Upon realizing that grown and sexy age BET upstart network Centric was planning to air an eight episode program honoring DJ culture entitled Master of the Mix, I was initially intrigued. BET has recently been on a major stewardship kick of late regarding significant aspects of the African American musical heritage, with Black Girls Rock and My Mic Sounds Nice of special note highlighting the significant advancements of women in traditionally black cultural forms. This is a far cry from the same network lambasted for a ham-fisted handling at their own awards program of a Michael Jackson tribute mere hours after his death in 2009, and a history prior to that of near comedic proportions, the late night booty video program BET Uncut a black eye that, though shown after typical programming hours was highlighted as a blight. Master of the Mix, it appeared to me, was another solid move in BET salvaging credibility and overhauling the image of their network portfolio. Unfortunately, in appearing to be little more than a cash grab by BET for Smirnoff dollars and content for Centric, the program absolutely fell short of the possibility of complete success.
http://www.youtube.com/v/LEhrMIjUHN0?fs=1&hl=en_US
A program that deifies DJs on a second tier cable package channel with a replay on Saturday night at midnight on a top tier network already has a niche audience. In having a niche branded program, there was entirely too heavy of an emphasis placed on dumbing down elements of the program for a mainstream audience. The concept itself was fine. Eight of the best DJs in the history of the house and hip hop tradition competing for an opportunity to earn $250,000 in prizes and be the brand DJ for Smirnoff. Many beverage brands, namely Pepsi, engage in the practice, however those proceedings have far more of a DMC feel and feature selectors and turntablists who are hungry for the exposure. This program features the top 10% of DJs attempting to vie for a prize that frankly, it makes no sense for them to be so “determined” to attain. Smirnoff has no pronounced history of doing much of anything with DJ culture, and the entire premise felt hackneyed and foolish from day one, top DJs who already make solid money and have international renown competing against each other in competitions that tested their already vouched for skills as incredible musical craftspeople.
The most ridiculous moments of the show involved behavior that anyone who is a DJ, or who has been a DJ would never ever engage in knowingly. The amount of enmity between DJs on the program felt like a slap in the face to the concept of DJs being humble practitioners of an art who attempt to help each other improve and not overtly hate on each other’s skill. Yes, there’s an element of egoism involved in being a person who ultimately controls the ability of a room of people to dance, but in 10 years as a fairly average weekly bar, club, wedding and bar mitzvah DJ, and in three years of covering some of the finest men and women to ever spin records, the amount of angst brought about by the ridiculousness of the reality TV format was just a bit too much for me to handle. Voting DJs off the show, heavy handed trending toward nearly mean spirited critiques of your contemporaries and downright silly challenges purely engendered for a TV audience just made the entire eight week run an exercise in boredom, then anger, then irreverence.
http://www.youtube.com/v/MmNE58HBaLU?fs=1&hl=en_US
If you have eight superstar DJs in once place at one time, maybe Smirnoff could have put them on a plane and done a Swedish House Mafia Take One type knockoff with them, touring them worldwide and possibly showing off the global impact of hip hop, house and DJ culture on the universe. Rich Medina chilling in Tokyo at the offices of A Bathing Ape? Viktor Duplaix chopping it up in Paris with MC Solaar? Jazzy Joyce dropping breaks in South Africa for Spoek Mathambo freestyles? DJ Rap taking us on a tour of legendary club haunts in London like Fabric and the Ministry of Sound? What about DJ Scratch working MPCs with Brazillian kids who have elevated it to a fine art? If you absolutely must have a “competition” aspect, what about doing a finale in New York City where you take a tour of the city and make stops at the remains of places made famous in Wild Style with Grandmaster Flash, Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn, Kid Capri, Just Blaze and the Smirnoff rep as judges of a mix off where each of the DJs must incorporate styles learned from a particular stop of their global DJ tour? That not only makes the program a must watch niche broadcast, but also the type of program that celebrates DJ culture and elevates it to a new height.
In the end, I guess beggars can’t be choosers. For eons I have wanted BET and their related networks to use their Viacom ownership for the powers of good. For eight weeks, I got to watch the likes of Rich Medina, Viktor Duplaix, Jazzy Joyce and DJ Revolution on my TV screen doing what they love and what I love as well and having fun at the height of their abilities. DJ Scratch made $250,000 and gets to shine for a year with an international brand’s support. If returned to and rehashed from a conceptual standpoint, this program has a tremendous possibility for niche satiation and mainstream attention. The time is now for this program, and it absolutely can have a place of entertainment as well as cultural preservation and development for not just being a DJ, but music in general. The first time, though not the charm, can be a blueprint.
elivindotorg 