A performer in dance clubs who creates continuous music for dancing through the manipulation by mixing and joining of pre-recorded tracks. The DJ came to the fore in the USA in the late 1970s and early 80s, at block parties, where two turntables and a mixer were used to create a seamless blend of beats, riffs and hooks as a backdrop for early rappers. Some of the most unlikely sources of breaks – most notably 1950s and 60s rock and roll – and instrumentals were played and cut into early hip hop. One of the most innovative musical art forms to arise from these techniques was Scratching, while breakdancers incorporated dancing with mixing records in visually impressive pavement displays. More than three decks can be used and much skill is needed to keep the records synchronized; notable examples of this are in the early work of the English DJ, Carl Cox. With house music, DJ performance developed further with beat-mixing, which created a lengthy and seamless mix between records (usually specially remixed versions) by adjusting the speed of each turntable by about ± 8%. By the mid-1990s, leading DJs performing at clubs drew comparable audiences to those of traditional concerts, often commanding higher fees and dominating the album charts with DJ-mixed compilations.
IAN PEEL