Performers are typically talkative. Sure, some are eccentric. And some have bouts of social awkwardness. But for the most part, people willing to get up on stage to entertain others are willing to talk about themselves.
Not so Lucas MacFadden, a.k.a. Cut Chemist.
The man who first made it big lurking behind the turntables for progressive hip-hop revolutionaries Jurassic 5 is a technician, not a politician. He lays down symphonies, never soliloquies. He cuts. He doesn’t cut up.
So when you ask him about his current Renegades of Rhythm tour with DJ Shadow, during which the two long-time spinsters will be mixing tracks solely from what’s been described as the greatest record collection in existence, he’s predictably terse. His goal seems to be to flip the switch on the mixer and disappear back under the headphones.
“This is a collection that helped invent hip-hop culture,” MacFadden told C-VILLE Weekly in a telephone interview leading up to his November 15 date at The Jefferson Theater. “And that is as concise as I can get.”
The collection of which the Chemist speaks is put together by Afrika Bambaataa, a godfather of breakbeat mixing, originator of the politically conscious Zulu Nation and pioneer in the second of the four elements of hip-hop (emceeing, deejaying, breakdancing and graffiti writing). MacFadden said there is no other single deejay’s collection in the world he would consider touring with other than Bambaataa’s.
So, yeah, that’s cool, this collection invented hip-hop culture. But how so? How does a stack of vinyl “invent” hip-hop?
“It’s a collection that paved the way.” Thus sayeth the Chemist.
Fortunately for C’ville, MacFadden and Shadow (christened Josh Davis) won’t be talking about spinning records at the Jeff in mid-November. They’ll actually be spinning records.
At the disposal of the two scratch monkeys, positioned as they will be in front of a “half-live visual accompaniment,” will be six turntables, two mixers and all the vinyl two men can carry from the well-worn Bambaataa collection. The goal, MacFadden said, is to tell a story by taking listeners on a chronological journey through Bambaataa’s own exposure to music. The sonic mélange will include clips of Bam’s early influences, tracks he sampled heavily, stuff he produced himself and even new tracks that use his original work.
“It’s mostly a narrative of—I don’t know how to put it—a timeline of hip-hop,” MacFadden said.
MacFadden said Bambaataa’s collection is “all across the board” when it comes to genre, including African, reggae, disco, funk, soul and Latin sounds. But the resulting mashup at the hands of the two deejays will be undeniably hip-hop. MacFadden said the set will be “all over the place,” featuring the two mixologists playing all six tables over one another, passing the fader back and forth, breaking into crowd-favorite synchronized routines and taking solos.
So, it’s kind of like the two men are separate arms of one mega-deejay? MacFadden probably wouldn’t have put it that way, but you have to admit it’s a pretty effective image.
For his part, DJ Shadow has the benefit of not requiring much communication from MacFadden. The two men have been making music together for 15 years, so there’s no “new territory” when it comes to figuring out the logistics of a performance.
The new territory, instead, is the sheer magnitude of Afrika Bambaataa’s collection and the rich history that practically spins off the physical records. Not only are the records heavily handled and marked for needle positioning by Bambaataa himself, MacFadden said they’re covered with stickers and markings from other deejays who’ve had the pleasure of digging through Bam’s crate in the past.
In fact, it’s the records with more wear that caught Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow’s eyes as they culled the records they wanted to take on tour.
“We wanted the worn stuff because that meant that he really liked to play it,” MacFadden said. “There was more significance to his own legacy when we saw a record he had used a lot.”
MacFadden, who’s also coming off of a Jurassic 5 reunion tour and hinted that a new J5 album will drop for Record Store Day next April 18, said he doesn’t expect to add more wear to the records while touring the country with them.
“Speaking for myself, I put all the records away when I am done with them while we’re doing the routine,” he said. “My mom always told me to clean up after myself.”
So how do two hip deejays spinning music collected by an original gangsta of New York rap culture find their way to little old Charlottesville on their tour of the 50 states?
“The second leg of the tour was secondary markets.”
Thus sayeth the Chemist.
Not only are the records heavily handled and marked for needle positioning by Bambaataa himself, MacFadden said they’re covered with stickers and markings from other deejays who’ve had the pleasure of digging through Bam’s crate in the past.
Saturday 11/15. $25, 8pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4948.