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DJ JS-1 and Rahzel from "Slash" in Germany with
30, 000 people.
The
lights go down as the spot light makes its way over to the stage
during a late night at Republik Night Club in Toronto. A rumbling
bass takes precedence over the sound waves and the crowd screams
in excitement as two men appear into the centre of attention.
The record spins and the beat drops so phat and so sweet as the “Godfather
of Noyze” stands before us. Behind the turntables, DJ JS-1
holds the beat back as Rahzel plays with the levels of baselines
into the microphone. Then the battle begins between the beat boxer
and DJ JS-1 throws down a track and challenges Rahzel to mimic
the sound while the crowd interacts, determining the champion.
Triumphantly, Rahzel continues to display his phlegm skills which
flow with deep booming bass and complimentary pitches of treble
through the sound system. Half way through the show his real skills
are put to the test ? to simultaneously bring the beat, bass, and
vocal of the chorus into unison. “If your mother only knew” came
flowing from the speakers as Rahzel succeeded in the mash up of
instrument and voice. The music lovers applauded and screamed their
heads off at this seemingly impossible achievement. Then, he begins
to offer single roses to specially selected ladies throughout the
audience as JS-1 spins Al Green to all the lovers in the crowd.
They continued their set of sick beat making, beat matching, and
of course beat boxing till the crowd had no more screams left to
give. What a night!
Rahzel
The self acclaimed “Godfather of Noyze” Rahzel M. Brown
said “make the music with your mouth, not with your hands.” This
talented artist is unique to the “Fifth Element of Hip-Hop” and
has contributed to the popularity of the beat box. What is the
Fifth Element you ask? Under the sub-culture of hip-hops umbrella
that includes DJing, break dancing, MCing, and graffiti writing,
the beatbox has gained the recognition it deserves as an expression
from the human creative force.
 
Growing
up in the Bronx he had many musical influences such as Doug E.
Fresh, Bobby McFerrin, and Biz Markie. The most influential artist
in Mr. Brown’s life was Grandmaster Flash and his
cousin Rahiem from the Furious Five. Rahzel would attend Grandmaster’s
and Furious Five shows regularly and said that “the hip-hop
[he] grew up on; [he] was actually able to live it and touch it.
It wasn’t far off and inconvenient.” Rahzel then joined
hip hop’s cutting-edge live band, The Roots in 1995 before
going it solo again in 1999. That year he released Make the Music
2000 with MCA records which displayed lots of goodies such as “All
I know,” “Night Riders,” “The Human Beat
Box,” and “If Your Mother Only Knew.” The follow
up album was released in 2004 with Rahzel’s Greatest Knockouts!
where he collaborates with many other talented artists such as
Rob Swift. During that same year he also did some work with Bjork
for her Medulla album and dropped some beats on the Legion of Boom
by The Crystal Method.
“The beatbox definitely stands out” says Rahzel and
we all couldn’t agree more after one experience with the “human
beat machine” and “vocal percussionist”. He’ll
leave ya wantin’ more.
Click below to read our interview with Rahzel.
Also listen to the audio version of the interview.
Click
below to hear a Pulp plug by Rahzel.
More
info on Rahzel:
www.rahzel2000.com
http://www.mcarecords.com/artistmain.asp?artistname=Rahzel&artistid=122
DJ JS-1
A world recognized turntablist, graffiti artist and member of New
York’s Rocksteady Crew, DJ JS-1 has accomplished much on
the path of his journey to success. He has appeared on MTV (internationally)
and BET displaying his vinyl talents to the world. In 2000, J
got to perform live on MTV’s “Millennium Special” in
front of millions of viewers. He has released 3 albums including
Ground Original, Claimstake, and Audio Technician and produced
8 singles along with multiple mixes. Also, he created 4 breaks
records for other DJ’s to use in their sets and play. JS
has set himself apart from other turntablists by working with
some the big names in hip-hop such as KRS-One, Big Daddy Cane,
Common, Rahzel, Planet Asia, J-Live, Masta Ace and many more.
JS
grew up in Queens, New York and in the mid 80’s became
deeply involved in the art of Graffiti. With only one turntable,
he had eventually collected crates of records that he would play
for the breakers. By 1991 he made a choice and began to focus his
energy into being a DJ with these crates of records and developed
his skills on tables. With his close friends giving major encouragement
and support still to this day DJ JS-1 has grown to into a well
respected, hardworking, and incredibly talented artist.
Click below to read our interview with DJ
JS-1. Also
listen to the audio version of the interview.
Click below to watch a video of DJ JS-1 spinning live in Germany!
Click
below to hear a Pulp plug by DJ JS-1.
More
info on DJ JS-1:
www.DJJS1.com
http://www.myspace.com/djjs1groundoriginal
DJ
JS-1 BIO
Over
the past decade, the hip-hop turntablist has gained immense popularity
and mainstream recognition. No doubt, one deejay at the forefront
of this movement is Queens-born JS-1. One half of the infamous
team with Rahzel, ex-beatboxer of The Roots, JS-1 has released
3 albums, “Ground Original,” “Claimstake,” “Audio
Technician” through Fatbeats Distribution, Bomb Records and
Studio Distribution. All three albums feature a bevy of hip-hop
heavy-hitters, including KRS-1, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Royce
Da 5’9”, OC, Masta Ace, Casual, Evidence of Dilated
Peoples, Dice Raw of The Roots, Prince Poetry of Organized Konfusion,
Planet Asia, Tragedy Khadafi, Ill Bill of Non-Phixion, J-Live,
C-Rayz Walz, Common, and Supernatural to name just a few...
To read more of this bio click here.
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