{PHOTO COURTESY OF DERICK DAILY}
Other people’s records: DJ Shadow (left) and Cut Chemist
AFRIKA’S WAX {BY SETH PFANNENSCHMIDT} WHEN DJ SHADOW and Cut Chemist arrive
in Pittsburgh on Nov. 14 for their show at Mr. Small’s, they will bring with them more than 30 years of turntable experience. Their set, however will reach back even further, and illuminate the very roots of hip hop. With 500 of Afrika Bambaataa’s records in tow, Shadow and Cut will pay homage to one of hip hop’s most influential icons. Both Cut Chemist (Lucas MacFadden) and DJ Shadow (Joshua Davis) have spent the past three decades establishing themselves as, arguably, hip hop’s most stalwart turntabalists. Cut Chemist’s early projects with Ozomatli and Jurassic 5 solidified him as one of the most creative in the business, and DJ Shadow’s debut studio album, Endtroducing, was included in Time magazine’s “All Time” 100 best albums. The two have worked together on numerous projects in the past, including 1999’s Brain Freeze, which originally attracted archivist Johan Kugelberg. It was Kugelberg who brokered a deal between Bambaataa and Cornell University, resulting in a majority of Bambaataa’s collection to be archived there; he then approached Shadow and Cut with an idea to create a set based on Bambaataa’s records. “We said yes,” MacFadden recalls with a chuckle, “as long as we got to tour with it. Because we really wanted to do it right. [After all,] there would be no Ozomatli or Jurassic 5 without Bambaataa. ” With Bambaataa’s blessing, Cut and Shadow spent
two-and-a-half weeks digging through a sampling of his 42,000 vinyl records, finally narrowing their search to 500, which they’ve taken on the road as the Renegades of Rhythm tour. The story of Afrika Bambaataa is multifaceted. Born as Kevin Donovan in 1957, he grew up in the Bronx with a mother who was entrenched in the civil-rights movement. In the ’70s, Bambaataa was a wellrespected and upwardly mobile member of one of New York’s most ruthless street gangs, the Black Spades. After a trip to Africa, however, his worldview changed, and he began to see music as a way to elevate exploited blacks. Upon his return to New York, Donovan changed his name to Afrika Bambaataa (Zulu for “affectionate leader”) and founded the Universal Zulu Nation, whose purpose was to unite rival street gangs and to promote peace and social welfare.
“THERE WOULD BE NO OZOMATLI OR JURASSIC 5 WITHOUT BAMBAATAA.”
DJ SHADOW AND CUT CHEMIST: RENEGADES OF RHYTHM TOUR WITH DJ SELECTA
8 p.m. Fri., Nov. 14. Mr. Small’s Theater, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $25. All ages. 412-821-4447 or www.mrsmalls.com
The social element of Bambaataa’s legacy was not lost on Cut and Shadow, and they were both adamant about including that part of his story into their set — and, according to Davis, those witnessing the live set understand that it’s not just the aural element that the two DJs are projecting. “I think what the crowds are realizing is that there was a lot of thought put into CONTINUES ON PG. 24
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