(AllHipHop News) Today (September 27) the world will witness some of the most creative minds in turntablism, at the 28th annual DMC World DJ Championships, which are taking place in London.
The competition is one of the largest DJ tournaments of all time and features DJ’s from over 30 countries.
Contestants over the years have not only won over fans with their turntable wizardry, but their skills have also put them on stage with artists such as Madonna, Beastie Boys and Busta Rhymes. Previous winners of the competition have included DJ Cash Money, Roc Raider and Kanye West’s DJ, A-Trak.
The DMC World DJ Championships have come a long way since its humble beginnings, which was founded by Tony Prince.
The first DMC World Championships took place in the early 80’s at a London nightclub.
“It started out as the first remix service in the industry and still to this day provides the DJ world with a monthly membership of the latest remixes/megamixes/two trackers and promos,” organizer Sally McLintock told AllHipHop.com. “The competition itself began when we started to host annual DJ Conventions in 1984 which included Mixing Competitions and then it naturally progressed into the DMC World Championships. We have always been at the forefront of the music industry and as well as establishing the longest running world DJ competition we were the hub of the club world market and created the biggest selling music magazine, Mixmag which DMC owned for 15 years with monthly sales of over 150,000.”
Since then, the DMC has developed an army of dedicated followers worldwide thanks to the national competitions, which are held in over 25 countries.
“DMC and the competition has been an important part of the culture, especially the DJ culture,” McLintock explained. “We have been here from the start…our passion and love is for the DJ and that’s why we are still here!”
For the second year, the DMC’s are allowing DJ’s to compete using the Serato mixing technology, in addition to traditional vinyl. But the DMC has no plans on ditching wax in the competition.
“Obviously the vinyl purists were not happy, but we have kept one of our competitions vinyl only – The Battle For Supremacy,” McLintock said. “Its been a great addition though allowing Serato and DVS and a decision we are very happy with.”