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))

For the third consecutive year, two excellent, true skool hip-hop festivals took place over the long Easter weekend in Ireland-- the DJ themed Community Skratch Games in Galway in the West of Ireland and the graffiti & b-boy themed 3rd Annual All City Tivoli Jam on the opposite coast in the country's capital, Dublin. Both were highly successful and relatively intimate-scale events, drawing a few hundred die-hard hip-hop heads between the two bi-coastal gatherings. Of course, having two similarly themed events taking place in a country as small as Ireland, where hip-hop happenings like this don't occur often, presents a dilemma for fans who are forced to choose one over the other since they happen at the exact same time on opposite coasts of Ireland. Hence, to properly cover this past weekend's two events for the Amoeblog, I hopped on a bus and headed cross country to Galway to attend the Community Skratch Games while my man, and frequent Amoeblog Irish reporter, Tall Paul Lowe, stayed in Dublin for the All City Tivoli Jam. 

Now in its fourth year, the aptly named Community Skratch Games (CSG), which features several DJ based showcases and a scratch DJ battle over the long weekend, is truly all about community with a genuine emphasis on fun & camaraderie rather than on competition & seriousness. In fact, the prize for the winner of the CSG's annual DJ battle is not a trophy (a la the famed DMC or ITF battles) but a big bag of Irish breakfast meats (rashers, sausages, black pudding etc., all supplied by the local butcher) that the winning DJ traditionally shares with the other participants in a big breakfast cookout on "Skratch Monday" after all events are over. At this year's DJ battle on Saturday night (dubbed the "Community Skratch Open Freestyle Battle Royale"), ten turntablists went head to head, scratching for 16 bars each. To help mark the end of each 16 bars, drummer Tony Higgins dramatically crashed two cymbals together to the obvious entertainment of the packed crowd.