Wild Style was a seminal piece of cinema and the first to record South Bronx living. It featured the relatively unknown disciplines of b-boying, graffiti artists, MC-ing and turntablism – so synonymous with Hip Hop now. Many of the cast were straight from the scene, representing the culture they were developing (from within around five boroughs in New York) including Flash Five Freddy, Grandmaster Flash and The Rock Steady Crew. The film has famously been sampled on albums by everyone from Nas, the Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5. Naturally the soundtrack is one of the essential Hip Hop albums to date and some of its music disciplines play testament at this event. The night features a screening of the film followed by a late night event with guest DJs including Ghostpoet, Tim Westwood, Alexander Nut and Patchwork Pirates: all masters of their art and truly influenced by this old skool style. The low fi effects of Wild Style may be a far cry from the big budget bling we see today but there can’t be much more authentic than the atmosphere of this film. And the night promises to revive some of those vibes too. (Words: Laura Thornley) For more info visit: www.ovalspace.co.uk

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Pic courtesy of Essay @ Snaap

Acclaimed DJs Jazzy M, Ray Keith and Karl “Tuff Enuff” Brown had a few hours to teach a small group of us the basics, which started with knowing how to mix a record. According to Jazzy, the best way to learn to mix is to learn to count as it’s all about timing. So we were tasked with listening out for the kickdrum in a range of tunes, which is the thing your head might instinctively nod to and is alot more obvious in house music. We then learned the number of kicks (or beats) in a minute is what’s known as the “bpm”, and the key with mixing was to make sure both of your discs’ bpms are in sync.

But if only it was that easy!

First, you need to know the best part of a song to mix – and in house, you’ve got the intro, the breakdown, the main drive, another break down, a bit more drive and then the outro. Jazzy told us to stick with mixing the intro and outro, “as they’re the simplest parts of the tune…and you should never try to mix too much noise”, like vocals. You can also manipulate the song by messing around with the equalisers – which can alter the song’s bass, mid or treble – but all that technical wizardry is really the realm of more experienced DJs.

Pic courtesy of Essay @ Snaap

As for equipment, we were first introduced to mixing with CDJs turntables, which conveniently show you the BPMs of your CDs – so it’s just a case of making sure they match, listening for a good point to mix your second record, pushing a button and voila! You’re in. Still, it’s a million times harder if you keep it authentic and work with vinyl. Keith – who’s one of the UK’s drum and bass pioneers – only uses dubplates, and he took pity on us when we our group tried to match beats as even he admits it’s a tricky business; and he’s been at it since the 80s. There’s no BPM indicator, vinyl turntables rarely stay in sync throughout a whole song (meaning you have to slow and speed up the record with your fingers), and it’s just one of those things where alot of practice will eventually (!) make perfect.

To wrap up, we all mixed a final record, and I can’t lie – I was exceptionally terrible, but pretty pleased I gave it a go. The experience taught me that while DJing may look like a very cool thing to do, the real geniuses are those who’ve taken the time to understand how music and sound works – plus the techniques to go with. So never will I listen to a DJ set the same way again. And who knows, give me a pair of stainless steel balls – I’ll strap ’em on – that sick bucket plus a few more years, and it could very well be me getting the party started right! (I can dream, can’t I?)  (Words: Matilda Egere-Cooper)

To find out more about Ministry of Sound’s DJ Academy, visit http://www.ministryofsound.com/club/dj-academy.

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The area is London I call home is…I’m born and bred in North London where I still live and probably always will as for me London is the greatest city on the planet!

I’ve got to have a meal at… regular intervals throughout the day! Preferably at the  Globe Cafe on Blackstock Road for Turkish food, Vanilla Black – an incredible veggie restaurant – and the Diwana Bhel – Poori House on Drummond Street whose uncomfortable benches are worth it for the food!

I tend to get my threads from… the kind people at Dephect that sponsor us.

To enjoy London’s nightlife,  you should… come to The Doctor’s Orders parties. They are the only real, unpretentious Hip-Hop parties in town! So good in fact we now have taken then to Brighton and Manchester too.

If I was mayor, I would… wear that incredible necklace and carry the sceptre everywhere I went just to up my bling game and show up the American artists I work with.

My favourite spot to check out art is…The Photographer’s Gallery. It is free and doesn’t take too long to get around it.

I’d kindly tell a tourist to… go to Cockfosters (on the Piccadilly Line) and change, no matter where they are trying to get to.

The things I miss when I leave London are… my mates, my bed and a decent cup of tea.

My soundtrack to London would include… That depends what I am up to and my mood. I find myself humming some weird shit sometimes! But if I had to pick it would be Light of The World’s “London Town”, a brilliant British soul tune that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

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