Chris Oroc a.k.a. Melvin Babu (born September 17, 1974), better known as DJ Babu or DJ Babu the Dilated Junkie, is a

Filipino-American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

DJ and producer. He is a member of the hip hop trio

Dilated Peoples Dilated Peoples is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They have had little mainstream success in the US, with the exception of the song " This Way", a 2004 collaboration with Kanye West. Better known in the UK, they reached t ...

, with Rakaa Iriscience and

Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

and is also a member of the

Beat Junkies The Beat Junkies is an American hip hop crew of DJs specializing in turntablism. Established in 1992 in Orange County, California by J. Rocc. As of 2014, The Beat Junkie Crew also host their own record pool, clothing line and radio station. ...

DJ crew. He served as the curator and host of ''Soundcheck'' for Beat Junkie Radio on

Dash Radio Dash Radio is a digital radio broadcasting platform with over 80 radio stations. These stations are curated by DJs, radio personalities, musicians, etc. The platform includes partner stations curated by Snoop Dogg, Kylie Jenner, Lil Wayne, Tech N9 ...

. As of 2017, DJ Babu is the Program Director and a lead instructor alongside fellow crew members Mr. Choc, Melo-D,

Rhettmatic DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a producer, DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, the Beat Junkies. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, CA ...

D-Styles Dave Cuasito (born July 6, 1972), better known by his stage name D-Styles, is a hip hop producer and DJ. He has been a member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, and Third Sight. He has also been a resident DJ of Low End Theory. D-styles i ...

and J.rocc at the Beat Junkie Institute of Sound.

Career

Babu is also a member of the

DJ crew, and together with

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Defari forms the duo the Likwit Junkies. Babu,

and

Pharoahe Monch Troy Donald Jamerson (born October 31, 1972), better known by his stage name Pharoahe Monch, is an American rapper from South Jamaica, Queens, New York. He is known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhy ...

are featured in the song "

H! Vltg3 "Points of Authority" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It is the fourth track on their first studio album, ''Hybrid Theory''. Mike Shinoda's verses originally had different lyrics, and Chester Bennington's parts became no different fr ...

" from

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

's album '' Reanimation''. In his early years, Babu lived in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

for one year, and later moved to the neighboring city of

Camarillo Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...

; he currently resides in Los Angeles County. Babu has won multiple competition titles Including the Vestax World Championships and multiple ITF titles. He has appeared in and hosted numerable videos. Babu is famous for redefining the art of

Beat juggling Beat juggling is a deejaying and turntablism technique in which two records are used to prolong an existing beat, or to create a new one. It is associated with the context of hip hop, but not necessarily limited to this genre. Definition Beat ju ...

during the 1997 ITF/Beat juggling category competition, when he first performed his "Blind Alley" routine. Under the name "The Turntablist", produced perhaps the genre's most popular

battle record A battle record, also often called a battle tool or battle breaks, is a vinyl record made up of brief samples from songs, film dialogue, sound effects, and drum loops for use by a DJ. The samples and drum loops are used for scratching and perf ...

, 1996's Super Duck Breaks, which sold over 10,000 copies. DJ Babu has also featured on numerous acts alongside groups such as

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 is an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1994 by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup aka Zaakir), Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mark Potsic (DJ Nu-Mark) and Lucas Macf ...

Swollen Members Swollen Members is a Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only (who was actually a member of the group for a short period of time in the ...

and

The Visionaries Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...

. Individually Babu has been featured in many other groups. Babu's latest endeavors include

2014 release of their fifth studio album,

Directors of Photography ''Directors of Photography'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Dilated Peoples. The album was released on August 12, 2014, by Rhymesayers Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Vince Staples, Aloe Blacc, Catero ...

with record label

Rhymesayers Entertainment Rhymesayers Entertainment (sometimes abbreviated RSE) is an American independent hip-hop record label based in Minneapolis. History Rhymesayers Entertainment was co-founded in 1995 by Sean Daley (Slug), Anthony Davis (Ant), Musab Saad (Sab th ...

, which features tracks that were primarily produced by

Evidence (musician) Michael Taylor Perretta (born December 10, 1976), known professionally as Evidence, is an American rapper and record producer from Venice, Los Angeles, California. He is also a member of the group Dilated Peoples, as well as being one-half of S ...

and Babu, with guest appearances from

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to pr ...

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

, Sick Jacken, and

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. Her second album, ''Laila's Wisdom'' (2017), which was critically acclaimed, received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Rap Album and Be ...

to name a few. In 2014, The

crew launched their own membership based record pool curated by the members of the crew, including Babu. At the top of 2015, "Beat Junkie Radio" began airing on

, the station stars all members of the crew, but led by Babu, Mr. Choc, and Rhettmatic. Their live show "Soundcheck' which aires live every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month has been ranked as one of the top 5 shows on Dash Radio. Duck Season Vol. 4 is set to be released in 2018. Aside Babu's musical accomplishments, his hobbies also include photography, with Babu being noted for his "behind the decks" shots of his turntables with

Rakaa Rakaa Taylor, better known by his stage names Rakaa, Rakaa Iriscience, and Iriscience, is a rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of Dilated Peoples alongside Evidence and DJ Babu. Career Rakaa released the solo debut album, ''Crow ...

during live shows, as well as landscape shots of his travels around the world with

. On January 18, 2017, The

formally announced plans to open their own DJ school (The Beat Junkie Institute of Sound) and Professional training facility. Babu leads in the introductory classes, intermediate/advanced level scratching, creative mixing and beat juggling classes.

Discography

Albums

*''Super Duck Breaks'' (1996) *''Super Duper Duck Breaks'' (2000) *''Duck Season Vol. 1'' (2002) *''Duck Season Vol. 2'' (2003) *''The Beat Tape Vol. 1'' (2007) *''Duck Season Vol. 3'' (2008) *''The Beat Tape Vol. 2'' (2010) *"No Apologies" (With LMNO) (2010)

Featured

* "Wild Stylus" (1997) cratches – tracks: A2 to A4, B1 to B2

Singles

* "Pay Attention" (2001) * " Duck Season" (2002) * "Fan Mail" (2007)

Production

* "Funky Duck" Wild Stylus (1997) * "Service" Dilated Peoples (2000) * "Phil Da Agony Interlude" Dilated Peoples (2001) * "Proper Propaganda" Dilated Peoples (2001) * "Pay Attention" Dilated Peoples (2001) * "Hard Hitters" Dilated Peoples (2001) * "Dilated Junkies" Dilated Peoples (2001) * "Behold My Life" Defari (2002) * "Behold My Life (Remix)" Defari (2003) * "International" Chali 2na (2005) * "The L.J.'s (album)-" Likwit Junkies (2005) * "Alarm Clock Music" Dilated Peoples (2006) * "Burn Big" Defari (2006) * "Vultures" Defari (2006) * "Rain or Shine" Evidence (2008) * "C.T.D." Rakaa Iriscience (2010) * "Eyes Wide" Rakaa Iriscience (2010) * "Same Folks" Evidence (2011) * "No Gunz Come Out" Defari (2013) * "Lip Service" Defari (2013) * "Curveball" Defari (2013) * "Progressive 3" Vince Staples (2014)

References

External links

DJ Babu interviewBeat Junkie Institute of SoundBeat Junkie Record PoolDJ Babu on InstagramDJ Babu Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Babu, DJ 1974 births Living people American musicians of Filipino descent American hip hop DJs Filipino hip hop DJs Musicians from Oxnard, California Musicians from Washington, D.C. Stones Throw Records artists American hip hop record producers East Coast hip hop musicians Record producers from California