1st. Etronik from Pico Rivera CA
2006 DMC US Supremacy Champion
2008 DMC US Team co-Champion (The Angry Exs)
2010 DMC West Coast Champion
2010 DMC US Champion!

Congratulations to Etronik the first DJ in the US to represent the World in all 3 DMC World Battle Categories!!

2nd. Steel from Lakewood NJ
Brick Bandits Crew
2010 DMC San Antonio TX Champion

3rd. GrandMaster Supreme from the Center of the Universe
New Music Seminar Champion
Former DJ for Lauren Hill
2009 Roc Raida’s Gong DJ Battle NYC Champion
2009 DMC US Supremacy Champion
2010 East Coast Runner Up

Judges included: Roli Rho (5th Platoon & former DMC US Finalist), Precision (2007 DMC US Champion), DJ Slyce (1997 & 2008 DMC US Champion), Billy Jam (Hip Hop Slam), Mista-B (4OneFunk & 2008 DMC West Coast Champion)

Host: Kool DJ Red Alert

Showcases by:
DMC World Champion: DJ Shiftee – presented by Native Instruments
2008 DMC World Vice Champion: DJ Slyce
Mysterio: The Hitchcock of Hip Hop

Partyrocking by Bronx Hip Hop Legends: DJs Rockin’ Rob and DJ Jazzy Jay

Etronik With Prizes

Photo credit: Hip Hop’s 1st Photographer Joe Conzo www.JoeConzo.com

Etronik

Photo credit: Hip Hop’s 1st Photographer Joe Conzo www.JoeConzo.com

Steel

Photo credit: Hip Hop’s 1st Photographer Joe Conzo www.JoeConzo.com

Grandmaster Supreme

Photo credit: Hip Hop’s 1st Photographer Joe Conzo www.JoeConzo.com

GrandMaster Supreme

Photo credit: Hip Hop’s 1st Photographer Joe Conzo www.JoeConzo.com

Steel

Photo Credit: Ken Fujimatsu

Etronik

Photo credit: Christie Z-Pabon: DMC USA

I recently watched the Cleveland Show’s “Birth of a Salesman” and besides being hilarious, it paid respects to the great Herbie Hancock. Before I wanted to write anything about it, I came across Brandon’s posting on the hulu website which is exactly what I was going to say, put into much better words.

“I love that Cleveland Show highlighted Herbie Hancock and one of my favorite songs of all time. “Rockit” is one of the most influential songs ever recorded. Grand Mixer DXT spawned a whole generation of future DJs with this performance at the 84 Grammys, including Q-Bert, MixMasterMike, Cut Chemist, Z-Trip, etc. etc. etc. It was that performance of “Rock It” that stole the show on a night when Michael Jackson won seven awards (if you watch that performance, at the very end, you can see Michael and Brooke Shields in the front row, joining the crowd in a standing ovation). Speaking as a turntablist, pounds of respect to the Cleveland Show.”

Here’s an exceprt from hiphopdx website

At 37 years old, Roc Raida won numerous ITF and DMC championships for his turntable skills. Although he is remembered for his jovial character away from the decks, Raida was an innovator in cut-throat deejay battles that often involved incorporating competitor’s names into his mixes. Raida’s also known for his agile spin-moves, and often making acrobatic cuts on the turntable, through legs, over the shoulder, and using his mouth to cut the fader.

Through his AdiarCor imprint, Roc Raida released over half a dozen CDs and DVDs, that were both mixtapes, documentaries and instructionals for aspiring deejays. His mixtapes, including Crossfaderz, and WHAT! 187 FM are also remembered for their comedic interludes, often making mock commercials for malt liquors, car services and Jamaican nightclubs.

On records, Raida was present for The X-Ecutioners’ 2002 album Built From Scratch [click to read], released on Loud/Sony Records. Previously, the deejay crew was infamously recruited by Rick Rubin for his Def American imprint, but failed to reach an agreement.

With his scratching abilities, Roc Raida worked on dozens of classic albums. Highlights include O.C.’s Word…Life, Big Pun’s Capital Punishment, Buckshot Lefonque’s self-titled debut and Immortal Technique’s two Revolutionary [click to read] volumes. As a producer, Roc Raida worked with numerous members of D.I.T.C. and Smif N’ Wessun.

Family has issued a statement “Anthony Williams p/k to the world as The Legendary Grandmaster Roc Raida has passed away unexpectedly today September 19 2009. He is survived by his wife, three lovely daughters, mother and friends. Raida was recently in an mixed martial arts accident, something that he has been practicing for several years. Although he had under gone two surgeries with great success, was released to an inpatient physical therapy facility and was in great spirits the past few days. This morning he started to have complications and passed. The family asks for privacy at this time.”

RIP

He’ll be back in New York in a couple weeks to compete in the USA DMC finals, attempting to win his way to the International DMC finalists competition.

Here’s the entry that Amoeba Records put together for Mista-B.  http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2009/07/jamoeblog/amoeba-music-hip-hop-weekly-round-up-07-17-09.html

Put one down for the bay area!  If you don’t remember, here’s a video we did with Mista-B last year at Knitting Factory giving a shoutout to Misses-T.

DJ Kentaro needs little introduction. Winning the DMC World DJ Final at the age of 20 speaks volumes about his talent and skill at the decks. Some photographers caught him on his tour in Shenzen China where he kept the crowd on their feet till 6 in the morninnn (as snoop dogg would say).   He’s part of the record label, Ninja Tune (thanks Silami) He’s been featured in various magazines, publications, and television.

You only spend half a grand on vinyl banner if it’s DJ Kentaro.

To be completely honest, it’s hard for us to keep track of what he’s up to especially since we don’t have a full time translator but knowing he’s at the top of his game is good enough for us.

RAISE UP!

Our very own DJ Etronik won the Guitar Center DJ Scratch Battle in West Covina dropping the “juice” as the Guitar Center guys would call it on a crowd of several hundred showing up in the pouring rain outside…

Check out more of our pictures at our facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=18753522337

This is one of my favorite DMC sets of all time. Actually…next to Craze’s ’98 USA set…I think it is my favorite DMC set of all time. Teeko, a member of San Francisco’s 41Funk crew, is one of the sickest DJs I’ve ever seen.

This set was from the 2003 USA DMC finals, and it came at a time when a lot of DJs had started building their sets around more commercial music. (More on this in another post.) Teeko took that idea of relying upon mainstream radio hits to get crowd reaction and completely threw it out the window.

The result is the one of the jazziest, funkiest routines ever. If we’re talking about elevating the turntable to the level of a musical instrument, like showing what you can really accomplish with two turns and a mixer, this is one of the best examples.

In addition to the musical elements of Teeko’s piece (let’s not even call this a ‘routine,’) an element of digging made it interesting. He didn’t rely on any break records. None of the sounds were pre-arranged or formatted to intentionally make it easier for him to do what he did. He composed this out of original material, and in an age where we’ve come to rely on laptops to get us through a gig, it’s refreshing to know that people are still willing and able to create something so innovative while staying so true to the heart of the art.