An Open Challenge To All DMC Competitiors

[Nies One]

Check out this article by J Slim... What do you think of DMC's lately ?

Here is small sample from the article but I highly recommend following the link to read the entire article.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2012/04/08/an-open-challenge-to-all-dmc-competitiors/


The DMC World DJ Championship is in the middle of their regional battles, and the DMC Online Round 1 winners are set to be announced tomorrow (April 10th). Jay Slim, a current DMC judge and former competitor who was featured in “Scratch”, has issued a special challenge to all the competitors. Read on for his perspective on the current state of the DMC, why it needs to get better, and how entrants can stand out.

It’s that time of year again and DMC season is upon us for its 27th go-round. For someone that’s been a turntablist and ex-DMC’er (you may have seen the below clip of my “If you step up, you get hurt” routine from the 2000 US DMC in the documentary “Scratch”) for as long as I have, it’s kind of a shock to realize the DMC has been going on for that long.
Mwm_0HbczDQ


The DMC Of Olde
I discovered and started following the DMC back in the early 90’s, and what I really remember is how much effort it took to even see the events before Youtube. You couldn’t just plop down on the couch, grab the laptop and do a Google search. Every year, it would be an ordeal
of finding out when the video tapes (remember those?) were coming out, tracking down a local shop that had them in stock, plopping down three days of lunch money and driving through another two hours of LA traffic just to get into a shouting match with my sister for control over the wired remote for the VCR. Even with all that effort, I remember it always being worth every hour in the car, every missed lunch, every drop of gas, and every strained vocal chord because you always witnessed some new technique or style that got your head bobbing and the rewind button worn out.

Then after a while, that all went away. Eventually, it got to the point where it was a struggle for me to sit through an entire DJ battle. My rewind button wasn’t being worn down any more. My fast-forward button, however, was. So what happened?
Musicality started going out the door. Things stopped being innovative. Everyone started to sound the same.
Ultimately, it just didn’t sound good anymore. And it stayed that way.

Something has to change, and it’s up to you, the current generation of competitors, to make it happen. As an ex-competitor and current judge, I’m calling every one of you out right now. In the spirit of the battle, I’m challenging you to step your game up, and shut me the hell up.
It seems like scratch sets today are all focused on showing off how fast and clean you can scratch. But consider this quote from I-Emerge’s ‘04 set:
“you forgot about one little thing: It’s called THE MUSIC”.
Today’s sets are almost entirely comprised of monotonous 32nd note patterns (In case you don’t know what 32nd notes are, just imagine any really fast scratching you’ve heard recently. Those are 32nd notes). They sound more like robots going down a pre-programmed list of scratches, rather than human expression. Yeah, I get that people are varying up the scratching techniques, but guess what. It still essentially sounds the same if you’re doing everything in the same rhythm, regardless of how many different combinations of clicks, tears, and babies (the scratch technique!) you throw in there. Keep doing those techniques, but vary up the rhythm. Try adding some shuffle, swing, and syncopation to your patterns. Also, don’t ignore the effect of pitch/velocity on your scratches. Lastly, like I used to really emphasize to all my students at Cal and the norcalDJMPA with DJ’s Pone and Vin Roc, silence is also a technique. Consider Q-Bert’s words:
[Scratching is] kinda like talking, you just speak what you’re saying; . . . each technique is a word, so the larger your vocabulary, the more articulate[ly] you can speak.]
Build up the vocabulary, but use it appropriately. Personally, I don’t like talking with people when all they use are really big words while speaking at a hundred words per minute. Do you?


TL;DR - DMC's are differnt nowadays and J Slim doesn't like it

[neks]

boohoo poor J Slim...

Is he really thinking that DMC competitors are reading DJ Tech Tools?

there is more to be said about that article but I don't feel like it. it's just very suited to the audience of the site.

[Hamza21]

I was going post this article I read it yesterday. I agree with Jay slim DMC is not what it was. It's turned into a circle of jerk of guys scratching "ahh" and "Fresh" and most routines are horridly hard to listen to. You have dj's beatjuggling wack tracks and throwing a few disses and then then they go into triple-galatic-buttscrathing crip-flarecrab- scrathing over an even lamer turd of a beat. There's no funk left. Most the competitors are trying impress their friends with their awful taste in music and how fast they can cut "Ah" and "fresh". DMC should ban using those two samples. Any dj who uses them is just lazy and uncreative. With vinyl or a DVS you have access to any sound but yet you can only scratch the same two sounds? Any DJ who uses ah & fresh doesn't deserve to be in DMC. DMC is for the best of the best not for the lazy,lame and uncreative.

[DJ CirKutCision]

The only reason "ahhh or fresh" is used is to gauge a DJ's skill with that sound.

4:16 below


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7JqjnR9AHw

Honestly, it just seems that J-Slim is butthurt because the DMC evolved into who can make the more technical routine. Ever since ie.Merg did his 2004 routine, the whole game changed with his real technical routines and his aggressive style. Once the European guys saw how well it did, Netik won the 2006 DMC, Rafik the 2007, Fly the 2008, etc. They all had their routines made by Le Jad, a popular beat maker for Euro scratch DJs and it's simply how the DMCs evolved. If the art form doesn't evolve, then it will die. I am happy Vajra won the 2011 DMC because he brought back the classic party rock turntablism the DMCs have been missing, plus I believe he should have won in 2004. Honestly, I love both the classic style DMC routines and the new style ones (if well done).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgyaieuVMw

So just because Vajra used an Ahhh at 4:31 makes him lazy, lame, and uncreative?

[RaySwift]

I agree. Ahh and Fresh are the bare essentials when it comes to skratching. Its just how you use them. There is a reason all the great turntablists in the world still use that sample. Not everybody can be D-Styles.

1998 DMC is one of the most classic DMCs.

[PONTUS.2]

entire custom sets ruined battles for me.

shit will never be the way it was.

turntablism pre-2005 >

[Hamza21]

I agree. Ahh and Fresh are the bare essentials when it comes to skratching. Its just how you use them. There is a reason all the great turntablists in the world still use that sample. Not everybody can be D-Styles.

1998 DMC is one of the most classic DMCs.

You're wrong ah and fresh not bare essentials they're sounds that can take alot work to make it sound bad which why those who use it are lazy. Instead digging for sounds everybody just uses the same two sounds to impress themselves because they know if they scratch any other sound they scratches wouldn't sound so clean and or as good.

[Hamza21]

The only reason "ahhh or fresh" is used is to gauge a DJ's skill with that sound.

4:16 below


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7JqjnR9AHw

Honestly, it just seems that J-Slim is butthurt because the DMC evolved into who can make the more technical routine. Ever since ie.Merg did his 2004 routine, the whole game changed with his real technical routines and his aggressive style. Once the European guys saw how well it did, Netik won the 2006 DMC, Rafik the 2007, Fly the 2008, etc. They all had their routines made by Le Jad, a popular beat maker for Euro scratch DJs and it's simply how the DMCs evolved. If the art form doesn't evolve, then it will die. I am happy Vajra won the 2011 DMC because he brought back the classic party rock turntablism the DMCs have been missing, plus I believe he should have won in 2004. Honestly, I love both the classic style DMC routines and the new style ones (if well done).


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPgyaieuVMw

So just because Vajra used an Ahhh at 4:31 makes him lazy, lame, and uncreative?

Vajra won because he had old school style set which why many other long time battle deejays have entered this year. They figured if that kind of a set can win they now have a chance. Vajra is the first Hip Hop Dj to win DMC in years and even Vajra has been seduced by the fads and trends (here (http://soundcloud.com/djvajra)).

Is Vajra lazy for using ahh in his set? Yes he is because Vajra is good solid deejay and instead laying down cuts with any sample he used tired old sample everybody else uses.

[neks]

if he wants his technical scratches to be judged properly he might as well use the sample that will serve him the best, don't you think?

is he using ahh and fresh only? no because there is a sample. when he was building his set and thought that a such time mark he was going to insert his scratch routine into his set, he's gonna pick the sample to is going to do the job the best

the problem is not that such and such is lasy, it's that such and such doesn't know how to build a set that competes.

[DJ CirKutCision]

You're wrong ah and fresh not bare essentials they're sounds that can take alot work to make it sound bad which why those who use it are lazy. Instead digging for sounds everybody just uses the same two sounds to impress themselves because they know if they scratch any other sound they scratches wouldn't sound so clean and or as good.

Well, if you want to complain to someone, call up Dirt Style and tell him that they're hurting all scratch DJs with the printing of an "ahh" or a "fresh" on their scratch records. Might as well call up any other battle record company and tell them to stop printing any of their battle records because it's taking the art of digging for rare samples and beats out of the equation. If that's how it was, then maybe we shouldn't have evolved past 1990 (Qbert's Battle Breaks came out in 1991) and stay the same. Also, "ahh" and "fresh" don't take a lot of work to sound bad. Even if your timing is off just a bit or a click comes in at the wrong place in time, it will sound off just like how it'd sound with any other sample.

[DJNR]

I can't take this article seriously. Basically, it's one big heaping pile of nostalgia.

[Hamza21]

Well, if you want to complain to someone, call up Dirt Style and tell him that they're hurting all scratch DJs with the printing of an "ahh" or a "fresh" on their scratch records. Might as well call up any other battle record company and tell them to stop printing any of their battle records because it's taking the art of digging for rare samples and beats out of the equation. If that's how it was, then maybe we shouldn't have evolved past 1990 (Qbert's Battle Breaks came out in 1991) and stay the same. Also, "ahh" and "fresh" don't take a lot of work to sound bad. Even if your timing is off just a bit or a click comes in at the wrong place in time, it will sound off just like how it'd sound with any other sample.

You're prime example why deejays are lazy you lack the ability to tell the forest from the trees.

1)Dirt style is a company selling a product and companies sell more of their product by giving their consumers more of what they want to buy.
2)Dirt style battle records are full of samples of other sounds not just ahh and fresh
3) Dirt Style is NOT guardians of conservators of Hip Hop Deejaying so what they do or don't do it's relevant.
4)Ahh and fresh do take alot work to sound bad only someone who's not cut a variety of sounds would know that. Not every scratch sounds good with every sample which why people use ah and fresh because every scratch technique does sound good using those two samples. They're crutches. Instead of discovering what techniques sound good with which type of sound (long, short,kick drum, snare drum,etc) nowadays lazy deejays practice their techniques only using 2 sounds. What has happened to graf has happened to Hip hop deejays.

In graff you have people who learn how to tag and then expanded to doing piece. They upgraded their skills and evolved. Now you have taggers who only mission is gain fame by writing their name, no matter how fugly it looks, on as many places as possible and with no desire to evolve their skills. Quantity over quality. That has happened to the Hip Hop deejay scratch nerds who spend all their time scratching ahh and fresh only. No evolving of skill.

I dare any deejay to stop using ahh and fresh use any other sound and practice their techniques. You''ll discover you techniques are not as clean. That chirp flare crab combo you think sound so nice when you do that same technique with other sounds you'll discover your timing is off and doesn't sound as pristine as you think. Don't believe try yourself and you'll hear it for yourself.

[DJ CirKutCision]

You're prime example why deejays are lazy you lack the ability to tell the forest from the trees.

1)Dirt style is a company selling a product and companies sell more of their product by giving their consumers more of what they want to buy.
2)Dirt style battle records are full of samples of other sounds not just ahh and fresh
3) Dirt Style is NOT guardians of conservators of Hip Hop Deejaying so what they do or don't do it's relevant.
4)Ahh and fresh do take alot work to sound bad only someone who's not cut a variety of sounds would know that. Not every scratch sounds good with every sample which why people use ah and fresh because every scratch technique does sound good using those two samples. They're crutches. Instead of discovering what techniques sound good with which type of sound (long, short,kick drum, snare drum,etc) nowadays lazy deejays practice their techniques only using 2 sounds. What has happened to graf has happened to Hip hop deejays.

In graff you have people who learn how to tag and then expanded to doing piece. They upgraded their skills and evolved. Now you have taggers who only mission is gain fame by writing their name, no matter how fugly it looks, on as many places as possible and with no desire to evolve their skills. Quantity over quality. That has happened to the Hip Hop deejay scratch nerds who spend all their time scratching ahh and fresh only. No evolving of skill.

I dare any deejay to stop using ahh and fresh use any other sound and practice their techniques. You''ll discover you techniques are not as clean. That chirp flare crab combo you think sound so nice when you do that same technique with other sounds you'll discover your timing is off and doesn't sound as pristine as you think. Don't believe try yourself and you'll hear it for yourself.

And you're a prime example to why it hurt to be so closed minded with a mindset left in the 90s where we'd still be scratching on the line/phono switches.

http://i.imagehost.org/0617/hhhgggf.jpg

Also, you just contradicted yourself majorly. You said, "That has happened to the Hip Hop deejay scratch nerds who spend all their time scratching ahh and fresh only. No evolving of skill." I'm pretty sure if they spent all time scratching "ahh" or "fresh", they'd be pretty damn good at it and their skill does evolve and they didn't just hit some asymptote and stayed the same. I chose Dirt Style records because they're one of the few battle record companies that's still making scratch records for scratch DJs in this year (2012) after the market clearly isn't a large as it was 10 years ago. I scratch plenty of ahhs and freshes along with other obscure samples and I prefer how the ahhh is a long and drawn out sound with a strong attack and a very linear decay which makes each cut of the fader very precise and dynamic where as if you use some other quite or quick one syllable sample, you're left with a sample that you can only perform babies, chirps, and other fast but not fader intensive scratches. Ahhhs are great for practicing because you can clearly hear where the fader cuts and the ahhh and the fresh sounds have been widely accepted as the go to sounds for scratch DJs. A scratch DJ is not lazy just because they use an ahhh or fresh.


I can't take this article seriously. Basically, it's one big heaping pile of nostalgia.

I agree.

[Hamza21]

And you're a prime example to why it hurt to be so closed minded with a mindset left in the 90s where we'd still be scratching on the line/phono switches.

i'm not close minded and I'm not from the 90's I'm from 80's!! A time where you scratch any and every sound you can get your hands on. You were not limited and forced to follow a pattern others did like many scratch nerds do today. Don't confuse me with 90's and 2000's scratch nerds who all trying be sound just like Q bert.




Also, you just contradicted yourself majorly. You said, "That has happened to the Hip Hop deejay scratch nerds who spend all their time scratching ahh and fresh only. No evolving of skill." I'm pretty sure if they spent all time scratching "ahh" or "fresh", they'd be pretty damn good at it and their skill does evolve and they didn't just hit some asymptote and stayed the same.

Being good at scratching two sounds is not evolving of skill. That's akin to saying because you can play one chord well on guitar well you're skillful guitarist. There are more sounds to scratch them just two sounds. Just because you can scratch two sounds doesn't mean you're skill has evolved when you haven't took the time experience that not every scratch sounds good with every sound.




I chose Dirt Style records because they're one of the few battle record companies that's still making scratch records for scratch DJs in this year (2012) after the market clearly isn't a large as it was 10 years ago. I scratch plenty of ahhs and freshes along with other obscure samples and I prefer how the ahhh is a long and drawn out sound with a strong attack and a very linear decay which makes each cut of the fader very precise and dynamic where as if you use some other quite or quick one syllable sample, you're left with a sample that you can only perform babies, chirps, and other fast but not fader intensive scratches. Ahhhs are great for practicing because you can clearly hear where the fader cuts and the ahhh and the fresh sounds have been widely accepted as the go to sounds for scratch DJs. A scratch DJ is not lazy just because they use an ahhh or fresh.


You just proved my point again. You can't tell the forest from the trees. You just said what I said just in a different way and now claiming it means something else. You clearly stated why those two sounds are crutches and hard to make sound bad.

Moreover ,it does make you lazy because you fail to see scatching is about manipulating SOUNDS not just two sounds. If you practicing your cuts with a variety of sounds you would know that. A scratch techniques performed with a different sounds requires different timing. Something you won't learn if you only practice with two sounds.

[DJNR]

What the hell is a scratch nerd anyways?

[Sigma]

DMC is dying a slow death IMO. The main comp that is - the online one seems to be doing OK for now, although people are already complaining that the "get your friends to vote for you" format is badly flawed. They just announced the dates for the UK heats and there's only 3 for the entire country this year, with the furthest north being in Leicester (which is in the middle of the country for you non-UKers). I wouldn't be surprised if it goes online only some time in the next year or two.

[DJ CirKutCision]

i'm not close minded and I'm not from the 90's I'm from 80's!! A time where you scratch any and every sound you can get your hands on. You were not limited and forced to follow a pattern others did like many scratch nerds do today. Don't confuse me with 90's and 2000's scratch nerds who all trying be sound just like Q bert.

Okay, so you just don't want to move on. Once you learn to scratch with technical patterns swiftfully, it's secondhand to pull off a two click chrip combo or an autobahn. When I think of 80s, I think of lots of transforms and stabs that don't really change.


Being good at scratching two sounds is not evolving of skill. That's akin to saying because you can play one chord well on guitar well you're skillful guitarist. There are more sounds to scratch them just two sounds. Just because you can scratch two sounds doesn't mean you're skill has evolved when you haven't took the time experience that not every scratch sounds good with every sound.

That analogy is flawed. Playing one chord on a guitar is different from performing different fader combos on a single sound. With a chord, you'll get the same sound over and over again with different dynamics. With an Ahhh or Fresh, you can get different sounds from chirps, transforms, tears, flares, crabs, lazers, you name it. With different sounds, the scratches will sound different of course. That goes without saying, but you're saying it's easier to ruin a regular sample then an ahhh which is false. You can mess up both equally if you're not precise in timing/swing/etc.



You just proved my point again. You can't tell the forest from the trees. You just said what I said just in a different way and now claiming it means something else. You clearly stated why those two sounds are crutches and hard to make sound bad.

Moreover ,it does make you lazy because you fail to see scatching is about manipulating SOUNDS not just two sounds. If you practicing your cuts with a variety of sounds you would know that. A scratch techniques performed with a different sounds requires different timing. Something you won't learn if you only practice with two sounds.

I said the ahhh is useful for practice, but to claim it as a crutch for a shit scratch DJ to sound good is ignorant. A bad scratch DJ will sound bad with any sample and a good scratch DJ will sound good on any sample. Some samples like the ahhh are easier to use because of their length and tone, but no means a crutch because cutting an ahhh still requires much technical talent just just cutting some random snippet vocal or stab.


What the hell is a scratch nerd anyways?

A scratch nerd is what the lazy call a DJ who's good at scratching (usually in the context of a DJ able to scratch better than you).

I would call these guys scratch nerds because they all cut better than me, but I try to remain positive and not belittle others because they're more talented then myself.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijwxiZMVbLU

[Sigma]

I said the ahhh is useful for practice, but to claim it as a crutch for a shit scratch DJ to sound good is ignorant.
I agree, and in fact I would say that it's the opposite. If I hear someone cutting up "ahhhhhh" then they have to be really good to hold my attention, cos I've heard that sample cut up so many times and I know exactly what's capable of being done with it.

[djlotus]

Sounds like more of the same. Ignorant people who don't/can't scratch trashing those who do or are learning too.

Haters gonna hate.

[Sigma]

Sounds like more of the same. Ignorant people who don't/can't scratch trashing those who do or are learning too.
I wouldn't say that man, cos all that really tells me is that you didn't go to the site and read the article. Jay Slim has done well in both DMC and ITF battles and he's on the DMC judging panel.

[DJWORX]

The J Slim viewpoint is nothing new. The scratch scene has been saying much the same thing for the last 5-10 years anyway. I've said it on skratchworx at length, as have the people (like Sigma) who are active in the scene. Very old news indeed.

As for the use of Ahhh and Fresh - another tired argument, and one that can be summed up in 2 ways:



Those sounds are the benchmark of technical skill - the level playing field by which one DJ can be judged against another on primarily a technical level, but also to some degree creatively to see if a DJ really can do something else with the standard sounds.

From a musical standpoint, I'd say that a turntable, mixer and Ahhh/Fresh are the turntablist's core instrument. Would we ask Slash to go play a banjo because we're tired of the same old guitar sounds? Perhaps someone could go get Yo Yo Ma to stop playing that boring old cello too.


Using those sounds is the very best way to demonstrate how good you are at scratching. It's like the compulsory element of a DMC set. To a certain degree, it could be argued that it should be a given that you can bust the most complex of techniques if you're in a battle, but in my experience that isn't always true. There are DJs who can do some amazingly technical cuts, but not be too hot at juggling - and vice versa. There needs to be some standard to demo your technical skill, and that way is the obligatory 30 second Ahhhfest.

Those sounds are the very foundation of the scratch scene. It would be a boring world if we used nothing but those sounds, but in a battle context, and for want of a better term, it really is the battle equivalent of getting your cock out.

[moyo wilde]

my two cents,

aah and fresh are cool i think qbert said he likes to hear a dj scratch those cause like djworx says it is a good way to measure a dj's skills.

personally i kinda stopped watching looking out for the dmc's when the whole euro thing became popular for a number of reasons.

1) i kinda like seeing a dj flipping records moving, the pitch, and doing all kindas audio as well as visual tricks.

2) the music all started to sound the same. like i used to like seeing what a kid from japan was doing or a kid from new york or england and wherever else. like you never knew what song/sample/sound was coming your way even mid routine. the electro thing just took that element of surprise out.

as far as the the scratching goes all the cross fade izzibo, clep, camel toe scratches don't really impress me. i just want something that sounds good on top of a song. i mean it is one skill out of a number of skills that a dj needs to win.

and somebody really needs to get to work so we can get a camel toe scratch!

[djlotus]

I wouldn't say that man, cos all that really tells me is that you didn't go to the site and read the article. Jay Slim has done well in both DMC and ITF battles and he's on the DMC judging panel.

I should have clarified myself Sigma, I was referring to some of the posts within this thread, not the article. I read that 2 weeks ago when it was released and while I don't agree 100% with it, I do agree with it's overall message.

[Sigma]

Ah, right. Sorry. I assumed you were talking about the article author.

[PONTUS.2]

basically put it this way... maw fuckaz who use custom records.... when they play those records it sounds like the beatjuggle....