We speak to Cutmaster Swift and DJ Biznizz, part of one of the best DMC world champ teams ever…
Swift, you have over two decades of DJing history under your collective belts. Yourself, DJ Pogo and DJ Biznizz – simply living Turntablist legends. How have you managed to maintain your popularity in the world of a constant changing art form of DJing?
“Simply, we aren’t here to be popular, we love and enjoy what we do, we understand and have studied the traditional rules of Hip Hop. The research and pure dedication required to master this amazing art form will always expose your true passions and position. The En4cers are always very passionate and dedicated to what we put our minds too and I believe that’s what makes us timeless”.
The ethos though of the of the En4cers is quite a strange one, most crews tend to form to compete in competitions and split through retirement, however the En4cers are still going even after a decade of competing, what makes the En4cers so different and keep going?
“The En4cers are a family first and foremost, there are no egos between us, we function on a common belief which we express through our individual playing styles and music – our purpose is to educate and hopefully inspire . It was DJ Pogo who came up with the name in ’96 when we were in our competitive streak which was so necessary. But we always worked as a collective before that even if were booked as solo DJs…”
So Biznizz, the Breakin’ Convention, what is the En4cers involvement in it?
“Yo Dan, well the Breakin’ Convention is a Hip Hop theatre festival which is in it’s 6th year put together by Jonzi D and the Sadlers Wells Theatre. The idea is to bring the elements of Hip Hop such as B-Boying, Popping, Locking, DJing, Graffiti etc to the big stage in a performance format to show that the elements of Hip Hop are more than just arts performed in the streets as some people may still think. Our crew are the official Breakin’ Convention DJ’s at the festival, we play music in a large foyer to entertain the public before and between each performance as well as accommodate any dancers inspired by the performances they see on stage who may want to get on the dance floor themselves and show they also have skills. Musically, we try to educate our audience taking them on a musical rollercoaster threw all the era’s of Hip Hop evolution as well as trying to play all the styles of music that have influenced Hip Hop such as Funk, Rock and Jazz.”
So Biznizz your roll in the Breakin’ Convention, how important do you think it is to make your audience have some understanding of what you do as a DJ?
“I think its quite important to give your audience an understanding of what we do as DJ’s when performing, you may not always be able to make them understand technically so you compensate for that musically. One of the ways of doing this is by taking a record everyone may know like Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ and cutting it up in such a way as to make your own beat different from the original so your audience can hear how you’ve changed the beat in your own way – this technique we call beat juggling.”
Biznizz, The En4cers appear to be creatively involved in quite a few individual projects that stretches’ you all globally how has this affected the crew?
“Our crew being involved in many projects worldwide individually has really had quite a positive effect for us because when one of us is involved in a project we feel as though we are all involved or when one of us wins a competition it makes us feel like we’re all winners – and what I mean by that is, for us as a crew if one wins a contest or gets recognition for a track that he’s produced or a project he’s involved in, it means that all the hard work and practice we’ve put in together has paid off so we all end up as winners in the end.”
Swifty, explain what your thoughts are on the constant change of technology and will you ever give up the use of Viny?
“I love and embrace technology, however I feel there’s no need for me to ever give up vinyl – why should I!?! Today, someone can decide a budget and buy a piece of digital equipment that can pretty much do everything for them, but the foundation and self taught essentials most times may be by-passed because these tools are made and marketed to be easy. DJing isn’t easy, I’m learning and fine tunning even today, it’s a knowledge and skill enters so many levels. I believe this too easy attitude has created a new breed of wanna’ be DJ’s that can only be as good as the equipment that’s put in front of them.”
Biznizz, DJing has now become such a popular art form with young hungry DJ’s on every street corner after all these years, what is it that has kept you at the forefront of this art form?
“First off, let me say that as talented as any DJ may be, there’s no substitute for experience. Myself, Pogo and Cutmaster Swift don’t just love DJing and Hip Hop culture – we live DJing and Hip Hop culture. Our crew has been very fortunate to have been involved in Hip Hop culture in the UK from it’s early beginnings. And for the En4cers as a crew, this has given us the feeling of knowing where we’re going because we new where we came from. Myself, Pogo and Swift have experienced every aspect of what we call DJing – such as mixing, scratching, radio, mixtapes, group DJing and competitions. For us, learning every aspect of what a DJ can do was our apprenticeship, nowadays we meet way too many guys mostly in the DJ contests who learn one or two techniques – they have one crate of Battle records and tell you “I’m a DJ”. In my opinion, you need a little more than a crate of Battle records and two DJ techniques to really call yourself a DJ. We learned from the pioneers of this art form like Afrika Bambaata, Jazzy Jay, Grand Wizard Theodore, Whizz Kid, Afrika Islam, Grand Master Flash. I have over 20,000 records to date and these are some of the reasons why the En4cers are still where we are today.”
Biznizz, if you had to name one high point and one low point in your DJ career what would they be?
“For me that’s an easy one. One of my biggest high points has to be winning the 1999 DMC Team Championships, not simply because we won our first title as a crew, but because at the time we had a massive rivalry with the Scratch Perverts who people were being touting as the uncrowned champions and this was supposed to be the passing of the torch from the old to the new – only we didn’t pass the torch to them, we burned them with it. And as for my low point, it was when my turntables were stolen. I had them in the back of my car after a gig, I will never take my turntables out again.”
And you Swifty?
“As well as the obvious DJ victories from the DMC Championships and other personal moments, meeting and being acknowledged by the original pioneers has been an honour, but getting their approval has been paramount. Lows for me is the way the art form is abused and titled as a game. Hip Hop isn’t a game and a lot of today’s generation artists and industry show no true acknowledgement of those before them, so there’s no real passing of the torch. The Internet is a fantastic library to research and educate yourselves on anything you choose, however people rather throw abuse and think the can take whatever they feel like with no genuine contribution to a once positive thriving scene. If that’s the path you choose so be it, but there’ll always be a penalty.”
Biznizz, who are some of the DJ’s who have influenced and inspired you in the world of scratching?
“In the UK we really do have some forgotten heroes DJs such as Cosmic Jam in his day – the number one UK scratch DJ and one of the Break Beat kings of his time. Also Quick Cut J, another Break Beat king not given the props he deserved and Imperial Mixer – a member of the Imperial Mixers alongside Cutmaster Swift. Just a few of the our homegrown heroes who paved the way for us to do what we do today, some of us will never forget them and others need to check our UK history and learn about them.”
So an inspiring and new DJ – what advice is out there from you two? Biznizz, you first…
“If you have an idol or someone you may look up to as inspiration, don’t try and be like them. Always try to be better than them. No matter how good you are at what you do always try to be humble because the people you meet on your way up are gonna be the same people you meet on your way down. And no matter what happens you will always be the best that you can be if you practice, practice and practice some more.”
And Swifty?
“It’s simple be yourself, we’re all unique and have something special to offer, if you can’t handle criticism or handle losing, then this isn’t the business for you!”
Breakin’ Convention 09
The Sixth Annual International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre
Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN
Saturday 2 – Bank Holiday Monday 4 May 2009, then touring
1 Day Ticket: £20/£12, 2 Day Ticket: £32/£18, 3 Day Ticket: £48/£27
Ticket office: 0844 412 4300 or www.sadlerswells.com
Breakin’ Convention 09 UK Tour
In association with Dance Consortium
Full line up details will be announced in February 2009, please visit www.breakinconvention.com for the most up to date information.
