COVER STORY DJ Skeme Richards
What can be said about the Nostalgia King that hasn’t already been reiterated in rave reviews about the Philly native in the more than four decades since the first time he touched a turntable? Just last year, Skeme Richards was presented with a Citation by City Councilmember Rue Landau after performing at the Hip Hop in the Park festival, a free, annual event that celebrates hip-hop culture. Richards, a world-renowned DJ, still approaches his sets like a meticulous craftsman, curating personalized playlists to tickle his crowd’s collective fancy but never at the expense of his well-developed palate. With a vinyl collection of nearly 15K, we had to have one of our own grace the first cover of Dusties magazine.
DJ CHIPS
DJ Chips is a LEGEND from the days when the mobile DJs in Brooklyn ruled before hip hop started. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY… DJ Chips started his musical journey in his late teens in 1972 with his first crew, The Grandmasters. In 1974, he teamed up with the legendary Kool DJ Dee to form the DJ ensemble FANTASIA alongside MC Larry B. After Kool DJ Dee departed from the group, Fantasia added Jimmy G the Everything Man and Action Jackson… chief engineer and architect of the Fantasia sound system. DJ Chips has performed with premiere DJ's of that era like Grandmaster Flowers, DJ Plummer, Pete DJ Jones, Ras Maboya, and the list goes on. Amongst all of those iconic names, DJ Chips held his own and proved why he is one of the best. Fantasia disbanded in 1980 but he has continued to shine a light on the era he comes from to this day. His website, www.djbrooklynlegend.com, has a wealth of knowledge on the Brooklyn mobile DJ era that will give you a proper education. Dusties Magazine is honored to present DJ Chips, the Electric God.
MISTA SINISTA
From finding his groove as a member of The X-Ecutioners crew to being named DMC East Coast Champion in 1996, Mista Sinista has earned the right to be counted among the best turntablists in hip-hop history. And even after close to 40 years in the game, Sinista has rediscovered his passion for the craft. I recently had the chance to catch up with Sin whose first solo LP ReBorn dropped earlier in 2024 on Fat Beats Records.
PRINCE PAUL
Over the years, Prince Paul has been an innovator and inspiration for the sound of hip hop! From his start with Stetsonic, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, to the Grave Diggaz. He always created music that’s avant garde. Hit after hit, he never misses with his cuts, catches and sample choices. Prince Paul was a catalyst behind the groundbreaking sound on one of my fav albums of all time De La Soul’s 3 Feet High & Rising. He was the master mind behind The implementation of comedic skits on that project which became wildly popular til this day! it’s an extreme honor to build with Prince Paul about the source of his magical music… the vinyl!
Stopover Bombay
Before it was known for pressing vinyl, the town of Dum Dum produced arms. Just outside Calcutta, where the airport is now, it was once home to the arsenal that first manufactured the mushrooming dumdum bullet, which upon impact ensured its target would lose a vital organ or a limb or simply bleed out. Decades earlier, Dum Dum was where rumors started about the type of animal fat used to grease the paper cartridges for the army’s muzzleloaders—the British remained coy about whether the fat was from cattle or swine, angering both Hindu and Muslim sepoys enough to ignite the 1857 rebellion. The story goes that these rumors spread through the cities and villages of the subcontinent by way of chapati—a flat, unleavened, circular bread that the colonial government was certain contained subversive messages legible only to the natives.
The Sacred Crates
The Sacred Crates. DJ Kool Herc’s original playlist. A collection of essential vinyl records that Kool Herc spun at his early parties which laid the foundation for the sound... the music that went on to be called Hip Hop. The Sacred Crates is not a publicly available list of specific songs he used, so to speak, but he has spoken about the types of records that he was influenced by that he wound up playing using his "Merry-Go-Round” technique of playing only the break-down or “get down” parts of various records. These various records were influential in shaping the musical basis of the music and are considered hip hop classics to this day. Royalty. Holy Grails. The Sacred Crates are the very records Kool Herc would use repeatedly in DJ his sets during the 1970s and 1980s.
WFMU 2024
The WFMU Record Fair, a mecca for viny enthusiasts, record hounds and all-out music obsessives, returned to its familiar home at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood in November of 2024. It’s a special event with 130+ dealers turning up to show-off, and hopefully sell, their most prized records accumulated over the year. Whether you have plenty of cash to spend or just a modest budget, you can do quite well there while WFMU DJs blast oddities to record obsessives of all types. Where else can you find serious record diggers clashing with radio-making eccentrics?
NEXT ISSUE COVER STORY – DIAMOND D
Most know of his greatness with humble beginnings in D.I.T.C (Digging in The Crates) camp. Over the decades, he has released remarkable masterpieces from Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop to more recent albums such as the Diam Piece Series.