Down The Street: “The DJ Is King… Again?” by Michael Telemaque
DJ Premier, one of Hip Hop's greatest DJ's and producers!
Down The Street are guest posts by other bloggers, writers or anyone who has an interesting view on Hip Hop music or the culture as a whole; that could even be you if you post something significant in the comments, or even email me! — In the first post kicking off this brand new category, I have a long time friend and reader of LostMoniker.Com, Michael Telemaque, discussing his take on the role of the DJ in modern Hip Hop culture. Definitely not one to be a missed, and sincerely an excellent post by Michael. Also, be sure to leave comments and feedback!
The DJ Is King… Again?
By: Michael Telemaque
I’ma throw this premise out there: they say history and societal trends are cyclical, and in the early days of hip hop, the DJ was the star and the MC played more of a host role, and we both know how that evolution went and now we have the dynamic today of the MC as star and DJ/Producer as an after thought. In some cases DJ/Producers are considered down right replaceable, but I ask this: are we now coming full circle ?
With the desire for lyrical uniqueness either in delivery, cadence or complexity , rappers are now more archetypes or characters we can identify with than the more traditional versions of the original MC. Has the hip hop community slowly started a march towards marginalizing the MC and giving due to the musical muscle behind many acts? Its no coincidence that more rappers are doing collaborations with House Producers and with a euro pop sound finding way on many club records, that the fans now are starting to idolize the DJ much like they do in House Music.
Posted by LostMoniker on April 30th, 2011 :: Filed under Down The Street
Tags :: Ardman Van Helden, beat, David Guetta, dj, emcee, J-Dilla, John Digweed, mc, mixtapes, street dvds, youtube
