Bay Area DJ History

Q-bert, Disk, Shortkut, D-styles,

San Francisco Bay Area.

Lunar Base 415: The Secret UFO Scratch Headquarters

Written by DJ Deus

Spintronix, Majestic Sounds, 3-D Sounds, Just 2 Hype, Sound City, High Fidelity, Ladda Sounds, Exquisite Sounds, Sounds of Expertise, Sound in Motion, Skyway Sounds, Second II None, Livestyle Productions

Imagine

Marcus Bradford,

Trinere, Cover Girls, Olga, Expose, etc.

Expressions, Strickly Business,

City College

DJ Q-bert

Livestyle Productions

. I was mesmerized by what I had heard and new that this was going to be the next level in deejaying here in the Bay. Q-bert did a scratch that sounded like a helicopter (now known as the Scribble), as well as flashed It Takes Two. He also used a long guitar riff off of a record from freestyle artist Safire (Let Me Be The One), and created a scratch that sounded like a laser shooting down bad guys.

A promoter threw a battle that involved deejays doing singles battles against each other. It was called Expressions and was held in Hayward, California in 1990. In this battle, Q-bert battled a deejay/producer named Jazzy Jim from Skyway Sounz. This was the first time I ever heard his tone manipulating scratch. He threw on a track called or Jive Rhythm Trax, and used a long sounding tone on the other record platter. He manipulated the tone sound by utilizing the pitch control and made the tone sing "Mary had a little lamb." This later became known as the Tone Scratch. Another deejay from the Bay who elevated the tone scratch to another level was Sound in Motion’s deejay

From there, some deejays from the Bay Area looked at the way that they did things in certain parts of their routines and incorporated scratching into their battle sets. Soon, they were flashing between doubles of the same record, proving that their mobile crew was very well-rounded.

But history does not stop there. Even Q-bert had a history as well. In 1985, he and another deejay named Mixmaster Mike, from the mobile crew High Fidelity, were doing these scratch tricks way before the Imagine showcases ever occurred. They once battled against one another. Q-bert lost. But they both stayed in touch and innovated and created together. They are considered the main innovators of scratch music in the Bay Area and were responsible for influencing many others such as Disk, 8-Ball, Shortkut, Quest and Flare.

The Bay Area had a "culture awareness" show on KRON Channel 2 every Saturday morning. The show was called Home Turf. This was where scratch music was exposed to the entire Bay Area community. Q-bert, Disk, Mixmaster Mike, and Apollo did showcases on the show before intermission, and after the show was over. It is a shame that this show was canceled. Around this time was when Q-bert, Mixmaster Mike, and Apollo were deejaying for the rap group FM20 and called Shadow DJs. There was renewed interest in turntable music from the public, and a shop in Pacifica called Manor Music, had Q-bert do in-store showcases to help promote the store and at the same time, turntable music. In 1988, Q-bert introduced an entire battle set that he eventually used in a battle three years later.

The Bay Area was put on the map when Q-bert entered the 1991 Disco Mix Championships (DMC) competition. He placed 1st in that battle and represented San Francisco in the World Finals. He placed 2nd in the world that year. But that did not stop there. In 1992, Mixmaster Mike flew to New York and competed in the 1992 New Music Seminar. He won the title and took it back to the Bay. That same year, Q-bert joined forces with Mixmaster Mike and Apollo and blew the minds of hip hoppers in New York by introducing the Team Routine in the . They won the USA Finals and took the World Finals as well. In 1993, another deejay, from Sound in Motion, went to New York to compete in the 1993 New Music Seminar and ended up taking the title back to the Bay as well. In late 1993, Q-bert and Mixmaster Mike defended their World title and won that year’s DMC World Finals. They were forced to retire by DMC because other deejays were intimidated by them. They retired honorably.

The scratch world changed in 1988. A deejay named Flare invented a scratch called the Flare Scratch. This new scratch sounded faster than most scratches, and opened up the door to many other types of scratches. Q-bert picked up on it and introduced it to the world in his 1993 World DMC routine with Mixmaster Mike. That same year, another deejay named Disk created the Orbit Scratch after seeing the Flare Scratch in 1991. In 1995, Q-bert created the Crab Scratch. For more information on these scratches and how they are done, please go to Wicked Styles.

Many wonder when Beat Juggling was brought to the Bay. Some think Shortkut, some think Q-bert. Those people who thought Q-bert, thought right. Q-bert did some early forms of Beat Juggling after seeing deejay Cash Money in 1987. Shortkut, once with the mobile crew Just II Hype, was responsible for innovating Beat Juggling to newer levels. He is also dubbed the "West Coast Originator" by those who know him and what he contributed. He introduced his Strobe Juggle back in 1994 and that changed the way a lot of Bay Area deejays, including East Coast deejays, manipulate beats. Shortkut competed in the 1994 DMC West Coast Regionals and won 1st place. He represented in New York and placed 2nd in the DMC USA Finals. History repeated itself as he placed 1st in the 1998 DMC West Coast Regionals and placed 2nd in the DMC USA Finals.

Another deejay who contributed a lot to the scratch community was deejay D-styles, formerly from the mobile crew Sound City. D-styles created a lot of scratch combinations and has been dubbed the "Scratch Scientist by those who know him. His patterns can never be imitated by others, and they are different every time. In 1996, Q-bert, Mixmaster Mike, Shortkut, Yoga Frog, and D-styles formed the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, a turntable musician group. Disk, Flare, A-trak and Apollo were the group's honorary members.

History is far from over in the Bay Area. In the 1990’s, many other deejays spawned from the 80s generation of deejays to take turntable music to the next level. The deejay group Supernatural Turntable Artists, comprised of deejays Relm, Streak, Swift Rock, Deus, and Doc Rice was created and introduced to the Bay Area in 1996. This crew specializes in battling and composing turntable music as well. There are many other deejays that were created from the 80’s generation. These include Remedy, 3-D, Spidermonkey AG, Snake Eyes, Badrok, Ill Bill, and many others from the Bay Area. All taking things to the next level for the next generation to enjoy.

This article is hopefully just the small piece of Bay Area deejay history. As time and the artform progresses, there will be more articles published as more Bay Area deejays spawn from generation to generation, taking turntable music to the next level. These articles will serve as sort of a plaque, honoring those turntable musicians who have done so much for the culture. We can never forget those who have created this form of new music for us to enjoy and learn from. Without them, the Bay Area would not be where it is today.

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