But now thanks to the efforts of such folks as Charles Angeles (aka Inbituin  of Spintronix & Thud Rumble) along with the support of the DMC USA's tireless CEO, DJ battle coordinator, and all round hip-hop culture ambassador Christie Z-Pabon tomorrow, Saturday April 7th at 4pm at 330 Ritch in San Francisco, the 2012 Bay Area DMC regional battle will be going down!

And it should be a good one since there are twenty DJ contestants ready to battle it out on the turntables. The event will be hosted by Fran Boogie and the judges will include DJ Quest, DJ Apollo, DJ Cue, Jazzy Jim, DJ Shortkut, and myself. There will also be some excellent DJ showcases, following the DJ battle portion of this all-ages event that ends at 10pm sharp, from 4oneFunk's Mista B (2008 DMC West Coast Champ and regular DMC showcase artist), Snayk Eyez (2000/2001 DMC US Supremacy Champ), La Femme Deadly Venoms (Deeandroid & Cellskiii, plus Lady Fingaz), and the aforementioned hard-working iNBiTuiN (Spintronix / Thud Rumble).  Later on there will be after party DJ sets from Goldenchyld of The Bangerz (2011 SF Red Bull Thre3style Champ), Cutso (The Bangerz - formerly Finger Bangerz), and The C.M.E. (Good Musik))

Today and tomorrow (Oct 6th & 7th) one of the most important events in hip-hop and DJ culture takes place in London: the 2011 DMC World DJ Championships at the 02 Arena's Indig02 in which the top hip-hop battle DJs from 21 countries (reppin' the USA is DJ Vajra - full DJ battle details above) battle it out in this Turntablist World Cup in three major battle categories: DMC World Final, DMC Battle for World Supremacy, and DMC World Team. Additionally this two day scratch DJ event will present a bunch of great showcases including ones by last year's DMC World Champ DJ Ligone from France, the 2003 Supremacy Champ DJ Tigerstyle, three time DMC World Supremacy Champ DJ Switch (who'll perform the piece: Concerto for Turntables), plus an anticipated triple threat set from the revered X-ecutioners' Total Eclipse, DJ Precision, & Rob Swift.
 
This year's DMC battle comes at a time when turntablism or skratch music seems to be on a comeback in popularity on a global level. It's always been popular but after its honeymoon with the mainstream in the late nineties it seemed somewhat dormant (in actuality it had just gone underground). But lately there's been a noticeable increased interest in DJ battles like the DMC and turntablist events like Ireland's annual Community Skratch Games of the past few years or the recent Thud Rumble presentedFader Fest in San Francisco with the reunited Invisibl Skratch Piklz as trio (QBert, D-Styles, Shortkut) and showcases from the likes of US DMC representative DJ Vajra. There seems to be a flurry of new turntablist releases lately too including ones from DJ ALF, Teeko, DJ Needlz, ThatKidNamedCee, Jimmy the Hideous Penguin, and DJ Quest who is about to release this month his latest turntablist album Cosmic Parasite (a collaborative effort with the two former bandmates from his original DJ crew Bullet Proof Scratch Hamster (BPSH) - DJ Cue and Eddie Def).

"How long you been practicing?" host Lord Finesse quizzed DJ Immortal at last night's 2011 DMC US Finals DJ battle before the talented turntablist launched into a six minute routine that could determine the path of his future as a DJ. "My whole life,"  said the Florida DJ born Jamie Keogh, qualifying that ever since he started DJing at age 15 he has dedicated every spare moment to honing his craft as a DJ/turntablist in preparation for an opportunity like last night's big battle.  As with each of the other anxious eleven contestants at yesterday's heated national DMC DJ finals, held at Santos Party House in New York City, (and all the other hard-working battle DJs who didn't quite make it as far as this final round) DJ Immortal, who earlier this year triumphed in the 2011 DMC New Orleans regional DJ battle, has spent literally thousands upon thousands of hours practicing the same moves over and over to the point of perfection so as to get to this stage. Indeed it is that level of love for the art, and that type of dedication/obsession that it takes to become a competing DMC battle DJ nowadays. 

Southern California DJ EtRoNiK took the 2010 US DMC DJ Championship title Saturday night in New York at an entertaining DJ event that included not just scratching, beat-juggling, body-tricks and mixing, but also nunchucks & handcuffs, plus laughter & booing. By becoming the new US DMC Champion, DJ EtRoNiK, who hails from Pico Rivera in Southeastern Los Angeles County, is the first DJ in the US to represent the World in all 3 DMC World Battle Categories. The skilled and seasoned DJ was the DMC US Supremacy Champion 2006, DMC US Team co-Champion (The Angry Exs) 2008, and DMC West Coast Champion 2010. The runner up in Saturday's US Finals was Lakewood NJ DJ Steel, who is part of the Brick Bandits Crew and whose battle titles include the 2009 DMC New Orleans Champion, and the 2010 DMC San Antonio TX Champion. In third place was tireless veteran battle DJ Grandmaster Supreme, who back in 1991 took the NMS (New Music Seminar) DJ champion title (the year before Mixmaster Mike won the title in the legendary & long defunct NYC based annual NMS battles) and whose impressive battle routine Saturday night included a lot of dramatics and body tricks, including flipping a pair of nunchucks as he simultaneously worked the turntables.


Running from 5pm to 10pm at Santos Party House (the downtown Manhattan club co-owned by Andrew WK), the fun-packed five hour event included, in addition to the actual DJ battle, several impressive showcases. One was a jaw-dropping opening set by Rockin Rob. This old school hip-hop DJ, who plays 45s exclusively and all rare funk and breaks seven inches, is a sight to see as he effortlessly cuts and juggles (lots of quick mixes) without ever missing a beat. Everyone in the house loved his set, including the host (and unofficial star) of the night, the ever entertaining Kool DJ Red Alert. The pioneering hip-hop DJ, who used to host the DJ battles way back in the day and thankfully is back doing it again, is the perfect fit as host of the big DJ battle. He is both funny-as-hell and knowledgeable in the art of hip-hop battle DJ'ing, but more importantly, he's well able to good-humoredly deal with the contestants and the audience if and when either need to be kept in check.