DJ Hip-Hop
tagStarted 1981Peak 1983-1998Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Hip-hop centered on the DJ as performer and record-maker: live mixes, blends, cuts, and crossfader work assembling other people's records into new wholes. Breakbeats stitched together, doubles juggled, party rocking captured to wax. The art is selection and hand technique, the turntable and mixer treated as the lead instrument on record.
History
Codified by Grandmaster Flash's 1981 The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, a live three-deck mix cut over many takes that previewed sampling and the megamix. Through the '80s and '90s, DJs like Marley Marl, Jam Master Jay, and DJ Premier extended the craft from park-jam break-spinning into studio production and radio mix shows.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Grandmaster_Flash_on_the_Wheels_of_Steel
- https://www.songfacts.com/facts/grandmaster-flash-the-furious-five/the-adventures-of-grandmaster-flash-on-the-wheels-of-steel
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marley_Marl
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_DJ