ie.Merge (also spelled I-Emerge, I.Emerge, ie.MERGE and ie.MERG, and also known as Blesd) is an American
hip hop turntablist who won the 2004 and 2005
DMC World DJ Championships. 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, Merge (aka Micheal Weinstein)
was heavily influenced by the
New York City 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, 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
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
. In 2002, he became active at the
Scratch DJ Academy
Scratch or scratching may refer to:
Science and technology
* Scratch (programming language), an educational programming language developed by MIT Media Lab
* Scratch space, space on the hard disk drive that is dedicated for only temporary stor ...
, a DJ school in
New York City founded by the late
Jam Master Jay. 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, Mix Master Mike, 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 ...
, Q-Bert and Craze.
2004 DMC World DJ Championships. The 2004 championships took place on Sunday 5 September 2004 at Carling Apollo Hammersmith
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...
, London, United Kingdom.
2005 DMC World DJ Championships.
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)