當國外一片叫好對新科技phase歡呼中，DJ Rob Swift提出了不同的思考方向。
猜想他也不是全然反對，因為他也用Rane62跟djm-s9等數位產品。他的說法在於大家太容易隨便就接受了新科技取代人工這件事然後沒有疑問思考。「我沒聽說一個吉他手會抱怨他的琴弦一直壞掉需要換，他只是繼續換掉它然後繼續演奏」然後他舉了影片當例子，DJ Aladdin在比賽中左右交換時唱針多次跳針，通常這樣會搞亂原本既定的段子難以處理而亂掉內容，但Aladdin馬上用經驗跟記憶去判斷唱針大約跳針的位置且很快的用不同風格改變演出的內容，而且最後完成極美好的90秒旅程。
2000年後科技跳躍至電腦控制器跟各式樣的樂器跟DJ數位門檻降低，完全不需任何技術即可使用，至今2018更多厲害不費工的器具誕生不該只是為了服務商業跟讓一般人去消費玩耍，這些器材公司這些年來漸漸的沒有尊重DJ或音樂人來設計產品，而是強迫他們來為自己設計的產品代言，說實在這些產品大都缺乏了真正的DJ創意精神或音樂概念而且功能都很糟很表面功夫。
如果只是有錢跟圖方便，就算是擁有了多少台先進鼓機樂器合成器跟數位DJ器材，在演出大家看起來都一樣很沒意思。
I've been quiet all weekend about phase. Actually, practicing silence has been my method of operation as of late when it comes to the corny DJ shit I be seeing from so many of y'all. But this morning I woke up to a video of a guy lifting a control record off the turntable with that phase gadget still attached to it, making a mockery of scratching to be honest, and I just couldn't fight off the compulsion to speak my peace on the subject.
People are so removed from the truer days of DJing they get easily sucked into technology hype. The DJs I see salivating as they look on while one of their DJ heroes is testing out the product will never be remembered or respected for the new DJ software being pumped into the scene by corporations that honestly care more about getting your money than whether or not you're developing your skills. The only true path to building and cementing your legacy in this art is down a one-way road called Practice Street.
It's to the point now where soon muhfuggas are just gon' be like... "Fuck it, I'm cool wit' letting technology do all the work for me. This way things can sound perfect and we don't have to worry about needles breaking or any of the stuff that DJs naturally deal with."
*I've never in my life heard of a guitar playing bitching about his guitar strings breaking. Dude just replaces it and continues playing.
Here's rare footage of DJ Aladdin's first round set in the 1989 New Music Seminar for World Supremacy. The beauty within the 90 seconds you're about to see/hear lie within this routine's imperfections.
Timeline
0:13 - Aladdin releases the right turntable and starts his 90 second round.
0:15 - Aladdin begins to obliterate the left turntable with some of the most aggressive scratches I've ever heard him execute in all his battles. *I think the sound he chose to manipulate (the word "Goes" from Orbit's "The Beat Goes") plays a major roll in his cuts sharpness.
0:29 - By now, Aladdin swaps over to the right turntable and starts going back and forth between both decks. Prepping to showcasing his "Juggling" abilities.
0:38 - Aladdin launches the right turntable and it skips on him.
0:41 - Once more Aladdin sets up to launch the right turntable and it skips for a 2nd time. It's obvious by now he's trying to "Juggle" the words "BEAT GOES" on both turntables but something is wrong with the right deck.
0:44 through 0:47 - You see Aladdin feverishly trying to launch the right table from the start point he intends but it refuses to cooperate. (*See 0:43: Aladdin gives the right deck a quick glance. He knows something is wrong).
0:48 - You could tell that as Aladdin is trying to trouble shoot the issue he's having with the right turntable he realizes he's running out of time in the round and needs to act fast before the buzzard signaling the round is over is heard.
0:50 - As Aladdin jumps back into some scratches on the left turntable he decides "...to hell with this" and stops the faulty deck's platter and commences to coax an entirely new rhythm from the left turntable. He rides the left table for 24 seconds!!!
1:14 - Aladdin moves back to the left turntable in one last ditch attempt to get that side of his set up to cooperate but to no avail.
1:21 - Aladdin jumps right back to the good ol' reliable left turnable, sets himself up, stops the right platter and improvises a clever escape out of a challenging first round.
I've witnessed my share of DJ battles and I can genuinely say this is one of the most exciting rounds of any competition I've seen. Not so much because Aladdin did something out of this planet or anything. It was that we were able to see an expert in his craft spontaneously figure out a way to work around the technical difficulties he experienced in his round. I so miss that rawness man. I've seen battle DJs cave in to that tension and end their round early. But when you're the pedigree of an Aladdin, you stay cool, calm and collected and rise to the occasion and figure out a way create magic anyway!
That coolness, that calmness, the skill you see in this video was cultivated from years of walking down Practice Street. I suggest a lot of y'all take a stroll down that road. You'll find yourselves there.
