJ Revolution; DJ Mars; DJ Rap; DJ Jazzy Joyce; Rich Medina; and Vikter Duplaix. The finale culminated in a battle between Vikter Duplaix and DJ Scratch in London at the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, a global cultural exchange between 14 countries. The last competition of the season challenged the two hip hop heavyweights to a classic deejay battle. Under the lights of one of London’s hottest parties, DJ Scratch’s skills on the turntables were undeniable as he proved himself worthy of the title “Master of the Mix.” As the winner, DJ Scratch will serve as the face of Master of the Mix, making appearances at Smirnoff events throughout 2011. (PR Newswire)
Following the win, Scratch spoke to SOHH about his experience on the show.
“What people don’t really know is when we were standing out there for about three hours, right under London Bridge, and it was three below zero,” Scratch added speaking on his post-win reaction. “So when they said I was the winner, I was so cold, all of us, we were so cold that we couldn’t celebrate. It was too cold out there. [laughs] … That was the whole thing about ‘Master of the Mix.’ We were always dealing with different types of elements beyond the deejaying. When we were in Vegas for the Vegas challenge, it was 115 degrees and we were outside for seven hours. And then we had to deejay. It was a lot of things that we were going through that people don’t really realize besides the deejaying. So I enjoyed the win about a week later, that’s when it soaked in. [laughs]” (SOHH)
Check out DJ Scratch’s interview below:
