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Invisibl Skratch Piklz


If hip hop can be likened to a body, each of the elements serves its own function. Emcees are the mouth and the mind, graf writers the eyes and the hands, bboys and bgirls the body. Where does that leave the DJ? They serve as the feet (as in the foundation) and the heart.

In the early days of hip hop, DJs were the stars. It is not for no reason that Kool Herc is seen as hip hop's father, Afrika Bambaataa its godfather and Grandmaster Flash its favorite uncle. If you wanted to be known in hip hop, you became a DJ, and these three were the biggest. Anyone who participated in the other elements did so knowing that they were in hip hop's periphery while DJs were the centerpiece.

In the late 80s and early 90s, the attitude towards DJs began to change. There were several reasons for this:

1) the emergence of the emcee as the frontman. In retrospect, this is not surprising. While DJs were stuck behind a table and had to concentrate on cueing up records…