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 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 by

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. 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 after EPMD broke up. Soon Scratch made a name for himself as a producer for Busta Rhymes 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, LL Cool J,

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, Q-Tip and other notable acts. Scratch was the resident DJ for three nationally aired TV Shows: ''Hip Hop Hold Em'', Fox 5'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 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 or seafood, such as ...

'', ''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 Atlant ...

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'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 fro ...

at the time. Scratch calls Grandmaster Flash his mentor.

Awards and nominations

*1988 — New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion *2010 — Master of the Mix winner *2012, 2013 & 2014 — Global Spin Awards' "Turntablist Of The Year" ;DJ Scratch-produced works nominated for a Grammy award: * Busta Rhymes — song " Gimme Some More" (1998) ("Best Rap Solo Performance") * Busta Rhymes — album '' E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' (1998) ("Best Rap Album") * The Roots — album '' Phrenology'' (2002) ("Best Rap Album") ;Albums, produced by DJ Scratch, which were certified Gold in United States: * EPMD — '' 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 9 ...

& Big Kap — '' The Tunnel'' (1999) * LL Cool J — '' G.O.A.T.'' (2000) * Busta Rhymes — '' It Ain't Safe No More...'' (2002) * The Roots — '' Phrenology'' (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 discipl ...

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

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) * Busta Rhymes — '' Anarchy'' (2000) * DMX — '' Grand Champ'' (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