FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved
| Music by Red Eye DJ Cash Money When you get DJ Cash Money’s answering machine, you’re told that "if you ain’t talkin’ cha-ching, you just wasted a ring." This might lead you to believe that one of hip hop’s true originators has sold out and gone the commercial route. Wave some bucks at him and you can purchase the title of "World’s Greatest DJ," bestowed upon him by the DMC folks in 1998, when he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Buy him a Beemer and he’ll be your boy, dressing and acting in the interests of the shareholders. On the contrary, what becomes clear when you talk with one of the DJ culture’s most revered personalities is that the statement is made with the same scorn for the industry that it has shown for him. "To be honest with you man," Cash ruminates over his cell phone from Philly, "it was better back in the day I think ’cause DJs were a major part of hip hop, but now it’s like hip hop is divided. You’ve got your jiggy style and your underground, and the jiggies, they don’t even know the actual culture, man. "For a long time DJing became obsolete. MCs were just usin’ DATs and shit," he explains, talking of the late ’80s and most of the ’90s when hip hop became rap and even outfits named for their DJ leader (such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) were releasing records without so much as a baby scratch on them. MC’s and the producers behind them became the focus and DJing, breakdancing and graffiti fell by the wayside. "I think that’s where it got lost at," he sighs. "It’s like Cash Money used to be a household name, but now someone like Puff Daddy or Mase, they really don’t know me. But all the headz know me." The headz include the world famous X-ecutioners (Rob Swift and Roc Raida cite him on their very short list of influences, and Total Eclipse calls him "the founder of all the ill rhythms"), the DMC, the International Turntable Federation, and pretty much every turntablist worldwide. Explaining the reason for his popularity among the hardcore hip hop fans, he says, "Man, I just been doin’ the same thing I been doin’ for years. Like, I haven’t ever stopped touring. I’ve just captured a different generation now." A generation that doesn’t get to hear something like Cash every day. Most of this generation equates turntablism with the abstract deconstructionism of groups like the Invisible Skratch Pickles, the X-ecutioners and the Beat Junkies, but the art form actually comes from a different place altogether. A place where dancing was the driving force behind DJing and if the crowd didn’t go off, it was a sure sign the DJ had to. "The era that I came up, man... that’s when rap was fun," Cash recalls wistfully. Then, suddenly serious, he states, "I’m gonna tell you somethin’ – this turntablism thing, some people really take it to the extreme. I mean, I feel as though I could be called a turntablist/party rocker, but you have to have soul. If you don’t have soul, that’s somethin’ you can’t fake. You can be technical and do all the tricks but if you don’t have soul.... "That’s what I feel as though I have. So I’m lookin’ forward to comin’ up there and rockin’, man," he says, sliding into the patter of someone who’s been in the public ear for years, selling himself on his own radio show, The DJ Cash Money All World Show. "Just be ready to party from the time I get on. I’m just gonna rock the party, man. It’s hard to explain my way of DJing. I’m a party rocker plus I’m gonna give you turntable skills." And that’s the old skool ethic in a nutshell. If there’s a party, you bust it. It doesn’t matter if it’s for huge crowds in New York and London, or for a few hundred lucky people in Calgary, it’s gotta rock. It’s your rep on the line. If there was any justice in the world, though, he’d be playing the stadium gigs instead of the jiggies. "I’m still payin’ my dues. I used to get upset about it, but that’s the way the world is, man," he says. "The world is just not fair, but I can’t complain on somethin’ that I don’t have because I’ve been blessed and fortunate to be able to constantly have a whole lineup of shows, y’know what I mean? "I’m not hurtin’ financially. So as long as I have a foundation, who gives a shit if I ever go commercial? I mean, if it happens – cool, it just happens. But when I get up there you guys’ll see exactly how I can rock a party. Bringin’ it back to the way it used to be: cuttin’, showin’ skills and playin’ the songs that people love. Keepin’ it green for the whole night!" Cha-ching! |
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