New York City – Have we just seen the future of DJing? Maybe.
Meet DJ Kool Flash, the newly crowned winner of DMC’s New York Regional DJ Battle… and she’s only 11-years old.
Held at Manhattan’s Le Poisson Rouge nightclub this past Tuesday evening, DMC’s New York Regional Competition saw Kool Flash take the title with a six-minute routine that mixed party-rocking breaks, adept tone-scratching, crisp beat-juggling and a Mike Tyson-voiced knockout finish. With the victory, the Silver Spring, Md.-based youngster now advances to the DMC US Finals, which will be held in August at a venue to be announced.
And, after being named the winner and getting swarmed onstage by show sponsors and fellow competitors, Kool Flash showed humble moments on-mic – she said she was overwhelmed and at a loss for words. Then, on-cue, she offered up a requisite dose of DJ braggadocio. Asked by MC/host GrandMaster Caz how she expected to fare in the DMC US Finals, she responded plainly: “I expect to win.” Boo-yah!
The competition’s panel of judges ran deep with legendary industry talent. It included DJ Cheese, DJ Jazzy Joyce, GrandWizzard Theodore, Dwells, DJ Esquire, J-Smoke, DJ Rasp, DJ Precision, DJ Spictakular, and Marcus. In addition to punchy spiels from ebullient host GrandMaster Caz, the evening featured dazzling showcases from DJ Precision (DMC World Supremacy Champion) and DJ Rasp (two-time DMC UK Supremacy Champ), plus a prime party-rocking set from The Large Professor, which sparked a breakers’ cypher on the dancefloor.
The evening’s second-place honors went to ASAP Handswell of Bel Air, Md., and the third-place finisher was DJ Steel, Beechwood N.J. – both took home a sweet set of prizes from event sponsors Numark, Serato, Shure, 12inchSkinz, Ortofon and Thud Rumble.
In taking the title, Kool Flash won: a Rane DJ Twelve motorized control turntable; two D.A.S. Audio Altea-412A speakers; a Serato DJ Suite license; Serato DJ control vinyl; Serato DJ Brace 7-inch vinyl; a Shure SM58S microphone; custom control vinyl from 12inchSkinz; Ortofon CC Concorde MK II scratch cartridges; two Superseal 3D + 12-inch Black Butter Rug + Hard to Find 7-inch + Bionic Booger Breaks 7-inch from ThudRumble; a two-month membership to DigitalDJPool.com; an Odyssey bag; and round-trip flight and hotel to the 2018 DMC US DJ Finals.
Upcoming DMC Regional Battles include: Tampa, Fla. (April 8 at CrowBar); Atlanta, Ga. (April 11 at The Drunken Unicorn); Denver, Col. (April 15 at Bar Standard); and Los Angeles, Calif. (April 22 at Beat Junkie Institute).
