Compositional strategies of the hip-hop turntablist

Abstract

This article discusses the compositional strategies of turntablist DJs working within the hip-hop genre, focusing on processes developed by these musicians such as mixing, scratching and beat juggling, all of which are carried out on turntables. Since the development of the gramophone at the turn of the century, the turntable has become an instrument of creation as well as reproduction, resulting in the ground-breaking compositional strategies of hip-hop music. Hip-hop DJs create original music from a range of existing musical texts and in doing so, raise questions concerning originality and authorship as well as questioning the division between composer and performer. Hip-hop music is regarded by authors such as Poschardt (1998) as one of the final avant-gardes of the twentieth century; this article will explore and discuss the ground-breaking nature of the genre with reference to new compositional strategies and the turntable technology with which they are carried out.