The DJ is dead, long live the DJ
LONDON: Once upon a time there was a DJ competition that all the world’s turntablists wanted to win. The list of past champions read like a who’s-who of scratch DJs. They came they cut they conquered. But that legacy was a distant memory on October 18 as the new breed did battle at this year’s DMC World DJ Championship.
Koko in Camden was barely half full as ageing DMC founder Tony Prince came out to greet the crowd with his usual blend of bumbling enthusiasm. Ten of the world’s supposedly best scratch DJs were ready to do battle with six-minute sets comprising beat juggling and scratching, but there was barely a pop from the crowd for the first half-dozen DJs.
DJ Jeppa, the UK’s entrant, put in a solid effort and shook the audience to life for a few moments, but it wasn’t until the final four DJs took to the decks that those in attendance showed any interest.
American champion DJ Etronik was a weak contender compared with previous winners from over the pond and while there was hope that the two Japanese DJs, DJ Co-Ma and DJ Blu, would pull off something reminiscent of their countrymate DJ Kentaro’s performances in the early 2000s, it wasn’t to be.
LigOne from France, the pre-final favourite, pulled off a performance that was technically sound and clearly going to win the competition, but when compared with sets going back 10 years plus, it was unimpressive.
The lack of any real talent in this year’s competition was indicative of how advances in technology have changed the face of DJing.
The most visible form of this could be seen in the records this year’s finalists were using, continuing the trend of DJs using vinyl they press themselves, meaning they can pre-arrange sounds for the benefit of routines, which often sound more complicated and impressive than they are.
There was also a lack of advanced beat juggling in the competition, with most DJs opting for routines comprising a very loud beat-bassline combo and some fast-sounding scratches.
You know there’s something wrong with a DJ competition when the only solid crowd reaction comes from one of the showcase acts, in this case French beatboxer Eclipse, who provided more entertainment in 10 minutes than an hour of DJ sets.
But the most telling sign came with the final showcase of the night, a dazzling audio-visual set by DJ Woody, performed using timecoded vinyl and Traktor Scratch Pro software to play audio files on two turntables and control visuals sent to a projector. It’s this technology that means DJs need only a laptop full of MP3 files instead of a crate of records.
At the end of the night, LigOne was deservedly crowned 2010 champion while Tony Prince made the announcement that as of next year, DJs in the competition will for the first be allowed to use Serato Scratch Live, which is essentially the same as Traktor Scratch Pro.
The chorus of boos from the crowd was a clear sign that the DMC competition as we knew it is long gone and that a new era is well underway.