Before they were sonic titans producing hits for crossover superstars, Madlib, Will.I.Am, Cut Chemist and more DJs went turntable to turntable, beat to beat, for three galvanized nights at the famed Los Angeles club The Root Down.
From 2001-2003, acclaimed Mochilla founders and photographers Brian Cross, known as B+, and Eric Coleman caught the series, hosted by the late DJ Dusk, in action on prosumer PC100 single-chip cameras from Sony. They kept the reels under wraps as vibrant reminders of purist hip-hop, but when DJ Dusk was killed by a drunk driver in 2006, Cross and Coleman decided to offer up the footage to the wisdom of the crowd.
And so it was that Mochilla’s DJ Dusk’s Root Down Soundclash DVD was born, featuring all three DJ battles — Madlib vs. Cut Chemist, Will.I.Am vs. The People Under the Stairs’ Thes One, Oh No vs. Exile — without edits, cuts or any other embellishments. It is hip-hop in its most raw, compelling and respectful form. It is also a chance to catch some of the finest turntablist wizardry in memory, and should be required viewing for every kid who thinks he or she was born to scratch and splice.
