Respect due

Upon hearing that I might play alongside Grandmaster Flash I couldn’t contain my excitement like a little kid who received news that he might meet a real super hero in the living flesh. An innovator who gave us the backspin technique, punch phrasing and certain scratching techniques, my thoughts immediately took me back to our own innovators and pioneers. In the current climate of the hip hop “swag” DJ and those on the forefront of “hip pop” DJ’ing it’s alarming that we haven’t documented our history properly go give credit where it’s due. I love what S.A house DJ’s have been doing since day one in their operations and love television programs like Fresh’s Club Culture and Ready D’s now defunct, Deck Tales. I feel though that we need some definitive documentary like Doug Prey’s Scratch, especially for the documentation of the South African hip hop DJ. We come out of a past where hip hop music wasn’t played in mainstream clubs in the 80’s to early 90’s where it got like 30min play. Through places like the Base and initiatives like the African Hip Hop Movement hip hop spread gradually to other corners of South Africa. I will leave the history lesson for another time but the contribution of Cape Town hip hop and more especially the DJ aspect of it get’s played down a lot. Now as I flash foward my train of thought – respects to the all sound technicians across Mzansi. From the Base DJ’s (Cpt) –to Chop Su (Jhb), from Beat Bangaz to Idol Hands, from DJ Cause (Dbn) to P-Kuttah (Dbn), from Scratching Trio to Spindle Crew, from female DJs like DJ Angirl to C4, I salute you. Respects to the crate diggers, progressive radio mixslot DJ’s, exhibition DJ’s and bedroom DJ’s who I’ve encountered throughout my career and who has contributed to my outlook and style. In the current climate of exclusives, mashups, and air horns a mayor shout goes out to those DJ’s who brings the skills to the table. Respects to emcees across the African landscape who utilise the skill of a DJ within their live shows . Respects to all past and present battle DJ’s who represented South Africa in international and national DJ competitions. I hope to use my website as platform to share some insights and interviews of past and present pioneers in a bid to pay homage and also document South Africa’s hip hop DJ history. It is good to see that the scene is in a healthy state amidst politics and minute challenges. Let’s go foward knowing where we come from. Respects all.