Interview

DJ QBert shared some advice on DJing in a recent interview with hip-hop website, 247HH.

The legendary turntablist discussed letting loose on stage, practicing, eating healthy, and being spiritual. He said his biggest lesson in life was losing the DMC World Championship.

“It taught me how to be humble. From my experience of not practicing, I gotta practice a lot now. Because if you don’t practice, you know, everything falls apart. I have to stay humble and keep being a student. So I practice even more nowadays.”

In 2016, QBert reunited with his influential Invisibl Skratch Piklz crew and dropped their first album in over 20 years. The group, which consists of QBert, D-Styles, and Shortkut, recently performed at the Boiler Room in Oakland.

Watch the video above.

Related: Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Cut Chemist, and J. Espinosa Perform on the Boiler Room

American record producer, DJ, and recognised personality DJ Khaled talks with UK’s DJ Semtex for an exclusive interview hosted by BBC Radio 1Xtra. The footage of the high-profile interview known as “Cloth Talk”, has now been released.

They go deep into Khaled’s beginnings as a DJ, Drake, his first time connecting with Jay Z, the Asahd effect and much, much more. They also talk about his new album “Grateful”, which features many recognised artists but the interview also reveals his desire to work with UK’s Giggs and Skepta.

Watch the 68-minute interview above.

Related: Liam Gallagher Talks Upcoming Solo Album, His Love for Skepta, Possible Oasis Reunion, Plus More

London’s DJ Dubl was joined by UK producer Steel Banglez. They talk about him meeting MIST, working with Mostack, going through depression when Cashtastic was removed from the UK, touring with Drake and has music coming with Future, J Cole plus a track with Wizkid and Yxng Bane together. Watch the interview above.

Related: Lethal Bizzle’s Interview With DJ Dubl

Lethal Bizzle sits down with London’s DJ Dubl to talk about his journey in Grime. They discuss how being a millionaire has changed his attitude towards music, the difference between Lethal Bizzle and Lethal B, who he’d most like to collaborate with, why his delayed album is called “Lennox Road”, and the reason he took his business marketing to social media platforms. He also gives us an update on the lost verse by Jay Z on his classic grime anthem “Pow”!

Related: Not3s’ Interview With DJ Dubl

In April, the legendary Beat Junkies crew launched a DJ school called The Beat Junkie Institute of Sound. Located in Glendale, California, the school offers fundamental and specialized DJ courses, workshops, and private lessons, all taught by members of the crew.

The Beat Junkie Institute of Sound puts on an emphasis on the foundation of DJing. For example, students start by learning with original vinyl and then move to digital. Its state-of-the-art facility features 12 workstations, a merch store, and a “longtagon,” which is a table for group scratch sessions.

Power 106’s DJ E-Man recently took a tour of the institute and spoke with instructors DJ Babu and Mr. Choc. While he was there, he saw a scratch session that included DJ Premier. Afterwards, E-Man spoke with Premo about what it means to be a DJ today.

Watch the video below.

Related: Watch DJ Premier and Miguel’s ‘2 Lovin U’ Video

London’s DJ Dubl is back, this time sitting down with the artist behind the hit record “Addison Lee”.

They talk about Not3s’ early stage names, why he chose to sign to a label, choosing music over University, being compared to J Hus and much more. Watch the interview above.

Related: Shakka Interview With DJ Dubl

DJ and hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash discussed the role that technology plays in DJ culture during an interview with CNET at SXSW. The conversation took place before the debut of part two of Netflix’s The Get Down, which Flash associate produced.

“The audience wants to see you perform. And as a DJ, the best platform will always be turntables,” Flash said when asked how he feels about DJs scratching with the Touch Bar on Apple’s new MacBook Pro.

“Especially if you play multiple genres of music, the [beats per minute] fluctuate on all songs, you’re constantly trying to lock it in so that one beat connects on time to the next one. People want to see the constant battle going on. It’s something for them to look at, as opposed to [having] something that does it for you. I won’t say that it’s right or wrong, left or right, black or white. But why?”

Flash added that DJing, like everything else, goes in cycles.

“There has never been this much awareness for yesterday, of what was taking place in the ’70s,” he said. “So many people are trying to replicate what was.”

However, Flash doesn’t disapprove of all new technology.

“I used to have a room full of all the hardware. Two things happened: The room is increasingly hot — your power bill is out the window, it’s a mortgage. And it breaks down quite a bit. So, the scientist that I am, I went on a tear in the early ’90s when a lot of technology companies were making software versions of, like, a base module. Once I bought the app version, I took the hardware version and put it away. Slowly but surely, I put all my stuff away, because the wonder about technology is you can carry it with you. That’s a gift in it.”

The curse, he said, is when the technology does the work for you.

“I find that to be an insult to the audience. If you ain’t really mixing, then go try another profession. Don’t cheat the audience like that.”

Watch a clip of Flash’s master class for The Get Down cast below. Part two debuts April 7.

Related: Watch Grandmaster Flash’s Lecture on the Development of Hip-Hop DJing

Chris Karns performs with Pretty Lights in Morrison, Colorado in 2016. (photo credit: Jesse Borrell)

Serato recently caught up with former DMC World Champion, Chris Karns, who’s currently on tour with the Pretty Lights band. The Denver native has been working with the group for the past three years.

Karns discussed how his approach to DJing has changed since joining the band, the various components of his setup, and how he uses Serato DJ. Specifically, Karns explained how he uses the Pitch ‘n Time expansion pack and Ableton Link.

In addition to the interview, Karns put together an eclectic hour-long set for the SeratoCast.

Watch the convo and stream the mix below.

Related: Chris Karns Performs With Reloop’s Mixon 4

After years in the making, DJ Premier finally paid a visit to Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club. The legendary DJ and producer covered his entire career, from growing up in Texas and joining Gang Starr to working with The Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z, and Nas. The hour-long conversation is a must-watch for fans of classic hip-hop, production, and DJ culture.

Watch it above and grab his new single with Miguel, “2 Lovin U,” on DJcity.

Related: DJ Premier Discusses Scoring VH1’s ‘The Breaks’

Drake sat down with UK’s DJ Semtex for an exclusive one-on-one interview covering everything from his relationships with Kanye West and Jay Z, to his beef with Meek Mill, answering many of the questions left behind.

Drake also goes into detail on his Views album. Talking about how the smash hit “One Dance” came about and how communication broke down between Kanye and Jay Z. Listen to the whole extensive interview below.

Related: DJ Semtex Talks Music With Skepta