DJ Qbert

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This article is about the DJ. For the arcade and computer game, see Q*bert.
DJ Qbert
Qbertconcert.jpg
At the Nuits Sonores festival in Lyon, France, May 2006
Background information
Birth name Richard Quitevis
Born (1969-10-07) October 7, 1969 (age 54)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s) Disc jockey
Website http://www.djqbert.com

Richard Quitevis (born October 7, 1969) known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is a Filipino American turntablist and composer.

Early life

Growing up in San Francisco's Excelsior District on Moscow Street, he graduated from Luther Burbank Middle School and in 1987 from Balboa High School.[1][2] Qbert started playing with records at the age of 15, although he got his first Fisher-Price turntable as a toddler. He was influenced by the street performers and graffiti artists of the local hip hop community in the mid-1980s. It was at Balboa's school cafeteria that he first met Mix Master Mike in a DJ battle; the two have been good friends ever since.[3]

Career

Qbert started his musical career in a group called FM20 with Mix Master Mike and DJ Apollo in 1990. In New York when playing a show, Crazy Legs saw them and invited them to join the Rock Steady Crew. They accepted the offer to join the crew. Going by the name Rock Steady DJs, they then proceeded to take the 1992 Disco Mix Club World DJ Championships (DMC) world title.[4] Qbert was also one of the founding members of the band Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Although there were other turntablist crews before the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, the Skratch Piklz were the first to apply the band concept to turntablism, layering drums, basslines, and scratch solos on top of each other.

Qbert, along with other Skratch Piklz, created a series of videos entitled Turntable TV. Now out of print, the first 5 episodes were released on VHS and contained demonstrations, showcases, skits, and other DJ related content.

Qbert's solo efforts include 1994's Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik, and 1998's Wave Twisters. The latter album was created mainly with samplers and beat machines versus the turntable, and later turned into an animated feature of the same title. 2001's Wave Twisters movie was somewhat unusual in that the animators and digital artists had to invent images and movements to the pre-recorded music, as opposed to the other way around (Disney's Fantasia was made the same way).

More recently, he has worked with Vestax to develop the QFO, an all-in-one scratching instrument. The QFO combines a turntable with a mixer's crossfader.[5] In 2006, he introduced the Qbert turntable cartridge, a model put out by Ortofon.[6]

Performing at a gig in Berlin, February 2008

In May, 2009, Qbert launched the Qbert Skratch University, an interactive online learning school and community for DJs.

Personal life

In a 2011 interview with the website WeBeVegan.org, Qbert stated that he is a vegan.[7]

Media appearances

Qbert's music was featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground and he appeared as himself on the Slam City Jam level. He also appeared as himself in DJ Hero 2.

Awards and credentials

  • America's Best DJ 2010
  • DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo)
  • DMC World Champion 1992 - Rock Steady DJs (Qbert, Mixmaster Mike & Apollo)
  • DMC World Champion 1993 - Dreamteam (Qbert & Mixmaster Mike)
  • DMC World Champion 1994 - Dreamteam (Qbert & Mixmaster Mike) ***
  • DMC Judge 2012 (what you heard?)
  • DMC DJ Hall of Fame (along with Mix Master Mike)
  • Featured in Hang the DJ by Marco & Mauro La Villa
  • Appears in the documentary film Modulations
  • Appears in the documentary Scratch
  • Appears in his own animated/live action movie Wave Twisters

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ DJ Qbert: A Legend In His Own Time
  5. ↑ [1]
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Interviews

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