Damn, I Miss the DJ

What electrified and excited me about Hip-Hip, the DJ, is rarely seen or heard nowadays…and I miss it

I recently rewatched the Jay Z B-Sides concert. You know, the Tidal jawn were he busted out with that ill two minute freestyle calling out YouTube and the murderers of Freddy Gray…yeah that one.

Nevermind the fact that Jay Z can command a crowd by himself — just rapping, no dancing — no light show — no crazy stage (no pun intended), just him rapping. Nevermind that. Did you see who was backing him?

I ain’t count all the keyboard players, guitar and bass players, or the two DJ sets. What got my attention is the two drummers. Two. Of course, if you’ve done a little research, you know that this is the 1500 or Nothin’ band and they’ve got a list of credits that would be an article unto itself. They’re amazing.

But like I said, there were two DJ sets…I guess providing scratches. Great concert.

Earlier this year, I was blessed to see Chance the Rapper’s Magnificent Coloring World Tour. He had the puppets, the confetti, the live band, and all that energy. Made me a fan.

But you know what? I miss the DJ.

Yes, I know that DJs still throw parties and that Turntabilism is an art unto itself. What I’m talking about is the DJ as the driving force and MC as the accompanying member.

You may have not grown up in that world, so let me explain.

The first concert I attended was a Run DMC concert. I’m guessing it was the My Adidas tour (if the tour even had a name). It was at the concert hall then known as the Mammoth (now known as the Fillmore…same place I saw Chance…the irony).

Anyone familiar with Krush Groove knows how Jam Master Jay opened the shows back then. He cut that Run…Run…Run…Run, Run, Run…and that scratch that followed, look, I had heard scratching on records before, in headphones before, but that…scratching in a venue, at those decibels, for a b-boy…pure ecstacy.

Run may have been the focal point, the star, if you will, but everyone who knows about Run DMC knows that the group's identity came from Jam Master Jay. He was the heart of the group. But that was the DJ. They were historically the center of attention and many rappers from that era, from Run up to Redman, started their careers as DJs. It was the thing to be…until rappers took over.

If you follow Rick Rubin or heard his story, the oft-repeated history is his production style originated because the music heard on wax was more similar to R&B or disco and didn’t resemble the music that was produced by the insular rap community. That music was driven by the DJ, where breaks reigned supreme. Therefore, the music that was heard was mostly percussive, free of other instruments, and often bass heavy.

The recorded music, on the other hand was performed by skilled musicians that either recreated the modern hits, or like Pumpkin & Friends of Enjoy Records, created their own music which could have passed as breaks.

Thus, when technology became affordable and producers took over, the music they created first was based on breaks. This was drum machine-driven music where often times the DJ would add accompanying scratches (see: Jam Master Jay, King Kut, and many other songs). That music morphed into songs created by sampling breaks which transformed into break-like music with the kicks, snares, and highhats from older recordings used to form new drum patterns. There was far less scratching on these recordings (unless you’re talking Premier).

As we’ve mentioned, most of the production was done by the DJ.

But that’s seldom the case now.

Since the days of Illmatic, rappers have beats farmed out to them or they produce for themselves. That’s common. But the “celebrated” projects? Those are the one’s that use live instrumentation. We, the listeners, marvel at those occasions when we hear lush string arrangements or accomplished musicians creating music that’s rapped over.

I remember back in 1992 when the Brand New Heavies had their Heavy Rhyme Experience experiment with many of the A-list rappers of the day from Main Source to Grand Puba. Initially, I was excited. Brand New Heavies, loved them. Rappers, perfect. But it didn’t gel to me.

A year earlier, there was an MTV Unplugged episode that had A Tribe Called Quest, MC Lyte, De La Soul, and the headliner, LL Cool J, performing a couple of their songs backed by a five piece band, Pop’s Cool Love. People ranted about it. The crowd loved it. I shrugged.

The first time I even considered a live band/rap act, was The Roots but even then, their music became better once they used their performances as source material.

I’ve grown to enjoy rap songs that are created by live bands. (see: The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League “Maybach Music” series) I’m a fan of Go-Go, I love live music. Nonetheless it’s taken some time for me to hear live musicians playing rap and it being acceptable. But that’s likely because what I viewed as rap has changed.

Rap has inched more towards what used to be called R&B. Rappers sing more and are praised for being melodic.That just brings me back to the Rick Rubin comment. The aesthetics that he took on, originally championed by Russell Simmons and Larry Smith, was an aesthetic that was geared towards getting AWAY from sounding like R&B. Now what we consider good rap is just that — rap that sounds like R&B.

And I can let that go. Things change. Rap is a multi-Billion dollar industry that’s driven by the sales of catchy singles.

But man do I miss the DJ. I miss hearing scratches in my rap songs. I miss the DJ switching the beat up from the beat that is used on the album to another popular beat or GASP a breakbeat. I miss the DJ being the center of attention, when an entire song on an album would be dedicated to a DJ and his or her prowess.

Russell Simmons, Kevin Liles, and Lyor Cohen, three men who are not known for nostalgia, often reminisce fondly of the days when they would travel as the opening act with five people and blow the headlining band out of the water. The establishment at the time was amazed that people would come out to see a group with no band…just a DJ.

I miss the DJ because that used to be what I thought the foundation of Hip-Hop was. But in a world that doesn’t respect or seem to need a DJ…is the music still considered Hip-Hop?