George Spivey (born June 21, 1968), known professionally as DJ Scratch, is an American hip hop DJ and producer from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. DJ Scratch is the 1988 New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion, the 2010

Master of the Mix ''Master of the Mix'' is a reality television series and disc jockey competition. The 2010 season of the show had eight episodes and seven disc jockeys. The show was hosted by Just Blaze and judged by Kid Capri. Biz Markie was a regular guest. ...

winner and the 2012, 2013 & 2014 Global Spin Awards' "Turntablist of the Year". 19 albums produced by DJ Scratch were

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in United States, seven of them were certified as Platinum.

Career

DJ Scratch was introduced to

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

Jam Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC became one of the big ...

at the Run's House Tour after DJ K LA Boss left EPMD. Impressed by his skills, the two designated DJ Scratch as their official

D.J. A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

by their second album '' Unfinished Business'' in 1989. His presence was felt with his powerful cutting and scratching techniques that are heard on various tracks. Aside from scratching, on '' Business As Usual'', he produced the track "Funky Piano", "Rampage" and in 1991 worked on a remix for "I'm Mad" off the "Rampage" 12" single. In 1992 Scratch produced "Scratch Bring It Back, Pt. 2 (Mic Doc)" and briefly worked with his cousin

DJ Magic Mike DJ Magic Mike (born Michael Hampton, May 9, 1966) is a Miami bass record producer, rapper, and the first platinum selling recording artist from Orlando, Florida. He was also a former member and former lead vocalist of the rap trio Vicious Bass. ...

after EPMD broke up. Soon Scratch made a name for himself as a producer for

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

and the Flipmode Squad off Busta's debut album in 1996. By 2003 DJ Scratch became a well distinguished and revered hip-hop producer after working with

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

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 ...

, DMX,

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

, Q-Tip and other notable acts. Scratch was the

resident DJ In the DJ culture, a resident DJ or local DJ refers to a DJ is part of the staff of employees of the club, unlike a guest artist, who works as freelancer, which means that he or she plays on several clubs (including several countries). Obtaining ...

for three nationally aired TV Shows: ''Hip Hop Hold Em'',

Fox 5 Fox 5 is a television station call sign associated with the Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox 5 may also refer to: TV stations in the United States Fox owned-and-operated *WAGA-TV, Atlanta, GA *WNYW, New York, NY *WTTG "Channel 5", Washington, D.C. ...

's ''Uptown Comedy Club'' and B.E.T.'s ''Rap City: The Basement''. Scratch's film credits include ''

Juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

'', ''The Original 50 Cent'', ''Backstage'', ''Fly By Night'', '' Rhyme & Reason'' and

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's film ''

Bamboozled ''Bamboozled'' is a 2000 American satirical dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the resulting violent fallout from the show's success. ...

''. In addition,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

commissioned Scratch to produce & feature in their first DJ commercial, "3 DJs". According to Parish Smith, an EPMD member, DJ Scratch left the group in 2015. Scratch posted on his Instagram page words of resentment towards former participants on January 2, 2017. In 2016, DJ Scratch helped fill in for

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

's DJ

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, and rapper, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the group released five studio albums ...

on their final album '' We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service'' due to Ali producing the soundtrack for the ''

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

'' TV series with

Adrian Younge Adrian Younge (born May 7, 1978) is an American composer, arranger and music producer based in the Los Angeles area. Background Younge grew up in Fontana, California. His father is a lawyer and Younge himself earned a Juris Doctor degree fr ...

at the time. Scratch calls

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

his mentor.

Awards and nominations

*1988 — New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion *2010 —

winner *2012, 2013 & 2014 — Global Spin Awards' "Turntablist Of The Year" ;DJ Scratch-produced works nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

award: *

— song "

Gimme Some More "Gimme Some More" is a song by American rapper Busta Rhymes, released on October 26, 1998 by Elektra Records. The single serves as the lead single released from his third solo album '' E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' (1 ...

" (1998) ("Best Rap Solo Performance") *

— album '' E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' (1998) ("Best Rap Album") *

— album ''

Phrenology Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...

'' (2002) ("Best Rap Album") ;Albums, produced by DJ Scratch, which were certified Gold in United States: *

— '' Unfinished Business'' (1989) * EPMD — '' Business As Usual'' (1990) * EPMD — ''

Business Never Personal ''Business Never Personal'' is the fourth studio album by hip hop duo EPMD. It was released on July 28, 1992, on Def Jam Recordings. Following mixed criticism of their previous studio effort, 1990's '' Business As Usual'', the duo was able to ret ...

'' (1992) * EPMD — '' Back in Business'' (1997) *

Flipmode Squad Flipmode Squad is a hip hop collective founded and fronted by rapper Busta Rhymes. The first Flipmode album debuted in 1998 with ''The Imperial'', Rampage and Rah Digga went on to record solo efforts. In the move to J Records in 2000, Lord Hav ...

— ''The Imperial'' (1998) * Q-Tip — '' Amplified'' (1999) *

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot ...

Big Kap Keith Carter (February 26, 1970 – February 3, 2016), also known as Big Kap and The Wardin, was an American hip-hop DJ who was born in New York City and was later based in Atlanta. Career In 1995, he was a member of hip hop supergroup The Flip ...

— '' The Tunnel'' (1999) *

— '' G.O.A.T.'' (2000) *

— '' It Ain't Safe No More...'' (2002) *

— ''

'' (2002) *

— ''

Quality Quality may refer to: Concepts *Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something *Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property *Quality (physics), in response theory *Energy quality, used in various science discipli ...

'' (2002) ;Albums, produced by DJ Scratch, which were certified Platinum in United States: *

— ''

The Coming ''The Coming'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released on March 26, 1996, by Elektra Records. The album contains contributions by Def Squad members Redman, Keith Murray, and Jamal, Q-Tip, Zhané, Leaders of th ...

'' (1996) * Busta Rhymes — ''

When Disaster Strikes ''When Disaster Strikes...'' is the second studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes, released by Elektra on September 16, 1997. The album follows the same theme as ''The Coming'', the apocalypse. The album, upon its release, received mostly p ...

'' (1997) * Busta Rhymes — '' E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' (1998) *

DJ Clue Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue, is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Panamanian and Jamaican immigran ...

— '' The Professional'' (1998) *

Method Man & Redman Method Man & Redman (also referred to as Meth & Red, Red & Mef, John Blaze and Funk Doc or Funk Doctor Spock and Johnny Blaze) are an American hip hop duo, composed of East Coast rappers Method Man (of Wu-Tang Clan) and Redman (of Def Squad). ...

— '' Blackout!'' (1999) *

— ''

Anarchy Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

'' (2000) * DMX — ''

Grand Champ ''Grand Champ'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper DMX. It was released on September 16, 2003 by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings. The album was produced by multiple producers, including Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, Kanye ...

'' (2003)

Discography

References

External links

* * * *
DJ Scratch
at

Rapgenius Genius is an American digital media company founded on August 27, 2009, by Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory, and Mahbod Moghadam. The site allows users to provide annotations and interpretation to song lyrics, news stories, sources, poetry, and document ...

*
DJ Scratch Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (June 19, 2017)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scratch, DJ 1968 births Living people American hip hop DJs African-American DJs Musicians from Brooklyn East Coast hip hop musicians African-American record producers American hip hop record producers EPMD members Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people Hit Squad members