Scratch


Synopsis
This documentary chronicles the rise of hip-hop DJs or turntablists. There are interviews with some of the major names in the business as well as some of the early pioneers. It features some how-to’s, some battling, the basic concepts of DJ'ing, and several musical vignettes.

Observations
This movie was wicked cool. Who knew that a even your mom's old John Denver records could do so many crazy things? There was a great combination of interviews, demonstrations, lessons, history, and music. The only disappointing thing was the sound quality of the DVD. For a movie about music one would think that an investment would have been made to correct for the volume differences between the interviews and music segments. I found myself having to adjust the volume at almost every cut, which got kind of annoying.

DJ Qbert made this movie for me. He was funny, interesting, young and crazy talented. If you think a DJ is just a back-up band for a rapper, you must see this flick. Turn it up, nod your head with the beat and reveal in a contemporary American musical tradition.

Rating:

Amazon's entry for Scratch