Boy howdy, this is a bit of badass news! DJ Scratch, for those unaware, is one of the greatest DJs of hip-hop’s golden era, one of the pioneers who propelled the art of turntablism into, well, the realm of art. For years he worked with legendary EPMD — and frankly, it doesn’t get more legendary in hip-hop than EPMD — developing tricks and techniques that form the bedrock of the DJ styles we all know and love. He’s also spent a wee bit o’ time in the studio, producing tracks on some of the best underground hip-hop records of all time, including The Roots’
Phrenology, Guru’s
Jazzmatazz, and Method Man and Redman’s
Blackout! Also, the dude can rock a party like it’s going out of style — which it is actually, since kids these days don’t want a DJ. They seem to prefer a playlist wrapped in an elaborate laser show with robots that do the dancing and play the music. Stupid kids.
— Sean L. Maloney