DJ Shadow's Josh Davis is widely credited as a key figure in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the London-based Mo' Wax label. His early singles for the label, including "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found (S.F.L.)," were all-over-the-map mini-masterpieces combining elements of funk, rock, hip-hop, ambient, jazz,... [+] Read More

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As well as being one of the ablest solo turntablists on the globe, Cut Chemist is also a member of two highly rated crews: underground rap kings Jurassic 5 and the Los Angeles Latin funk band Ozomatli. He came up with the L.A. rap group Unity Committee, and debuted on wax with the B-side of UC's 1993 single "Unified Rebelution." The track... [+] Read More

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Born Chris Oroc, DJ Babu is a member of Dilated Peoples and the on-again/off-again DJ crew Beat Junkies. The California-based DJ began making mix tapes in the early '90s and joined the Beat Junkies in 1994. Babu has won multiple competition titles including the DMC Championship in 1997 and multiple ITF titles. As a revered battle DJ he has... [+] Read More

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DJ Faust is a turntablist with an incredibly dense style of cut-and-paste mixing that leaves little room for pause and entertains shades of original musique concrétè producers like Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry. Born in North Carolina but based in Atlanta around the Third World Citizens collective (including DJ Shotgun from Goodie Mob),... [+] Read More

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Chinese-Canadian turntablist Kid Koala was born Eric San in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1975. Classically trained on the piano, San instead put his fingers to work on a pair of Technics 1200s starting in the late '80s. He was a college pub DJ and bedroom turntable manipulator for nearly a decade before landing a recording deal with U.K.... [+] Read More

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One of the more underrated producers and DJs in the West Coast underground, KutMasta Kurt initially made his name working with Kool Keith, during which time he first donned his trademark Mexican wrestling mask. Kurt (b. Kurt Matlin) had been DJing in the Bay Area since the mid-'80s, getting his start as a teenager on a Santa Cruz community radio... [+] Read More

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One of the more underrated producers and DJs in the West Coast underground, KutMasta Kurt initially made his name working with Kool Keith, during which time he first donned his trademark Mexican wrestling mask. Kurt (b. Kurt Matlin) had been DJing in the Bay Area since the mid-'80s, getting his start as a teenager on a Santa Cruz community radio... [+] Read More

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DJ Mark Ronson is a sought-after turntablist, born to rock royalty, who's worked with such diverse artists as Macy Gray, Jay-Z, and comedian Jimmy Fallon. The son of legendary rock guitarist Mick Ronson and the stepson of guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner, Ronson spent the first eight years of his life growing up in England. Having played guitar... [+] Read More

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Among the true talents in the late-'90s new skool of old-school hip-hop, Peanut Butter Wolf began DJing as a teenager and became quite an entrepreneur at his San Jose, CA, high school, selling mix tapes of his turntable work. He debuted on wax in 1989 with "You Can't Swing This" on All Good Vinyl, recorded with a smooth MC named Lyrical... [+] Read More

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Rhettmatic is a native of Cerritos, CA, who started DJing competitively in 1992. After rocking the L.A. turntablism scene for a few years, he stepped it up and made the 1995 DMC West Coast Finals. In 1995, he teamed up with Key Kool for an album called Kozmonautz and has since worked with Ras Kass, DJ Babu (who beat him to win the 1995 DMC... [+] Read More

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Turntablist Rob Swift was born Robert Aguilar in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood of Queens. Growing up, he was heavily influenced by cutting-edge jazz artist Herbie Hancock as well as the more typical DJ heroes like Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and DJ Premier. After graduating from Baruch College with a degree in psychology, Swift... [+] Read More

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West Coast DJ Simply Jeff, previously known as DJ Spinn during the mid-'80s while working at Los Angeles radio hot spots like KROQ and MARS-FM, is the head of Dr. Freecloud's Mixing Lab and Fund Da-Fried Therapeutics, a progressive-leaning club night that allows him to spin everything from chunky trip-hop and downtempo to trance and rave on the... [+] Read More

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