War at 33 1/3: MV's Weekly DJ Competition

On Aug. 11, 1973, Clive Campbell showed up at his sister’s birthday party in a recreation center in the Bronx, plugged two turntables into a rudimentary sound system and with the drop of two needles created DJ culture in a single scratch.

Some 38 years later, the unlikely forum of Irish Sports Bar on Castro Street seeks a return to the culture in its most potent form.

Although Campbell, aka DJ Kool Herc, introduced the world to the art of Disc Jockeying, or DJing—one of the four elements of hip hop along with the Master of Ceremony (the MC), the breakdancer and graffiti art—almost immediately DJs sprang from the dance floor onto the decks.

Somewhere along the way, the DJ became an elusive figure. Although one needs only two turntables (and nowadays, maybe a lap top) to cut and mix tunes, the entry  into DJ culture, which used to be wide open, became locked down with a heavy gate.

The Bay Area is especially guilty of applying the padlock. To DJ in a club in the South Bay, you have to be experienced and to be experienced, you have to had DJ-ed in a club. The local resident DJs have fought hard for their spots, so they are reluctant to let any newcomers step up to the plate.

As recognition of how hard it's out there for the newbies, St. Stephen's Green now hosts weekly DJ competitions in the true spirit of hip hop. Nearly every week the venue places an open call to any DJ who wishes to compete on its website. To battle it out against other young DJ’s, up-and-coming wax spinners need only e-mail the pub and they’ve got a slot to compete.

This come-one-come-all philosophy yields boons both for the DJ and the audience. House DJs are often force to play “the hits” because most people are out for a night on the town, not to hear the latest underground mixtape single. But because the battling DJ’s at St. Stephens are looking to claim the wheels of steels, differentiation a rule.

As the resident DJ spins the interlude from one DJ to the next, any range of mixes and new beats might hit the crowd. Instead of the ten thousandth spin of Snoop Dogg's “Gin and Juice,” the crowd might be graced with an exclusive remix of a Dangermouse track, only to have that jam face a custom-made house beat challenged by an obscure soul single from the 50s which no one has ever heard before but is actually, really, really good.

A single visit to the competition shows how the genre gets pushed in new and daring directions. Because the DJ competition is an open ended call, DJs aren’t confined to a single genre, as they would be at most clubs. Within a single set, a challenger might mix hip hop with dub, a form of reggae, even disco to separate themselves from his or her peers and come out on top.

Not all the DJs are professionals at mixing—the technique of elegantly changing songs without missing a beat—or scratching, the use of your hand to move the vinyl back and forth to repeat one singular beat, and cutting—when a DJ repeats the same passage off a duplicate vinyl record—and the occasional dropped beat isn't uncommon, but this is hip hop in its rawest form.

These aren’t routines that have been practiced and nudged into a static playlist- this is music being arranged and shaped into new forms right there before the crowd’s ears.

Since it's a competition, you won't know who the DJ will be until the tunes have hit the airwaves. Much in the frantic spirit of the early DJ battles in the Bronx in the 70s, people on the bill might not show, people not on the bill will, and the crowd won’t care at all because the music is fast, frantic and completely fresh. At St. Stephens hip hop lives.

St. Stephens Green, 223 Castro St., will have DJ competitions on Feb. 17, 24 and Mar. 3 at 10 p.m.

DJs interested in stepping to the deck should e-mail: DJ@ststephensgreen.com