THE G-FORCE SLIPMAT, THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING BIG

The Slipmat: Drawn by DJ Speed. (D Scratch’s cousin from Chicago) Words by: DJ Lil’ Jaz

Circa 1991/1992

I had been watching D Scratch (my older cousin) showcase, battle and DJ parties. To me, he was already a leader in the DJ game before I ever mixed two records together. It was from locally infamous Toronto battles like CHRY’s Metro Mixoff and Ron Nelson’s Monster Jam that began to define the real players in Turntablism (let alone B Boys, MC’s, and even Producers) in Toronto’s Hip Hop scene. From watching my cousin battle, I learned of deftly skilled DJ Grouch and DJ Apollo. It was around this time where my brothers started showing me how to mix and scratch as well. We had our soundcrew called G-Force Soundcrew. So I began practicing scratching and mixing. I would listen to DJ Scratch’s scratches for EPMD, DJ premier’s scratches for Gangstarr and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s transforming on Live in Union Square as well as D, Grouch, and Apollo do the same thing right here in Toronto. I began working on getting a basic “flutter” scratch (aka. scribble) and a decent transformer scratch. My brothers saw me progress quite quickly and began to push me to think about battling.

However, there was no way my 14/15 year old mind could conceive the possibility of even being on the same stages as the already top of the game DJ’s this city was producing. So my brothers called D and told him he had to listen to me scratch. I believe D was surprised to even hear those scratches coming from me as he probably had no idea I was even DJing. From there, he took me under his wing and began showing me advanced techniques in scratching and beatjuggling. I believe he got a kick at throwing concepts at me to see how hard I would go at it and produce some interesting results. He also started showing me videos of DJ’s in the USA killing the battle scene in DMC and Music Conference battles. Mind blowing material. It was in these tapes that I saw Q Bert, Mixmastermike, and DJ Apollo rock a team routine under the name, Rocksteady Dj’s, later to be renamed Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Over the course of his early mentorship to me, I expressed my interest in joining the ’93 CHRY Metro Mixoff. But deep down, I didn’t really want to face my cousin/mentor at ANY point in the battle. Nor do I feel he wanted to deal with turning into the “cut throat” battle version of D, where us being cousins and friends had no relevance. So he suggested we enter as a team. The Rocksteady DJ’s were doing it, so would we. His cousin from Chicago DJ Speed would join us in being the first ever team, to my knowledge, to compete in a Canadian DJ Battle.

So we worked all summer long, practicing together, hanging out together, playing Virtua Racing on Sega Genesis and crafting a routine for the 93 CHRY Metro Mixoff. After it was all said and done, I entered my first battle ever, paid some dues, and collected my first win with D Scratch and DJ Speed as Straight Sound Crew. A true confirmation to myself and to my mentor D, that I had what it took to compete. DJ Speed drew the graphic on the slip mat at the conclusion of the battle to commemorate our win as well as our time together in D’s basement. Not only would I adopt the name Lil’ Jaz during this time, but this was the early beginnings oI had been watching D Scratch (my older cousin) showcase, battle and DJ parties. To me, he was already a leader in the DJ game before I ever mixed two records together. It was from locally infamous Toronto battles like CHRY’s Metro Mixoff and Ron Nelson’s Monster Jam that began to define the real players in Turntablism (let alone B Boys, MC’s, and even Producers) in Toronto’s Hip Hop scene. From watching my cousin battle, I learned of deftly skilled DJ Grouch and DJ Apollo. It was around this time where my brothers started showing me how to mix and scratch as well. We had our soundcrew called G-Force Soundcrew. So I began practicing scratching and mixing. I would listen to DJ Scratch’s scratches for EPMD, DJ premier’s scratches for Gangstarr and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s transforming on Live in Union Square as well as D, Grouch, and Apollo do the same thing right here in Toronto. I began working on getting a basic “flutter” scratch (aka. scribble) and a decent transformer scratch. My brothers saw me progress quite quickly and began to push me to think about battling. However, there was no way my 14/15 year old mind could conceive the possibility of even being on the same stages as the already top of the game DJ’s this city was producing.

So my brothers called D and told him he had to listen to me scratch. I believe D was surprised to even hear those scratches coming from me as he probably had no idea I was even DJing. From there, he took me under his wing and began showing me advanced techniques in scratching and beatjuggling. I believe he got a kick at throwing concepts at me to see how hard I would go at it and produce some interesting results. He also started showing me video’s of DJ’s in the USA killing the battle scene in DMC and Music Conference battles. Mind blowing material. It was in these tapes that I saw Q Bert, Mixmastermike, and DJ Apollo rock a team routine under the name, Rocksteady Dj’s, later to be renamed Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Over the course of his early mentorship to me, I expressed my interest in joining the ’93 CHRY Metro Mixoff. But deep down, I didn’t really want to face my cousin/mentor at ANY point in the battle. Nor do I feel he wanted to deal with turning into the “cut throat” battle version of D, where us being cousins and friends had no relevance. So he suggested we enter as a team.

The Rocksteady DJ’s were doing it, so would we. His cousin from Chicago DJ Speed would join us in being the first ever team, to my knowledge, to compete in a Canadian DJ Battle. So we worked all summer long, practicing together, hanging out together, playing Virtua Racing on Sega Genesis and crafting a routine for the 93 CHRY Metro Mixoff. After it was all said and done, I entered my first battle ever, paid some dues, and collected my first win with D Scratch and DJ Speed as Straight Sound Crew. A true confirmation to myself and to my mentor D, that I had what it took to compete. DJ Speed drew the graphic on the slip mat at the conclusion of the battle to commemorate our win as well as our time together in D’s basement. Not only would I adopt the name Lil’ Jaz during this time, but this was the early beginnings of 2/3 of Turnstylez. This slipmat symbolizes all of this as well as the first stripe earned as a battle DJ.