They Must’ve Forgot

Recently, I had to listen to some dumb kid who DJ’s techno in New Hampshire gloat about how he and one of his friends who’s not even a DJ can scratch better than DJ Premier… While that may or may not be true, I questioned what would make him say such a thing; And about DJ Premier at that! I noticed upon further inquiry, that they only knew Premier from watching skits on BET’s “Da Cypher!” Naturally, I listened to this rant for about as long as I could before blasting out with, “Yes, but aside from his name, DJing is not really DJ Premier’s forté; He’s a producer! And in any event, Premier is a titan in the game, and you? Who da f**k are you?? Go kill yourself!!” I heard him tell one of his boys I was getting him tight. I was like, “Yeah, you’re tight cuz you’re a virgin!!” Ummm… Yeah, I’m thinking I must be getting bitter in my old age…

Gone are the days when we would argue in the streets with our peers over whose Hip-Hop knowledge was superior. Back then, if you tried to compare yourself to a legend, you had to show & prove… When I was growing up, I remember hating when an older person would tell me things like, “I used to be just like you…” or “You’ve gotta go where I’ve already been…” Hearing these types of statements always left a foul taste in my mouth. I always felt like they were trying to patronize or underestimate me. In my young and rebellious head I’d be like, “You’re you & I’m me so how can we even compare? You don’t know me!” That being said, I try not to talk down to people that are younger than me because I remember thinking I knew it all & no one could tell me otherwise…

I’m not saying I didn’t have an ego or that I never thought I was better than a lot of old-school rappers, I just didn’t go around blurting it out because I’m from a time when you couldn’t! Back in the day, I used to hear about MC’s like “Grand Master-this” or “Cool Ski-that” but they were before my time so I didn’t really care for them… However, I still had a healthy respect for their contributions to Hip-Hop because I was intelligent enough to know they were pioneers who helped pave the way for me & my contemporaries. I wish I would say I was better at something than Kool Herc, for example. Whether it was true or not, back in the Bronx cats would’ve lined up around the corner to punch me in my face! You see, it’s a respect thing; And even though I didn’t listen to Kool Herc personally, I still knew & respected who he is and his impact on the game.

The youth are always going to evolve after we pass the torch so I respect the future as well as the past but as the saying goes… If you don’t know where you came from, you won’t know where you’re going. As far as folks thinking they’re better than those who have clearly paved the way for them and others like them, I feel like some things are better left unsaid. Even the truth, if out of season, can set into motion certain events that may lead to an unhappy end. I mean, what if this “DJ No-Name” and I actually got into a fist-fight? Would it not have been in vain? After all, I never heard this person scratch and DJ Premier wasn’t even there to defend himself so what would either of us really prove? Talk is cheap so I think I would’ve been more impressed if the kid just kept his mouth shut, jumped on his turntables & completely blew the crowd away…

Peep a video of DJ Scratch, EPMD’s DJ do some work!