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THE BATTALION f
Page 3
Local DJs entertain the masses
’domg s a jJ e ; c “hip-hop,” two other words en-
^ ter their minds: “rap music.”
afore ConsecoliB.^ p e() | 1 i e . are oblivious to the
pe t that “hip-hop” pertains to an
‘is,said Consec: ent; i re Cl ilture. Since the early
id to upholi [9gQs, there have been four ele-
nade by AHaHejug that embody hip-hop:
is working toaMQj n g (rapping), B-boying
)lems. He saidt (b :ea k dancing), tagging (graffi-
ompany willc q) anc J DJing (turntabilism). do
le agreement#;®^ m any people are trying to
eneralafterlies-;W a ke themselves 100 percent
ce- Ip-hop by utilizing all four ele-
1 lents. One element in particu-
ne lines forevtrJf ’ DJing, seems to be a popular
up-and-coming hobby among
Is said overaEW un S adults everywhere,
d downloaded* To 111 an >'’ the definition of a
icrosoft, altho4| sc iocke >' ^ is one who P la y s
ible to guess lie | us i c at a c ' u ^- * hat may be tak-
ters have actual® as a stak t() man y popular DJ
p.|e\vs. Famous DJ crews such as
•edictions ranee H he ^visbl Skratch Picklz, 5 th
ction of a raiicf 1;1t(,on and the Beat Junkies have
>utei3anda«J i,de 1 s P innm S the xrehaicvinyl
iowdo»iitoKt cor r d ,nto !,n a g form ' The y
-overnmem E,l :msfoml eMstm g l>eats lnto ' lew
Dressing to felil 1 ' 5 ^ usil tB various forms of
, Rimtable techniques.
operators as pod r T n i • M i ■
ason Ro hi nett, aka DJ Alain-
ate their system® • . J .
■ Same and graduate student,
■ ,l pid, “It really bothers me when
is the most lati-H , , . / r i
trwom S in«lk|' 0 P k th, ,'’ k of D - |s as , P u eo Pi e
reared in |t|ho;ust play mustc at clubs. To
ri ®ie, its an art. D ing requires so
>wn mostoltot® , , . & . d i
|iuch technique and skill that
|cople are not aware of.”
„ j As simple as it may sound,
sir computerso:H, . r , 7 , ’
■ r playing at a club also can tie con-
CO LlCdi OUl Ub Jb* j -I 1 1 T~X T
■ u i Sidered an ordeal to many D s.
/ still needtoii-A, , - , • .
Jhe way they program their
music, the type of crowd they
Ire playing for, and the appeal of
Kheir music, all play a vital role.
V “Agood club DJ has the abil-
fity to control his crowd in the
ll'ay they feel by simply playing
I certain set of records, “said
■teven Blancaver, aka DJ Stevie
■ of the Houston-based DJ
®ew,The Buddhafoolz. “It’s fun
®) see how the crowd reacts to
lour music and to see what
lings are going to make the
■owd hype.”
I Although there are many
ftchniques and criterion in
volved in DJing, many DJs are
enrolled in school and must
net.
nfected corapii;-
s patch.
lean
inlemal coil recews
power and sends*:
controller andbadof
hargeable battery.
Chief
Editor
lio Producer
nion Editor
ihics Editor
Editor
Editor
ms Editor
unaster
. Aggielife Edit’
ign Director
>5-4726) is publish J
iring the fall andsC
’ft Thursday duiiiij T
rsity holidays and ft-
iity. Periodicals (Wi ;
10. POSTMASTER: Sr-
/),Texas A&M Unnes'
77843-1111. •
learn to juggle their time on the
turntables and their time hitting
the books fairly well.
Ryan Santos, aka DJ Saint
Projekt and freshman at the
University of Saint Thomas in
Houston, said, “Even though it’s
a lot of fun DJing at local clubs,'
I can’t be too serious about the
whole DJ scene right now. I just
enrolled at UST, and school al
ways comes first.”
From California to New York,
aspiring DJs who are and are not
seriously involved in school can
be found hidden in their bed
room trying to mix the latest
songs playing on the radio. Even
at Texas A&M, some students
can be found not DJing at clubs
but practicing their techniques in
the privacy of their own homes.
“I think DJing at clubs takes a
lot away from the aspect of
turntabilism,” said Duong Le,
aka DJ Bahn-Meeh and a junior
biomedical sciences major.
“You can’t be as creative
you want to be when spinning
at a club. I just spin and mix
songs to improve my
technique as a DJ and
hopefully get good
enough to enter the
famous DMC DJ
competition.”
Even though
the majority of
the complex
DJing tech
niques are ap
plied to hip-
hop music,
DJing is not
just limited
to that genre.
Many DJ s
spin a variety
of music such
as house, jungle,
trance, drum and
bass and techno.
“Hip-hop is one
of the hardest styles
of music to experiment
with,” said Zaid Al-Baker,
aka DJ Cheezecake of the
Buddhafoolz. “That is why I
stick where music is taking off
in, such as trance.”
Many DJs utilize their tal
ents in many forms. Another
Houston-based DJ crew, The
Krackernuttz, make use of
their turntable skills in radio,
clubs and in the DJ battle
scene. The Krackernuttz con
sists of Baby J, Kleankutt, and
Kasuri. They are regular DJs
on the Houston radio station,
97.9 The Box. Even though
they work well together as a
group, they do just as well as
individuals. Baby J recently
competed in the DMC South
west Regional DJ competition,
major event for DJs in and
around Texas, while Christian
Navarette, aka Kleankutt, has
received a masters degree and
still possesses major talent as a
turntabilist.
“DJing is getting really big
around the nation, especially in
Texas,” Kleankutt said. “We
like to utilize our talents in any
way we can to express
our music.
A predominantly male busi
ness, females are rare in the DJ
scene. Popular female DJs in
the limelight include Sonique
and Spinderella, from the rap
group Salt-N-Pepa. There are
many other popular
turntabilists that are popular
within the DJ community such
as Symphony and DJ Kuttin’
Kandi, two very respected
names in the scene. Many as
piring female DJs tend to turn
to these two DJs from Califor
nia for inspiration.
“Symphony and Kuttin’ Kan
di are two awesome DJs,” said
Gie Navo, aka. DJ G-Shock and
a high school student from
Cerritos, Calif. “They give
me a lot of inspiration to
improve myself as a DJ.”
The widespread infes
tation of professional and
amateur DJs around the
world is definitely a sign
that there will never be a
shortage of DJs. Whether
they are presenting their
skills at a club, the local
radio station or at a DJ
competition, one thing is
for sure: DJs will always
make one get down on the
dance floor or make one
want to become a master
of die “wheels of steel.”
Ryan Lbcker, a local DJ, spins in
his home studio on Wednesday. He
is part of the group. Toxin, two DJs
who spin all over, including places
like Austin and Canada.
Willa Ford
Willa Was Here
Atlantic Records
Born Amanda Lee Willi
ford, the 20-year-old singer
first grabbed the limelight as
Backstreet Boy Nick Carter’s
girlfriend. With a new image
and a new album, Williford is
trying hard to follow Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera,
all the while denying it.
In the liner notes of her first
album, Willa Ford writes, “May
my life be as much of an emo
tional rollercoaster ... so I can
keep writing real lyrics and not
... about butterflies, sunshine
and candy.” Ford co-wrote
eight of the eleven tracks on her
CD, but her topics range from
sex, frivolous high school topics
and dealing with being famous.
Her weak rhymes such as,
“Hit the road Jack ... Did Ya’
Understand That?” are ac
companied by synthesizers
and too many keyboards. Her
background vocals are remi
niscent of late 1980s Expose
or Paula Abdul hits.
It is hard to imagine anyone
but 14-year-old girls shopping at
Claire’s Boutique actually bob
bing their heads to her “music.”
Each song on her album
sounds alike with the exception
of “Tender,” a ballad where a
poor girl sings about how sensi
tive she is to heartaches and love.
While many fans have post
ed Websites praising Ford,
others have displayed their dis
like of Ford with “Anti-Willa
Ford” Websites, claiming she
must be stopped from commit
ting the crimes she is commit
ting against music and dedicat-
~' J “to exposing the talentless
freeloader known as Willa.”
From her video, “I Wanna
Be Bad,” which receives plenty
of airplay on MTV, to the cov
er of her CD, Willa Ford tries
to make up for her lack of tal
ent with her lack of clothes.
Her singing voice is decent.
Maybe if she were not such a
sellout and jumped off the pop
wagon, she would not be such a
waste of talent. (Grade: D)
• —Lizette Resendez
ed
*NSYNC
Celebrity
Jive Records
Three CDs into a fast and
furious musical career and the
boys pf ’NSYNC have set
themselves apart from the
cookie-cutter look-a-likes of
so many competing boy bands.
They are a boy band, but that
is not a synonym for being
musically illiterate.
Justin, J.C., Lance, Chris
and Joey stepped out of the
normal boundaries in creating
Celebrity by co-writing 10 pf
the album’s 13 tracks. Surpris
ingly, the songs that stand out
the most are those that Justin
Timberlake and J.C. Chasez
had a hand in writing. While
they still do not play their
own instruments, these song-
and-dance men deserve some
respect.
“Pop,” the first track re
leased to radio and music tele
vision, incorporates rapid-fire
electronic beats and a funky
hip-hop rhyme to become the
disc’s prelude. Lead singer
Justin Timberlake, who co
wrote the song, brings the
track’s not-your-average-pop-
group attitude with full force.
The title track follows suit in
similar rebellious fashion. An
angst-ridden melody, mixed
with chanted background vo
cals, draws listeners in through
its hypnotic utterances and
more autobiographical lyrics.
Other tracks work their
way through smooth R&B vo
cals and mellow rhythms,
which uncomplicate the
sometimes busy digital music.
The group’s Stevie Wonder
influence comes through
clearly and pleasantly as the
group strives to break away
from critical stereotyping.
Listeners can expect to find
a more personally introspec
tive and expressive album than
the group’s previous discs, but
they have not lost that fun,
pop sound. (Grade: B)
—Thomas Phillips
See Reviews on Page S.
artment is
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