ie.Merge (also spelled I-Emerge, I.Emerge, ie.MERGE and ie.MERG, and also known as Blesd) is an American hip hop

turntablist Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system ...

who won the 2004 and 2005

DMC World DJ Championships DMC World DJ Championships is an annual DJ competition hosted by Disco Mix Club (DMC) which began in 1985. Championships were sponsored internationally by Technics (brand), Technics, but in 2010 Technics has been replaced by Serato and Rane Corpo ...

. He has won nine American national titles and four world titles, and is known for his highly technical routines.

Early history

Growing up in Northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Merge (aka Micheal Weinstein) was heavily influenced by the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

hip hop scene. At the age of 13 he began DJing local parties and practicing at home. At 17 he met a group of B-boys (Break dancers) in Naples Florida met best friend Omar (B-boy Omar) Lopez where he learned to B-boy and then took the aggressive style of B-boy battling and applied it to Djing. He practiced along with artists such as former X-ecutioner

Mista Sinista The X-Ecutioners are a group of American hip hop DJs/turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, DJ Precision. Original members of the grou ...

and

Q-Bert ''Q*bert'' (also known as ''Qbert'') is an arcade video game developed and published for the North American market by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a Video game graphics, 2D action game with Puzzle video game, puzzle elements that uses Isometric video ...

, he is also influenced by other genres as well, such as drum n bass, rock, jazz and soul.

DJing

Merge began to enter DJ battles, and was known for his aggression and technique. Shortly after winning the 2002 ITF US Advancements, Merge was inducted into the respected DJ crew – the 5th Platoon. In 2002, he became active at the Scratch DJ Academy, a DJ school in

founded by the late

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 ...

. Merge became Head Professor, developing the curriculum now taught in the scratch/juggling class.

Championships

From 2002–2005, Merge won 35 DJ battles. Since 2002, Merge has won 10 national titles and 5 world titles, more titles in 3 years than any other DJ. He has won every prominent US title, becoming America's top DJ in 2003 and 2004 at Guitar Center's annual Spinoff.

World Champion

He has gained world championship titles in every world DJ competition. Merge won the 2004 2005 DMC World Championship in his 2nd year of participation in the competition, ending a four-year hiatus of American winners. He became the seventh American to wear the DMC World championship crown, after

DJ Cheese DJ Cheese (born Robert Cheese) is the world title record holder who won the 1986 DMC World Final in London, showcasing the art of scratching in turntablism for the very first time. He also appeared in the 1986 UK tour with Run-DMC. He is known a ...

Roc Raida Anthony Williams (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009), better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners. He joined the X-Men in the late 1 ...

Mix Master Mike Michael Schwartz (born April 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Mix Master Mike, is an American turntablist best known for his work with Beastie Boys. Life and career Born in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Fili ...

DJ Cash Money Jerome Hewlett (born August 9, 1964), better known by his moniker DJ Cash Money is a Philadelphia-based American turntablist, hip-hop artist, and record producer. He was the first inductee into the DJ Hall of Fame. Career Hewlett studied engine ...

and Craze. 2004 DMC World DJ Championships. The 2004 championships took place on Sunday 5 September 2004 at Carling Apollo Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. 2005 DMC World DJ Championships. The 2005 championships took place on Monday 26 September 2005 at

Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to be ...

, London, United Kingdom.

References

External links

DMCWorld.comGuitar Center World Champion 2004/2005
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ie.Merge American hip hop DJs Living people Musicians from New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)