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Not
another >> Scratch manages to get beyond the surface of DJ culture by SCOTT C.
Doug Pray’s new film is a feature-length ode to the history and evolution of the hip hop DJ, starting with the pioneers who extended the breaks from their party records, working its way up to the recent explosion of the “turntablist” movement. Made with the financial help of the Hughes Brothers (American Pimp), Scratch was shot entirely on 16 mm and incorporates some of the best hip hop archival footage ever. Unlike some of the previously mentioned films that became mired down in the spectacle of the DJ on a world scale, Scratch makes it very clear that without the hip hop DJ, we probably wouldn’t have DJ culture at all. The film not only features DJs who are famous for scratching, or competing in international battles, but also DJs who’ve made a name for themselves producing records, backing up MCs, or just for digging up the illest, hard-to-find records. One particular scene finds DJ Shadow taking us on a tour of the mind-boggling record stash that he’s been building for 11 years (picture a Wal-Mart-sized space with records from the floor to the ceiling). Highlights also include both Mixmaster Mike and Q-bert showing just how serious they are about the whole “aliens inspired me to scratch” premise, DJ Premier running down his first encounter with a DJ, and original X-men member Steve Dee showing off all-access passes from Blackstreet, Michael Jackson and Wrexx-n-Effects tours. Scratch
manages to be extremely informative, engaging and even quite funny from
where I was sitting. Whether you’ve been living in a box for the
last 20 years, or even better, you think you know all there is to know
about hip hop culture, prepare to get schooled. : Scratch opens Friday, June 14 at Ex-Centris |
Before
you start rolling your eyes at the prospect of yet another documentary
fixated on the magical world of the DJ (think Battle Sounds, Hang the
DJ, Modulations etc.), let me say right now that the latest, Scratch,
is slightly superior to those previous entries.