DMC 2012 Battle For World Supremacy Champion
Hey dude. Congratulations young man! Why do you believe you deserved to win this prestigious DMC title?
“Haha, I’m not sure if I “deserved” to win. I think there were a few other guys who were equally or more deserving in the sense that it was my first world final and I’m relatively new, compared to a few others who have been battling longer than I’ve owned turntables. I definitely put in a lot of work this year so it’s pretty likely I worked harder THIS year, although I’m sure some of the older cats have put in more hours overall. I spent a lot of time practicing and preparing for this year though, and I think that was the only reason I was put in a position to win.”
Did you think you had won after seeing all of the contenders?
“It’s really hard for my to be objective about my own stuff. I thought all the battles were close, I definitely didn’t crush anyone. The judging panel was pretty stacked so I trust them, haha.”
Who were you scared of?
“I’m never scared of battling anyone, anyone has a chance of beating nearly anyone else at this level depending on routine choice and how clean you come. Tony J Kut, Esquire, Ritchie Ruftone, and Erick Jay were definitely the guys I was looking out for so I had game plans prepared for them, it was a bit unlucky to have to far 3 of the 4 guys I felt were strongest in the battle.”
How did you celebrate?
“Made some calls home, had a couple drinks and talked to a bunch of people about it at the venue, then had a bit of a scratch session at the hotel room with some of the other battlers but I had to keep it pretty low key that night, I still had the 6 minutes to do the next day.”
Is there too much or not enough digital tools allowed in the DMC DJ Championships?
“I would say it’s pretty good right now for the most part, I’d like to see the 62 next year, and other mixers with cue point buttons built in. I think full on midi controllers would be too much for the solo events, it should definitely be focussed on the turntables/mixer. I like that the teams have anything goes pretty much, I hope that teams take more advantage of it in future years. I think Supremacy should go digital at this point… I love vinyl, and I think from a selfish standpoint it’d be good for my chances of winning if it stayed vinyl, but the state of vinyl is not what it used to be, and pressing custom vinyl is not ideal for anyone (it’s hard to do, and it often doesn’t sound great). I also think Supremacy would benefit a lot from DVS because it would enable battlers to get a lot more personal with their routines.”
Out of all the scratch techniques you’ve mastered which technique did you find the most difficult to learn?
“Delayed 2 clicks (aka boomerangs) might have been the toughest to get the coordination down for, but it’s the simple techniques that take much longer to learn/master… I still haven’t mastered chirps/stabs, it’s the guys who have that I really look up to for scratching.”
Now that you’ve gained your DMC world title what’s planned next?
“More titles, haha. I feel like I’m just getting started… this was my first world final, I think I still have a long way to go, and a lot of ideas left. I also have a lot of ideas for trying to build the scene overall, I’m hoping this will help me realize some of those. My first thing is www.tablist.ca, a website dedicated to Canadian turntablists that I’ve been working on for months, it’s going up this week, keep an eye out for that (right now it’s just a white page with youtube video links but the real site is dropping soon).”
Where else in the world would you like DMC to host the 2013 DJ Championships?
“France or New York I think would be the best. Anywhere where the scene is strongest would be the best.”
What makes you different from every other Turntablist on the planet?
“I’m not sure, maybe that for me battling is more of a personal thing, not really about winning or losing. I’d much rather do something I like that I think represents me and come clean, than win a battle doing something lame that I’m not truly feeling. There are far too many guys entering just trying to win these days. For me it’s about trying to make something that’s unique in some way, that people might want to watch more than once, or that pushes the artform forward in some way. Very few routines these days make me want to hit the rewind button. I’d like to one day become an example of what battles DJs should strive to be like, like a lot of World champs (and some that weren’t like the X-ecutioners) used to be. I don’t think I’m there yet though.”
What’s currently playing a lot on your music system at home/in the studio?
“The new El-P and Killer Mike albums, Public Enemy, and DJ Brace – Synesthasia (really good instrumental/scratch heavy music from a previous Canadian DMC champ, Google it).”
Next year is DMC 30th Anniversary – who would you like to see and perform alongside with on the big stage?
“Any legends doing new stuff. I always like seeing previous champs come back and drop new material that’s still really nice that shows they’re still keeping up with their skills. I think it’s important for the new generation to have the legends still involved with the scene and helping the new generation however they can.”
Do you play in a club and do believe your credibility will be compromised if you went commercial?
“I don’t play in a club, most clubs around are top 40 and I don’t listen to top 40 much. It doesn’t make much sense for me to play music I’m not that interested in, there are plenty of people who are interested in it who would probably do it much better. I’m more interested in becoming a musician and making music with scratching/juggling, or working with bands/artists, than DJing in clubs.”
Do you still buy music on Vinyl?
“Quite a bit, probably more than most. A good amount of my routines for Supremacy were sampled from vinyl, either the samples or beats or both.”
Who is the best ever DMC World Champion?
“I’ll go with a less obvious one here, Tigerstyle. His run in Supremacy in 2003 was what got me into battling in the first place, he’s always been one of my favourite turntablists of all time, and went from battling to using his skills to make sick music… which I think should be where a lot of turntablists should be trying to take their skills after battling. I also really like Netik’s Supremacy sets, he might’ve been the most dominant Supremacy champ in 2002. Akakabe in 2004 was really good too, great juggles. For the 6 minute I think Craze still has the best routines, even compared to todays routines. A lot of the 90s champs were amazing and way ahead of their time and deserve every ounce of respect for that too, however, and most of my direct influences are from the pre-Craze era.”
www.dmcworld.com