The scratch community is quite small and fragmented into scenes all over the world. But the one place they can all come together is online. And Digital Vertigo is perhaps the only community I post on with any regularity outside of DJWORX. So it gives me great pleasure to be a sponsor for their annual scratch battle.
Like all good communities, DV is small, tight-knit, and has its own character. But it plays host to DMC and IDA world champions every day. So it makes a great deal of sense to make use of all this talent and do something meaningful to give the turntablist world some focus at a grass-roots level. And that’s what the DV Scratch Battle is all about.
It’s 100% online thus open to everyone in the big wide world. Essentially, it’s pure scratching over preset beats over four rounds. The first round is a 60 second elimination, with three subsequent DJ vs DJ rounds. You need to supply video, shot in one take from a fixed angle. Absolutely everything you need to know is on the rules page.
Good luck to all who enter!
IMHO the best no fuss scratch battle in the scene. Really looking forward to seeing years entries.
I like it because it is just about pure scratching, which might bring some serious skills out of the woodwork because there’s no need to prep a full set. We all know that there are some absolute monsters on the cut out there who never go near a battle.
Hell yeah, I definitely learnt a few new (to me) scratch beasts last year. I’ve always deemed it a shame that an out an out scratch battle doesn’t have a place in some form at DMC, to aaaaaarh/nerdy I guess.
What I enjoyed most about last years DV battle was the BPM switch up from round to round, fascinating to see how top dj’s flow change once forced beyond there comfort zone.
nice initiative