As hip hop becomes more digital, both via the way hip hop artists record their rhymes on handheld electronic devices and the way producers make beats on laptops and iPads–DJs have also seen technology change the way they create their art. DJ Premier was asked to weigh in on the electronic revolution.
The popular vinyl emulation simular Scratch Live (known as a Serato) has divided many in the DJing community.
“When it comes to Serato I think Serato is one of the most amazing things to ever come out that continues deejaying and the art of scratching and mixing. But the only thing is I feel like it should be earned,” Premier explained. “Just like where you gotta study a test to get your driver’s license you gotta be licensed to get a Serato. We are licensed cause we carried records, speakers, amps. Upstairs, downstairs, late night, four, five in the morning. All your friends disappear when it’s time to take the equipment home, but they all there when it comes to getting into the party. You gotta have that experience.”
