DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a
producer,
DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, 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. ...
. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, CA.
His talent and musical expertise also extends into the realm of music production that helped him earn recognition and rewards. Rhettmatic highly acknowledges fellow Beat Junkie member, DJ Curse, as his leading mentor. As Curse shared his turntable exhibition, involving scratches and other DJ techniques, Rhettmatic's interest in DJing formed, allowing him to take hold of his musical passion. Rhettmatic claimed the titles of
Disco Mix Club
Disco Mix Club is primarily a remix label under (British Phonographic Industry) licence, which is not intended for the mass market but rather exclusively for professional DJs and enthusiasts. The Disco Mix Club sells megamixes and remixes every mo ...
(DMC) West Coast Champion (1996) and International Turntablist Federation (ITF) 2x Team World Champion (1997/1998).
Rhettmatic also helped found in 1994 and is the DJ/producer for the LA based
underground hip hop supergroup,
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 ...
. He has worked with many in the hip hop community, from the likes of
Peanut Butter Wolf
Christopher George Manak (born October 8, 1969 ), better known by his stage name Peanut Butter Wolf, is an American disc jockey and record producer from San Jose, California. He is based in Los Angeles, where he moved to in 2000. He is the found ...
,
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 ...
,
Madlib
Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), and Fr ...
,
DJ Premier
Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...
,
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...
,
Mayer Hawthorne
Andrew Mayer Cohen (born February 2, 1979), better known by his stage name Mayer Hawthorne, is an American singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, audio engineer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. Cohen performs a ...
and
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 ...
. His musical masterpieces include "E=MC5" by
KeyKool
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 ...
& Rhettmatic featuring Ras Kass, LMNO, Voodoo and Meen Green, and "From the Ground Up" b/w "Ubiquity" by The Associates featuring LMNO & KeyKool of the Visionaries, Rakaa Iriscience & Evidence of Dilated Peoples, and Divine Styler.
In December 2005, Rhettmatic was
J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
's tour show DJ in Europe, for his last tour ever, along with
Frank n Dank
Frank n Dank (real names Frank Bush and Derrick Harvey) are an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. They also go by the names Frank Nitt (previously known as Frank Nitty, which is a reference to the 1930s crime boss Frank Nitti) and D ...
and
Phat Kat
Phat may refer to:
People
*Huỳnh Tấn Phát (1913–1989), South Vietnamese politician and revolutionary
*Lâm Văn Phát (1920–1998), Vietnamese army officer
*Phat Wilson (1895–1970), Canadian amateur ice hockey player
*Richard Temple-Nug ...
. Rhettmatic has also worked with and done production and scratches for Talib Kweli, OhNo, M.E.D.,
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 ...
(Stones Throw),
Prince Po
Lawrence Baskerville (born August 12, 1969), better known by his stage name Prince Po, is an American rapper and record producer from Queens, New York City, New York. He is a founder of Nasty Habits Entertainment.
Early life
Prince Po was born L ...
(Organized Konfusion),
RBX
Eric Dwayne Collins (born October 8, 1969) better known by his stage name RBX (standing for "Reality Born Unknown"), is an American rapper and songwriter from Long Beach, California.
Early life and education
Contrary to popular belief, Collins i ...
(The Dogg Pound),
Noelle Scaggs
Noelle Scaggs (born October 8, 1979) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, known as the co-lead singer of the pop group Fitz and the Tantrums. Scaggs has also had numerous collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas, Dilated ...
of Fitz & the Tantrums and New York hip hop supergroup The
Brown Bag AllStars
The Brown Bag AllStars is an American rap group made up of J57, The Audible Doctor, Soul Khan, DeeJay Element and DJ E Holla. The group's repertoire of East Coast hip hop and underground hip hop blended with hard-core rap lyrics won them a spo ...
, as well as having made mixtapes and podcast mixes for
Ghostface Killah
Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...
,
Guilty Simpson
Byron Dwayne “Guilty” Simpson is an American rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan whose recording career spans more than 20 years. He is signed to Stones Throw Records, and is known for being one of the late producer J Dilla’s favo ...
and
Stones Throw Records
Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. '' LA Weekl ...
.
His most recent projects include the ''Crown Royale'' album with Michigan's wordsmith
Buff1
Jamall Jernard Bufford (born in southwest Atlanta, Georgia), formerly known as by his stage name Buff1, is an American rapper and songwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a member of Ann Arbor-based rap crew Athletic Mic League (with 14KT, Gr ...
, a DJ/percussionist show/mixtape project with
Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill and a joint project with legendary Californian MC,
Ras Kass
John R. Austin II (born September 26, 1973), better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop Supergroup (music), supergroup The HRSMN, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is als ...
called 'A.D.I.D.A.S.'
DJ Rhettmatic currently hosts 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 ...
.
References
External Links
DJ Rhettmatic InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (2020)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhettmatic DJ
American hip hop DJs
1969 births
Living people
Filipino hip hop DJs
American musicians of Filipino descent