DJs and Subcultural Style

Style

Hebdige (1979) Subcultures=noise? Recuperation:

1) commodity form: freezes style 2) ideological form: exotic...through media

Intentional communication through commodities Bricolage Homology

Hip Hop DJs are...

Break manipulators using disks DJs were first replace by studio musicians who

replicated their cutting (“Rapper's Delight”) Beat producers are an extension of the DJ

Collectors, diggers, archivists, technologists A challenge to “romantic” authorship The “back bone” of hip hop The last element of the culture to be mass

commodified, and this is very recent

Pedigrees

Pioneers: 1973 Herc, Bam, Flash

2nd Generation: 1976-1982 Breakout, Baron, Theodore, Jazzy Jay, Afrika Islam, Whiz

Kid, DST, Red Alert 3rd Generation: 1983-1991

Barry B, Mixmaster Ice, Cheese, Cash Money, Miz, Steve Dee, Jazzy Jeff, Aladdin, Cutmaster Swift, Joe Cooley, Scratch, Tat Money, Jam Master J

“Turntablists”: 1992-2005ish? ISP, X-Men / Ex-ecutioners, Allies, 5th Platoon, Scratch

Perverts, Beat Junkies

Building Subcultural Capital

Collecting records (Kool Herc, objectified) Diggin' (Bambaataa, embodied) Technique (Flash, embodied and objectified)

Scratching, Beat Juggling, Mixing, Blending Musical knowledge (embodied) Battling; competition as cultural advancement “Turntablism”

Juice (1992)

• Stars Tupac and Omar Epps

• Black ganster / hip hop film in Bronx (shot in Harlem)

• DJ Q

• DJ Battle Scene

• DJ Practice / Tape Scene

• One of the few filmic depictions of hip hop Djing

• Queen Latifah, EPMD, Special Ed, Treach, Fab 5 Freddy,