Katz - Groove music: the art and culture of the hip-hop DJ

Groove Music

The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ

MARK KATZ

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Katz, Mark, 1970

Groove music : the art and culture of the hip-hop DJ / Mark Katz.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-19-533111-0 (hardcover: alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-19-533112-7 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Turntablism. 2. Rap (Music)History and criticism. 3. Turntablists. I. Title.

ML3531.K37 2012

782.421649dc23 2011031319

Publication for this book was supported by the Gustave Reese Endowment of the American Musicological Society.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper

For Beth and Anna, and all the DJs.

First, I must thank all hip-hop DJs. I thank you for your artistry, for sweeping dancers onto their feet and for transfixing audiences with your virtuosity. I thank you for your alchemy, for creating musical gold by mixing bits and pieces of song and sound in just the right measure. I thank you for your wisdom, for sharing your vast knowledge of music. This book is about you, and it is for you.

I mention many DJs in Groove Music, and I will start here by naming those I have been fortunate enough to interact with directly, whether by interviewing them, corresponding with them, hanging out with them, or all of the above. Some of these DJs are internationally famous, some are of more local renown, some come from the great cities of the United States, Europe, and Asia, and some from around the area known as the Research Triangle in North Carolina where I live. So let me take a deep breath, and say: A-Minor, A-Trak, Aladdin, Apollo, B-Side, Baby Dee, Afrika Bambaataa, Billy Jam, Bro-Rabb, Cash Money, Craze, Cutmaster Swift, Disco Wiz, Doc Rice, Food Stamp, GrandWizzard Theodore, Grandmixer DXT, Hapa, ie.MERG, Immortal, J.Dayz, Pete DJ Jones, Ken-One, Kid Koala, Killa-Jewel, King Britt, Kuttin Kandi, Kutzu, Maseo, Miyajima, Mista Donut, Neil Armstrong, 9th Wonder, P, Pone, Qbert, Quest, Radar, Revolution, Rhettmatic, Ivan Doc Rodriguez, Johnny Juice Rosado, Sarasa, Shadow, Shortkut, SK, SPCLGST, Steinski, Steve Dee, Swamp, Rob Swift, Ta-Shi, Tigerstyle, Trife, and Tyra from SaigonI thank you for sharing your insights with me. There would be no Groove Music without you.

As central as DJs are to Groove Music, there are many others whose expertise informed and aided my work as well. I have been assisted by artists, filmmakers, and photographers; battle organizers, promoters, and entrepreneurs; engineers, producers, and a variety of other music industry professionals; scholars and journalists; archivists and librarians; and musicians of every stripe. (Some of these peopleand damn them for being so multitalentedare DJs as well.) Thank you, then, to Charlie Ahearn, Michael Beinhorn, Andrew Bernal, Lauren Bernofsky, Martin Bisi, Kool Lady Blue, Ann Marie Boyle, Laurent Burte, Michael Cannady, John Carluccio, Jeff Chang, Joe Conzo, Brian Cross, Cristina DiGiacomo, Phil Ford, Rayvon Fouch, Kim Francis, Fab 5 Freddy, Laurent Fintoni, Nicole Havey, Ellie Hisama, Catherine Hughes, Akitsugu Kawamoto, Adam Krims, Johan Kugelberg, Bill Laswell, Tim Lawrence, Stephen Levitin, Steve Macatee, Wayne Marshall, Robert Adam Mayer, Sally McLintock, Felicia Miyakawa, Mark Naison, Tony Prince, Katherine Reagan, Miriam Rezaei, Travis Rimando, Zane Ritt, Martin Scherzinger, Joe Schloss, Troy Smith, Jeremy Storch, Dave Tompkins, Roger Trilling, Oliver Wang, Tachelle Wilkes, Kimberly Williams, Ral Yaez, Christie Z-Pabon, and Bernard Zekri.

In these days of blogging and self-publishing, it might seem that authors no longer need help to get their ideas to readers. All I can say is that Groove Music is a much better book for having been published by Oxford University Press. I must first thank my editor Suzanne Ryan. It only took me about two minutes to know that we would work well together. Cornering her at a conference, I pitched my idea for this book and then asked, a bit nervously, So, do you think you might be interested? She looked at me like I was an idiot, and responded, Uh, yeah. That was more than six years ago, and since then she has helped me in so many ways, whether by pushing me to lose the bowtie when I indulged in too much academese in the manuscript, meeting DJs with me, brainstorming with me over meals, or giving me just the right amount of slack at just the right time. Thanks, too, must go to Adam Cohen, Gail Cooper, Anindita Sengupta, Norm Hirschy, Katie Hellier, Natalie Johnson, and Niko Pfund for their professionalism, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. I suspect that they all did more for me than I realize.

Although this next group of people is not connected to OUP, I also consider them part of my editorial team. Many people have read parts of this book in draft form, but I owe a special thanks to two who read the whole thing and gave me invaluable feedback: Christie Z-Pabon and Travis Rimando. Christie, a widely admired hip-hop promoter, publicist, and activist, is also one of the most careful and scrupulous critics I could want. She pulled me back when I wandered onto thin ice, checked my facts, and offered her valuable perspective throughout the process. Travis, also known as DJ Pone, has a deep knowledge of battle history, DJ equipment, and really all things turntablistic, and constantly proved himself to be a most perceptive, thoughtful reader. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit. Also working diligently behind the scenes were several UNC graduate studentsWill Boone, Dan Guberman, Brian Jones, and Tim Millerwho helped me greatly by transcribing interviews, doing research, and assisting in a variety of other ways.

I wrote this book while teaching at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and I am grateful to many colleagues, administrators, and staff members for their support, including Bill Andrews, Tim Carter, Annegret Fauser, David Garcia, George Huntley, Jim Ketch, Dick Langston, Cary Levine, Carrie Monette, John Ndas, Don Oehler, Terry Rhodes, Sarah Sharma, Diane Steinhaus, Phil Vandermeer, Ken Weiss, and Susan Williams. I also owe a great deal to the literally hundreds of students who read parts of Groove Music in draft form, including those in my classes, The Art and Culture of the DJ, Capturing Sound, and Introduction to Rock. Special thanks go to the members of my seminar, Music, Technology, and Culture, who offered valuable feedback on nearly the whole manuscript: Karen Atkins, Chris Dahlie, Ryan Ebright, Ben Haas, Brian Jones, Erin Maher, Vanessa Pelletier, Chris Reali, and Kristen Turner.