Craze’s winning performance at the 1998 DMC USA finals is one of the best routines ever. And not just in DMC history, mind you…in DJ history.
The way he combined styles and techniques was a testament to his diversity as a DJ, but the way that he composed the set was true musicianship.
Before this set, most six minute DMC sets were essentially a bunch of short sets thrown together. Some folks still do style their routines similarly, but Craze didn’t just make a routine, he made a song. Back when I rocked a Walkman, I actually recorded this set onto a tape and listened to it on the bus!
Ten years later, there aren’t many sets that can compare to this one. It’s simply one of the most innovative sets of all time.
As you might know, DBM Labs is a proud sponsor of this year’s DMC USA finals – the longest running, most respected DJ competition in the world. Past winners include A-Trak (DJ for Kanye West), Mix Master Mike (DJ for the Beastie Boys), and Enferno (currently on tour with Madonna.) But that’s not even scratching the surface of the level of talent that’s competed at DMC, and what the battle has meant for the art of DJing.
Before MySpace and YouTube, even before the SkratchPiklz.com and WickedStyles, DMC is what brought the DJ community together.
By the mid-90′s, the annual DMC finals video was required watching for aspiring turntablists. An audio/visual document that immortalized the progress of the art each year, it was like the annual report of DJing, and it was studied, analyzed, and pored over by DJs from coast to coast and the world over.
DMC champs became the idols of our culture, and each year, another batch of faces – some fresh, some seasoned – shows up for their shot at glory.
So in anticipation of this year’s battle – it’s on August 30th at the Knitting Factory in NYC, by the way – we thought it’d be nice to do a little trip through DMC memory lane and post up some of the greatest routines of all time.
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