The World Famous Beat Junkies turntablist crew stop by Dubspot to discuss their love for turntable music, being active for more than two decades, and the current state of DJing and music technology.

The Beat Junkies (DJ Babu, J Rocc, D-Styles, DJ Shortkut, DJ Rhettmatic, DJ What?!, Mr. Choc, Icy Ice, Curse, Melo-D, and DJ Havik) incorporate highly skilled turntable techniques with party rocking. In this video, the Beat Junkies talk about their versatile performances in which they incorporate team routines, individual routines, and party-rocking turntable music. They talk about how forming a group helped them to individually develop their skills. Although the art of DJing has completely changed since the group’s founding in the 1990s, they talk about their respect for DJs who have great song selection and play for the crowd. However, they discuss how their art is completely different as turntablists, more akin to live musicians as they are using turntables as instruments to create new music, and are prone to error.

As technology and the internet developed, the Beat Junkies remained enthusiastic as these improvements create new ways to further their craft and add new musical elements to the music they perform with. They continue to represent the art of turntablism and display hip-hop in its purest form.