SCRATCH QUEST
Dec 1, 2004 12:00 PM
If you've ever been curious about the life and times of The X-ecutioners' Roc Raida, now is your chance to get on the inside with The Adventures of Grandmaster Roc Raida, Part 3 (Fat Beats, 2004). Although two DVDs were released previously, this one gets the full distribution treatment and features Jay-Z, Xzibit, Mix Master Mike, DJ QBert, Lord Finesse, DJ Premier, A-Trak, Aerosmith and others. You'll see behind-the-scenes and onstage moments at mtvICON: Aerosmith, the ESPN Action Sports Awards, the Anger Management tour and the Scratch tour, not to mention an in-depth look at Raida's skills on the decks.
Raida discusses his battle routines; just one takes him a month to learn and another to practice until he can pull it off flawlessly. Meanwhile, Lord Finesse kicks some science about his gear (his favorites being his Akai S6000 and MPC3000) and breaks down the current state of hip-hop into “black, white and gray area,” explaining that “white” is the mainstream pop hip-hop. Raida then introduces the mysterious characters Horse and Thug Doug. Horse is a quiet DJ with a horse head and a wicked scratch hand. Thug Doug is a mask-wearing, piece-carrying rapper with a bad attitude; a new single called “I Will Kill You”; and a remix follow-up, “I Will Most Definitely Kill You, Nigga.” Wrapping it up is Raida and Lord Sear's silly show, “What! 187 FM, Where We Don't Give a Fu*k!” The Adventures is goofy and fun, but it's also an educational peek into the world of scratch artists.
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