Turntablism

Most DJs reared in the '80s remember the scratch riff of "Rockit" like their first kiss. After all, it was the first time turntables took over a song's chorus. The same kind of elation was elicited by the break-dancing electro of Afrika Bambaataa, the rock/rap synthesis of Run-DMC, and Grandmaster Flash's seven minutes of "who needs an MC?" wizardry.

Early excursions on the wheels of steel gave way to several schools of turntablism. DJ Shadow perfected the druggy down-tempo sound, Kid Koala envisioned three tables as a faux band, and Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ Babu, and the X-Ecutioners spoke through scratching and samples as well as a solid, mic-swinging rock frontman.

And now…some DJs who get downright nutty on the ones-and-twos: DJ Swamp literally lights his records on fire while producing hip-hop pyrotechnics, and sci-fi fan DJ Qbert scratches like a space cadet, while the rest reinvent the art form with two needles and a complete disregard for the sanctity of source material.

To be considered a turntablist, rather than a run-of-the-mill DJ, you need to do more than simply drop two tonearms and run through your record collection. Our playlist shows several ways of going about telling stories through the music of yesterday. There are those who tweak and twist tracks like taffy, others who carefully stack sounds like preschool building blocks, and then there are the sadists who build samples only to obliterate them several minutes later.