In an era of popular bands that include DJs such as Limp Bizkit and Incubus, the role of a DJ has expanded past the recording studio. Thanks to pioneers such as Jam Master Jay and Funkmaster Flex, DJing is now an art form as important as playing drums or guitar.
A crowd in the Union’s Cotillion Ballroom who braved the rain, the serial killer and worries of an impending war March 18 was treated to the sounds of professional DJs from the Scratch DJ Academy in New York City.
As part of their service to LSU students, the Union Program Council Music and Mayhem Committee brought in Reg E. Gaines and his school of DJs to demonstrate how complicated and creative the skill of DJing is.
Rob Principe, Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay of Run DMC), and Reg E. Gaines started the DJ Scratch Academy to: “Unify, legitimize, validate and extend the role and importance of the DJ into new arenas.”
The night began with a tribute to Jam Master Jay, one of the Academy’s founders and a member of the breakthrough ’80s group Run DMC who was gunned down last October in New York City.
“He pretty much was one of the cats that put DJing on the map worldwide,” said DP-One, a DJ with the Scratch Academy. “He opened the door for DJs of the future and made people realize the turntable was an instrument.”
After an emotional poem read by Grammy award-winning playwright and Academy co-founder Reg E. Gaines, DJs DP-One and I-Emerge began to show off their skills to a group of students assembled around the stage. Students were impressed with the antics of DP-One as he scratched while turning in circles and taking off his shirt.
“It’s not like anyone could just get up there and do it,” UPC member Sarah Finnin said of the DJs. “People don’t realize that it takes a lot of talent.”
As the show went on, more students got a chance to learn from the professional DJs. Biological sciences student Bryan Newnman got a chance to scratch on stage. He says he thinks the DJ is as important as the guitarist in bands today.
“It was really neat, but it takes a lot of talent. It really depends on the person’s natural ability,” he said.
Many of the students in attendance had experience scratching such as self-described amateur DJ and mass communication freshman Chase Lanier. Lanier said he thinks the definition of a DJ has been blurred by popular culture.
“Bands like Limp Bizkit (which includes DJ Lethal) are not the true art form,” Lanier said. “The underground turntables will always be there, the record industry is just too closed minded to hear them.”
As the night continued, DJ Tiny Archibald, host of Underground Sounds, a radio show that showcases local DJs and airs Mondays 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on KLSU was called out of the crowd. Backed by the beats of DJ DP-One and I-Emerge, Archibald showed off his skills to the crowd with a rhythmic freestyle.
Even some of the UPC members got into the act as Sarah Finnin, a music and marketing senior, tried her hand at scratching. “It was fun; I’m a real music person, so it was something new to try,” said Finnin.
But she’s not considering a career in professional DJing,
“No, it’s fun, but I’d rather just watch,” she said.
Reg Gaines, who was a tennis coach in New York two years ago, said he knows the DJ Academy is a success because it has worked for him.
“It validates the school because I didn’t DJ, I learned how, DJing is part of the history of hip-hop,” he said.
Gaines said the average cost of a six-week session at the Academy is just under $250, and they have celebrity DJs every Saturday.
“No one is turned away for a demonstration, but the classes are really worth it,” said Gaines.
The Scratch DJ Academy and its show of DJs next travel to North Carolina to continue their streak of 16 colleges in 5 months. The Academy can be found in Suite 512 at 600 Broadway in New York City or online at www.scratch.com.