The needle drop is a technique used in hip hop

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

. The DJ sets a record spinning, then drops the

stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...

on the

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

at the exact point where they want playback to begin without previously cuing up the record.Roseman, Jordan
''Audio Mashup Construction Kit''
/ref> Since there is no time wasted in cuing, the needle drop allows faster movements by the DJ. The needle drop method was developed in the 1970s by Grand Wizzard Theodore at around the same time that he and

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 ...

were pioneering

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

Sticker method

In the sticker method of locating the sample or break, a DJ uses a colored "dot" label to mark the sample to be used. Marking a record involves several steps. The first step is to locate the desired sample. The second step is much more critical; the sample is located, then the record is brought about an inch or two backwards from the beginning of the sample. The dot is carefully placed up against the stylus (needle) and a feather touch is applied to keep the label in place. Too hard of an application may lead to the needle being misplaced on the record, slipping to the next several grooves, an undesired result. After the needle is removed from the dot, the label can be pressed into place more permanently. If the DJ ever wishes to remove the dot, residue can be removed from the record with a record cleaner solution.

References

{{hip-hop-stub DJing