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     Hip Hop; the culture, the sound, the art and the way of life captured my imagination ever since I was a young child in elementary school well over a decade ago. The only White kid in my school to embrace the musical art form over rock, I didn't really have anyone to share my passion with until I reached a more diverse high school population. I just couldn't explain to people why I liked it to make them understand.

     To me, Hip Hop was just such an original art form that didn't need guitars, drums or full orchestras to make you move to the beat. The rhymes, the speed in the delivery and the human beat box were all things that left me in awe! The ability to create real music, beats and sounds with your mouth, but the most incredible aspect of it all was that there was just one other instrument needed to complete the sound was a turntable with some old records that a DJ would scratch, spin, beat juggle and so many other words and styles I never knew. I just enjoyed the way the DJ would move the record back and forth, fast or slow, to create a distinct sound no one had ever heard or even tried before.

     As I heard it more and saw it become a musical genre all its own, DJ mixing continued to peak my interest. I wanted to learn more and the Battle Sounds Documentary put me into a whole new world of DJ battles, young kids growing up in the streets discovering that their hands didn't need to use a hammer, play a sport, serve a burger, pump gas or sit at a keyboard all day; all it had to do was move a record to the limits of one's own mind and get the people off of their feet, oohing and ahhing at something they never quite heard before; no easy task at all. It's a complex art form that takes more than just an ability to move a record back and forth. One must really know their music and have an ear for what beats or sounds would go real good with another song. To create a whole new song out of bits and pieces of others takes a real passion and knowledge of music; not just Hip Hop, but all music genres, which can be incorporated into Hip Hop for a new crisp sound, giving the genre a clear advantage over other forms of music. The DJ is an integral part of everything we listen to on the radio.

     Battle Sounds takes the art of turntablism and breaks it down for us, from learning its humble beginnings to demonstrating how to do the Flare Scratch to witnessing full-blown competitions for big money. We get to hear about the rise of Hip Hop, itself, and the revolutionary use of the record turntable, from such acts as Mysterio and the amazing Q-Bert, who is a driving force behind Scratch, another highly recommended DJ Documentary. However, Battle Sounds is a quintessential look at the evolution of the Hip Hop DJ that truly drives the point home that the musical art from belongs right up there with Jazz, Swing, Rock-n-Roll and other sounds that changed the face of music forever.

     What I liked about this documentary was that John Carluccio went out and gathered over 200 hours of footage finely showcasing all the cool aspects of DJ battles and the whole growth of turntablism and then turned it into a five-hour documentary piece. The great thing about it is, that, like a DJ, himself, he creates the Whitney Biennial Cut, a one-hour highlight reel of the best of the best, giving us the best battles, best sounds, moves and DJ's you will ever find. I love when Q-Bert discusses his DJ battles and education. It's like he has some sort of ego, believing he can learn anything and mimic any style, but at the same time, he shows his humble side when he discusses how he beat these DJ artists in battle. He took from the best DJ artists out there and created a style all his own that other DJ's started biting for themselves. In this genre, biting or copying is the sincerest form of flattery.

     I loved watching the DJ's go at it, spinning several records at a time, working the slider and moving as if they had 10 hands at once. Seeing the different styles, not just in the U.S., but other parts of the globe, really showed just how influential the art form has become. I enjoyed watching how a song can be cheaply manipulated with the slider and a slight movement of the record to create a totally different song, as shown when one artist goes for the cheap pop and victory by playing Mary Has a Little Lamb from this slight manipulation. It's just wild, being harder to describe, and even harder to envision if you don't see it for yourself!

     This is probably the best musical documentary I have ever seen. Battle Sounds puts you right into the thick of the action. Interviews with Grand Wizard Theodore, Mix Master Mike and Apollo, truly gives the viewer a true education; not about how to DJ, but just how important a DJ is to the music we take for granted today.

     Send your comments and or questions about this article to Blackhart@ybfree.com.

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