High Five: DJ Babu's 5 Favorite Scratch Battle Records

DJ Babu, one third of Dilated Peoples and a key member of the DJ collective Beat Junkies, understands how to use samples well.

February 26, 2010

Not Available Lead — Image via Complex Original
Complex Original

Say what you want about the shift towards sample-free beats by many new producers, but records like Snoop Dogg's "I Wanna Rock" and Jay-Z's "D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)" show that the perfect chopped-up loop can still lead to pandemonium in the clubs, radio, or on the Internet. DJ Babu, one third of Dilated Peoples and a key member of the DJ collective Beat Junkies, understands this as well as anyone else. For his acclaimed Duck Season series, he has dug in the crates and produced or remixed for artists such as Talib Kweli, Big Daddy Kane, M.O.P., Jurassic 5, MF Doom, Sean Price, and Defari, as well as putting out The Beat Tapes, an instrumental compilation filled with heaters built around samples he gathered around the globe.

Although he has accomplished much as a turntablist (often getting credited as the one who coined the term), he's now determined to achieve the same exalted status with production. "I'm trying to compete with Primo, and Alchemist," says Babu. We caught up with him while he was promoting The Beat Tapes Vol. 2, which dropped this past Tuesday, and asked the "turntablist" what his favorite scratch battle records were. Yes, kids. Q-Bert is in there.

Interview by Jaeki Cho

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