Page 25 - Arts Management Magazine Iss 1

AMM: Pretty much the first inspiration of all musicians. What
year was that?
DXT: 1975, 76. I’m actually a drummer but when I saw him I
wanted to play records. I always carried my drumsticks with
me, that’s what made me different from other DJs. Their per-
spective was just from the DJ’s point of view. I saw it from the
perspective of a drummer. I’m thinking of Ella Fitzgerald and
John Coltrane. I’m trying to innovate musically. I’m thinking
of scatting.
AMM: So you referenced jazz and created a new approach to
music.
DXT: I simply applied my background as a drummer and a
dancer, to the turntables. My thought process was always im-
provisation and innovation. I used the skills that I had and im-
provised to create new approaches to express my talent via turn-
tables. What inspired me to do that was Grandmaster Flash.
Hands down Grandmaster Flash is the most important DJ in
Hip-Hop culture in terms of inspiring DJs at taking a closer
look at our gear, our instrument; the mixer and turntables. We
were just sharing the information. Not directly but sharing it,
just by someone being in a club and watching another DJ, then
going home and trying to do what they just saw. The skill set
evolved year after year. So it was that evolution of the use of the
turntables that brought us to where we are today.
AMM: People are more aware of Grandmaster Flash now that
he’s been portrayed in The Get Down on Netflix. So, who was
the greatest rapper?
DXT: Raheem of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Hands down.
AMM: What do you think of if you go to a club or a lounge and
you see one on the computer DJing.
DXT: You need a disc to be a disc jockey so without the disc
you’re not actually a DJ.
AMM: So what do you call those people on their computer.
DXT: Programmers.

GrandMixer DXT did much more than take a record and begin
to scratch, as other pioneers did in Hip Hop. In the early 1980s,
DXT took the familiar turntable and used it like a musical in-
strument. The well known result being the hit song “Rockit”,
a collaboration between DXT and the legendary Herbie Han-
cock. DXT was the first musician to use this type of rhythmic
scratching. DXT’s innovation changed how DJ’s and musicians
create and produce music. He went under the radar for many
years producing albums for other artists and restoring great
works such as the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane
during which his cleaver ear created a new science referred to
as forensic editing. The GrandMixer continues to set strides in
history. I am truly fortunate to have had the honor to work with
GrandMixer DXT. ? Rhonda Supreme
DXT with Herbie Hancock

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