We all have that one DJ that made you sit back & say wow! That's what I want to do. Over the year I have been influenced by quite a few.
Early on my 1st DJ buddy was in my Division room in High School (Bogan) Hugo Mercado, Later my good friend Mark Medina introduced me to his DJ buddy Andy Kudelka. We would trade mix tapes of theirs & compare.. take notes, etc. These were the very first guys I met who had DJ equipment.. actual Technique 1200s. Andy pushed me to be more creative.. not to do things the easy way when it came to mixing.
The guys on the radio here in Chicago were a big influences to me & a lot of DJs that came up in that era of spinning. From stations like: WHPK, WNUR, WKKC, WCRX, WCYC, WBMX, WGCI. I got hip to what music was out there & how they were putting it together.
Once I got to High School this whole new world of Hip Hop, House, Parties, Mixing, Graffiti, etc was introduced to me. I started going to parties & collecting records.
These parties were at Banquette Hall, Church Basements, Warehouses, House parties.. that's where all these guys were spinning (House, Italo Disco, Electro / Break Dance Music, High Energy).
I started listening to the College Hip Hop radio shows & they would anounce parties going on around town. Graffiti writters meetings, etc.
Pumpin Pete was one of the 1st cats I saw cuttin, scratchin & playing Hip Hop in the early 80's. We would take the bus downtown, switch & catch the train up north to places like The Rainbow Roller Rink. That's where I first caught him. He is a DJ's DJ.
No one wanted to go on after him, once he did his thing. One of those guys that just made it look so easy. We would also go to places like Steps (One of the early Hip Hop parties) Big Shout to P Lee Fresh the DJ at Steps.
After DMC started putting out the Battle Videos I got hip to guys like Cash Money, Jazzy Jeff, DJ Aladdin, Steve D. These guys all stood out with their technical abilities & influenced me in some way or another.
In the early 90's I met my good friends Uncle Milty, DJ Joc Max from Kansas City, DJ Daz & Orlando from L.A.(Brass). These cast were also doing thing a lot different than the rest. Around the same time I met DJ Smash & Jazzy Nice (New York - Giant Step Crew) when I would play out in NY. They were also doin the Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul, Reggae & Jazzy Hip Hop thing like me at that time.
Big shout to Mike & Rich Mike Huerta (Midnight Fantasy Prod) for putting me on my 1st flyer also DJ Radical Jes Mendoza (Coed Ent.) for being the the 1st to book me back then, Ultimate Touch, Tommie Boy Prod, New Division, DJ Mark Medina & all my DJ friends!!! Keep the music going!!! JDLP
12 comments:
DJ PNS still is and will always be one of my favorite and very influential DJs to me. The same goes for Tone B. Nimble (950am was essential listening). Also big ups to Boogie Boy, NonStop and CMB with the killer mixtapes and skills. Outside of Chicago it was the Skratch Piklz, Krush, Shadow, ZTrip and Kid Koala.
Jeremy Sole, Stretch Armstrong, Premier, JDLP, Jeff Mills, Pete Rock, Roc Raida, Prince Paul, Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, Dj Riz, Danny The Wildchild, J-Rocc, Striz, Dj Hype, Cut Chemist, Kid Koala, Red Alert, Vadim, Frankie Knuckles, Cajmere, Z-Trip, etc....
I was always hesitant to get into the whole dj thing. I was digging, collecting, keeping an ear to the ground, until you introduced me to Phix, who was selling his decks. You gave me my first tips and a mixer, and put me on a few of your nights when I didn't deserve to be sharing a bill with you. So, I'd say that JDLP was the first mentor and influence. Plus you'd play everything and the kitchen sink in the mix. Then I discovered Quantic and would play his sets out, loving his digging skills, he'd play traditional Colombian, club bangers and gypsy music with funk, afrobeat, just really unexpected stuff, but it worked for him. Lately I'm hugely influenced by the Solid Steel crew: Strictly Kev, Cheeba, Moneyshot, Boom Monk Ben, Unnited States of Audio and Parker. It's all incredibly creative and I try and emulate them in my sets, although I lack those cats' technical skills still, but I'm getting there.
Chas,
Do you know DJ Jesse De Lapena? My wife has been friends with him for years and we used to see him spin when we lived in Chicago. We also saw him we he was with Liquid Soul, which was awesome. Fuck, am I dating myself?
i think one of the first DJ that hit me hard was Farley Jackmaster funk on day when i was like 10 yrs old he pulled in front of the Rivera and started Djing live out of his van he had tables and everyting snapping later i meet chris underwood and he schooled me on all the dope house trax to get a party jumping .. i giv it up to the DJays that used to carry at least 10 crates and up to the party!when hip hop started being played at parties their was a few that made it happend like twilight tone, xray, and 331/3 they used to get down! peace! nerd xmen!
It has to be the original Hot Mix 5 (WBMX). I was faithfully listening to the mix at 6, tapin off my black cassette recorder with microphone in hand to record the lastest and greatest mixes.
My cousin Ivan from Gary has been DJin ever since i was born! He's been doing it for so long i thought he name was DJ! Pretty much in succession after my discovery of DJing from my cousin i began listening to those legendary House and Electro/Freestyle mixes from Farley, Kenny Jammin, Steve Hurley and the rest from WBMX and GCI. Not only was i exposed to House music but what they played and the way they played put a spark in me to pick up the tables and learned the art. Of course like almost every kid in the 80's you also listened to Hip Hop and Punk/Pop Rock, so the cats on the Hip Hop side that had me going nuts was Jam Master Jay and Cut Creator (His scratch on Jack The Ripper i still hear it!!!) Locally on the Hip Hop scene it was Tone B Nimble, Twilight Tone and of course JDLP (I was a faithful follower of Mondays @ Double Door) and what i used to do was listen to the DJs i didnt drink much back then it was all about the music, i learned from all of these cats!
hmmm..my biggest dj influences, well its like this
for blends it was Walter 'Get Down' Brown, Bobby 'Cue' Bobby and Farley Funkin Keith
Scratchin in the beginning it was Mix Master Ice, JMJ, & Grandmixer DST
Later on for Scratchin, doubles beat jugglin etc... was Cash Money, Tat Money, Miz, dj Scratch, Premier, Daddy Rich, 33& 1/3, DVS Dave, Roc Raida & Rob Swift (DMC '92)
I could list a few dozen favorites, especially among Chicago cats: Pumpin Pete, JDLP, DJ V (now the Dizz), 33, Diamond Kut, Farley, Archive, Twilight, ... there were tons of incredibly talented people that I always liked to listen to, but for me there was only one real influence that I actually emulated: Eric the Wiz from the Rap Down. To me, he was what a deejay should sound like. I always kinda felt like if a deejay is really good, you don't even realize he's there. (In this instance, I'm talking about party deejays, not battle deejays.) Before the days of shouting and screaming on mix tapes, shouting out crew names, telling the listener how supposedly hot a song is, and other useless commentary over the tracks, Eric the Wiz just did seamless blends that kept a certain feel going for the duration of the mix. His blends made it sound like that's how the artists intended things to go, and I still remember the "Hold On" mix from when I was 16 years old.
My first DJ influence was this guy named Ray that lived in our apartment complex back in 1984. He used to make mixtapes for the neighborhood kids. It was the first time I saw someone mix two records and it just blew my mind. I still remember him mixing Jimmy Spicer’s “Dollar Bill” with “Rock it”, wow!! When I move to St. Louis in the Mid 80’s I remember listening to some great DJ’s: Captain G (who was from Chicago, could mix his but off), Doc Love, Cool Odie, and Lil’ Fresh (now know as DJ Kaoss). These guys really inspired me because not only did they play good music, they were great at mixing and transitions (a St. Louis trademark). The other main influences were DJ Aladdin, DJ Premier and DJ Scratch. I remember listening to those early Low Profile, Gangstarr and EPMD records and trying to duplicate the scratches. I learned a lot from those cats. I could go on but I’ll stop her for now.
My biggest influences came from the Hot Mix 5 when they were on WBMX. I used to love listening to the mix every day and especially on the weekend.
Mickey "Mixin" Oliver was probably one of my biggest mentors as I got to know him over the years. But, Julian Jumpin Perez and Bad Boy Bill also provided hours of entertainment. Later on Brian Middleton and Tim Spinnin Shoemer also were a joy to hear.
Two other big ones were Fast Eddie and Felix Da Housecat..and of curse the Godfather Farley!
The one that really comes to mind for me is David Rodigan.
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