| 1999 DMC Hall of Fame Inductees
|
Grandmaster CaZ
DJ Red Alert
Afrika Islam
Charlie Chase
Jazzy Jay
|
|
While the judges (former champions all) tallied their scores, we were treated to a little entertainment in the form of the Anomalies and the X-ecutioners. The Anomalies, an all-woman hip-hop collective, took the stage with DJ Kuttin Kandi (also of the 5th Platoon), whose presence reminded us of how DJ-ing is still one of the most male-dominated cultures to be found on late-20th-century Earth—I'm betting it'll be at least five years before a woman even makes it to the finals. The other big event was a performance by the X-ecutioners, who Grandmaster Flash introduced by announcing that X-ecutioner Roc Raida had been anointed Grandmaster Roc Raida by the Grand Council of DJs (recently convened in Cleveland). The four X-ecutioners got the crowd the most riled they'd been all evening, going from simultaneously mixing on six turntables to taking turns scratching on a single turntable, each guy literally doing a scratch that was smoothly picked up by the next, who then stepped aside for his successor. Once again, the X-ecutioners proved that they are no less than the shit.
So, the envelope please—with a set of gold, silver or bronze-plated turntables, mixer and styluses to the first, second and third place winners. Young P-Trix took third place—actually pretty much all DJs look incredibly young, perhaps because they don't go out in the sun and they eat a lot of diner food. Tony Vegas took second, also winning the first-ever Grandmaster Flash Special Achievement Award. The Grandmaster personally bestows this award on whomever has the most interesting "moments—not the whole routine" and Vegas' ability to make beats out of plain old noise impressed the Grandmaster mightily. Tony Vegas really, really wants to win in 2000, and I'm sure he's not going to emerge from his basement until this time next year, and then only long enough to take the tube to wherever in London it is they're having it next year. <<< >>>
|