It will be the first time the finals are taking place upon festival fields, and the existential, immersive experience that is Boomtown Fair will be the spot to hold the finale of the UK. The winner will see a spot at the Technics DMC World DJ Championship later in August.

 

DMC began in 1985, and was started by a label called Disco Mix Club. They sold megamixes and remixes made by DJs and for DJs, and expanded into many different corners of the music industry, supplying different avenues for DJs to become known.

 

Previous winners of the DJ Championships include the likes of DJ Cheese, DJ SkillZ, JFB, Jon1st and Richie Ruftone, just to name a handful, although the list could go on and on. The competition has been held in the USA, the UK, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and Denmark to name just a few, and now must be regarded as one of the most recognised competition for DJs and turntablists.

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The term turntablist is said to be coined by DJ Babu in 1995, where the emphasis on sound manipulation through the turntable was at the forefront, as opposed to playing records back to back. Though even before the 90s and the hiphop community took in the turntable as their own, there were artists and composers experimenting with the musical possibilities through the gramophone and phonographs. From the early 1900s, artists like Paul Hindemith, Pierre Schaeffer,  and John Cage, all played a part in a musical curiosity that coincidentally lead to where we are now.

 

As times progressed and the popularity of the gramophone declined, the world was taken over by the turntable, and not only could DJs play tracks, they could manoeuvre the records to create original sounds and compositions. Hiphop adopted this; with Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash a few names solidified in the turntablism walk of fame, with Grandmaster Flash discovering scratching by accident in his youth.

 

The 1990s saw the art of the turntable taken to new heights: from scratching, beat juggling and mixing, it paved a way for the turntablists we see today. Now, we’re seeing DJ competitions, and finals being held in festivals. Boomtown has always waved the hiphop flag high at the Matterley Estate, with previous headliners seeing the likes of Ms Lauryn Hill, Kool and the Gang, and Cypress Hill to name the classics. That's not mentioning all the independent and homegrown artists spread amongst the smaller venues.

 

With this year commencing the 50th anniversary of hiphop, you already know it’s about to go down. To enter, submit a two minute video to the link below showcasing your skills for the opportunity to win a spot at the Technics DMC World DJ Championships.

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To watch, get down to Boomtown Fair on the 11th of August. Tickets available via the link below:

Tickets: https://bookings.boomtownfair.co.uk/book/18727/ticket

Competition entry: https://www.dmcdjchamps.com/2023schedule