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DMC World DJ Championships

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DMC World DJ Championships
DJ Fly at the DMC championships in 2008
GenreHip hop, Turntablism
Location(s)Various
Years active1985–present
FoundersDisco Mix Club
Websitewww.dmcdjchamps.com Edit this at Wikidata

The DMC World DJ Championships is an annual DJ competition founded by the Disco Mix Club (DMC) which began in 1985.[1] It has been described as a "pre-eminent competitive DJ event".[2]

History

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Competitors are each given 6 minutes to perform, with winners selected at the end.[3] Championships were sponsored internationally by Technics, but in 2010 Technics was replaced by Serato and Rane.[4] Since 2011, the vinyl emulation software Serato Scratch Live can be used during the competition in addition to traditional vinyl.[4][5]

The first championship, held in the London Hippodrome in 1985, was won by Londoner Roger Johnson.[2][6] From 1992 to 1994 American DJ Qbert dominated the competition, until being asked to step down in order to "level the playing field".[3] In 2017 the Bronx-born Puerto Rican DJ Perly became the first woman to win the DMC United States finals. She went on to earn fourth place in the world finals in London later that year, the highest-placing female to that date.[7][8]

In 2020 and 2021, the tournament was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 event also attracted media attention due to one of the competitors being a 9 year-old girl from Dubai.[9][10][11]

Kalib Strickland from New Zealand, under the name DJ K-Swizz, won both the 2022 and the 2023 world events. Strickland, who had previously at age 14 won both the DMC Battle for World Supremacy and the 2017 IDA Technical to become the youngest person to win a world championship, was the first winner from the Southern hemisphere.[12][13][14] He also won the 2018 DMC Battle for Global Supremacy, which he failed to defend in 2019 when he was beaten by DJ Matsunaga in what Mixmag has described as one of the "best DJ scratch battles".[15]

Disco Mix Club

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The competition was founded in 1985 by the Disco Mix Club. The club was founded by Tony Prince in 1983 as a DJ remix label which targeted professional disc jockeys and enthusiasts instead of the mass market.[16][17] It resold megamixes and remixes, and published a weekly magazine. The company also began the magazine Mixmag before it was sold to the British media group EMAP in January 1997.[18] The club founded the world championship event "for DJs to test their skills against their peers".[17]

Musicians who contributed megamixes to the company included Alan Coulthard,[19] Les Adams (who was a judge on some of the earlier DMC championships),[16] Chad Jackson, Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson, Peter Slaghuis, Paul Dakeyne, and Ben Liebrand.[citation needed] The Disco Mix Club itself went into voluntary liquidation in April 2023.[20][non-primary source needed]

Champions

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  • 1985 - Roger Johnson aka RJ Scratch (USA)
  • 1986 - DJ Cheese (USA)
  • 1987 - Chad Jackson (UK)
  • 1988 - DJ Cash Money (USA)
  • 1989 - Cutmaster Swift (UK)
  • 1990 - DJ David (Germany)
  • 1991 - DJ David (Germany)
  • 1992 - The Rocksteady DJs (USA)
  • 1993 & 1994 - The Dream Team (USA)
  • 1995 - DJ Rock Raida (USA)
  • 1996 - DJ Noize (Denmark)
  • 1997 - A-Trak (Canada)
  • 1998 - DJ Craze (USA)
  • 1999 - DJ Craze (USA)
  • 2000 - DJ Craze (USA)
  • 2001 - DJ Plus One (UK)
  • 2002 - DJ Kentaro (Japan)
  • 2003 - DJ Dopey (Canada)
  • 2004 - ie.Merg (USA)
  • 2005 - ie.Merg (USA)
  • 2006 - DJ Netik (France)
  • 2007 - DJ Rafik (Germany)
  • 2008 - DJ Fly (France)
  • 2009 - DJ Shiftee (USA)
  • 2010 - DJ LigOne (France)
  • 2011 - Chris Karns aka DJ Vajra (USA)
  • 2012 - DJ Izoh (Japan)
  • 2013 - DJ Fly (France)
  • 2014 - Mr. Switch (UK)
  • 2015 - DJ Vekked (Canada)
  • 2016 - DJ Yuto (Japan)
  • 2017 - DJ Rena (Japan)
  • 2018 - DJ Skillz (France)
  • 2019 - DJ Skillz (France)
  • 2020 - DJ Skillz (France)
  • 2021 - JFB (UK)
  • 2022 - DJ K-Swizz (New Zealand)
  • 2023 - DJ K-Swizz (New Zealand)
  • 2024 - DJ Fly (France)

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to DMC World DJ Championships.

References

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  1. ^ "DMC World DJ Championships". DMC World DJ Championships. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  2. ^ a b Palmer, S (18 July 2014). "DJs face the music in DMC event: HIP-HOP". The Canberra Times. ProQuest 1545728377. Retrieved 4 February 2024. Since then the championships have grown to be a pre-eminent competitive DJ event with talent from across the world on show.
  3. ^ a b Dunlevy, T (19 June 1999). "Scratch city: DJing is no longer the solitary art it was a few years ago. montreal's turntablist community is booming". The Gazette. Montreal. ProQuest 433494164. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b Smith, Sophy (2016-04-22). Hip-Hop Turntablism, Creativity and Collaboration. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-12186-2. Archived from the original on 2024-02-10. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  5. ^ Katz, Mark (2012). Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-hop DJ. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533112-7. Archived from the original on 2024-02-04. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  6. ^ "Dave Pearce and Roger Johnson Hip Hop Special". BBC. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  7. ^ Williams, Harrison (10 August 2017). "DJ PERLY BECOMES THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE DMC ANNUAL DJ BATTLE". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  8. ^ "Heritage and Harmony: DJ Perly". National Women's History Museum. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  9. ^ Ross, Gemma (27 April 2021). "A NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL HAS ENTERED THE DMC WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  10. ^ Skinner, Tom (28 April 2021). "Nine-year-old girl enters DMC World DJ Championships". NME. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Nine-year-old DJ Michelle enters The DMC World Championships". DJ Mag. 28 April 2021. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  12. ^ Cugley, Michael (14 November 2023). "DJ K Swizz wins the big one back to back". Te Ao Maori News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  13. ^ Smith, Sam (11 November 2023). "How does one become a world-champion DJ at 19?". Stuff. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  14. ^ George FM team (2018). "DJ K-Swizz, NZ's 14 year old DJ, has just won the DMC World DJ Championship". rova.nz. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  15. ^ Dowling, Marcus (24 July 2020). "The 10 best DJ scratch battles of all time - Features - Mixmag". Mixmag.
  16. ^ a b "Tributes paid to radio presenter and DJ Les Adams". Radio Today. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  17. ^ a b "DMC World Celebrates 35th Anniversary". Canadian Musician. March 2018. ProQuest 2055881703. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Emap buys Mixmag" (PDF). Music Week. 18 January 1997. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  19. ^ Ross, Gemma (27 August 2021). "FOUNDING DMC DJ ALAN COULTHARD HAS DIED". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Disco Mix Club Limited". Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
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