The X-Ecutioners are a group of American
hip hop DJs/
turntablists from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, New York.
The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, DJ Precision. Original members of the group included Mista Sinista,
Rob Swift, and
Roc Raida
Anthony Williams (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009), better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners.
He joined the X-Men in the late 1 ...
(who died in September 2009).
Rob Swift and Total Eclipse formed a side project called ''Ill Insanity'' releasing one album together in 2008 entitled
Ground Xero
''Ground Xero'' is the first studio album by the American DJ group Ill Insanity, which consists of three members of the New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and DJ Precision. It was released on February 11, 2008, by ...
.
History
the X-Ecutioners formed as a DJ crew in 1989 that originally included 11 members. The group's original name was the X-Men named after the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
superhero team
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...
which was chosen partly because of their rivalry between
DJ Clark Kent's crew of DJs, known as the Supermen, and after the
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
'
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
. They later changed their name for trademark reasons.
After the group's name changed, the crew was later reduced to members
Rob Swift,
Roc Raida
Anthony Williams (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009), better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners.
He joined the X-Men in the late 1 ...
,
Total Eclipse, and Mista Sinista (named after the X-Men villain
Mister Sinister) before releasing their debut studio album, ''
X-Pressions'' in 1997.
Sinista later left the group shortly after the release of their second studio album ''
Built from Scratch
''Built from Scratch'' is the second studio album by New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners. It was released on February 26, 2002, through Loud Records and Columbia Records. The album was produced by Beat Junkies, Chris Frantz, CJ Moore, Dan the ...
'' in 2001.
the X-Ecutioners have worked with many famous artists on their albums ''Built from Scratch'' and ''
Revolutions'' and are highly respected in hip hop for their turntable skills, being famous for the technique known as
beat juggling.
They have been known to do numerous collaborations, ranging from
Kool G Rap to
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...
,
Mike Shinoda
Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田 賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocal ...
and
Joe Hahn
Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director and visual artist best known as the DJ of the American rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all seven of Linkin Park ...
of rock band
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...
, and co-released a collaboration album with
Mike Patton called ''
General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners
''General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners'' is a collaboration album released by Mike Patton and New York City's hip-hop DJ trio The X-Ecutioners. It was released on February 5, 2005 through Ipecac Recordings, and was entirely produced by Mike Patt ...
''. The X-Ecutioners contributed a remix of
Run-DMC
Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...
's "
King of Rock" on the
Harmonix game ''
Amplitude
The amplitude of a periodic variable is a measure of its change in a single period (such as time or spatial period). The amplitude of a non-periodic signal is its magnitude compared with a reference value. There are various definitions of am ...
'', and the song "Like This" was featured in the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...
''
SSX 3''. Their Music and themselves were also featured in the game, ''
NFL Street''. As of 2007, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and Precision have formed a new group called Ill Insanity. Their latest studio album release, ''
Ground Xero
''Ground Xero'' is the first studio album by the American DJ group Ill Insanity, which consists of three members of the New York City DJ group The X-Ecutioners, Rob Swift, Total Eclipse and DJ Precision. It was released on February 11, 2008, by ...
'' contains 14 tracks featuring the likes of
DJ QBert, DJ Excess, and Grand Master Roc Raida. Ill Insanity has posted a blog on their Myspace regarding a reunion tour in Australia in October 2008. The group commented in their blog
"Undeniably one of the greatest turntablist crews of all time, New York's legends The X-Ecutioners are reuniting exclusively to tour Australia for the very first time. The supremely talented turntablists, Grandmaster Roc Raida, Rob Swift, Boogie Blind, Total Eclipse and Precision have exclusively come together for this tour and across 10 turntables will leave you speechless with their unbelievable turntable skills of cutting, mixing, scratching and beat juggling."
The group announced at 2008 the tour dates on both the X-Ecutioners' and Ill Insanity's Myspace Reunion Tour Blog. In a recent interview with E.Zee Radio,
Mista Sinista says (2008) that the "current X-Men are Mista Sinista, Total Eclipse, Boogie Blind, Steve D, Sean C, Johnny Cash, Diamond J, Exotic E and Roc Raida who will always be there."
Roc Raida died on September 19, 2009 from complications of a stroke from training in Krav Maga.
Total Eclipse is the last member from the original X-Men/X-Ecutioners who still plays for the X-Ecutioners
Personnel
Current members
* Total Eclipse - turntables (1996–present)
* DJ Boogie Blind - turntables (2004–present)
* DJ Precision - turntables (2004–present)
Former members
* Mista Sinista - turntables (1989–2001)
* Rob Swift - turntables (1989–2004)
* Roc Raida
Anthony Williams (May 17, 1972 – September 19, 2009), better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the DJ group the X-Ecutioners.
He joined the X-Men in the late 1 ...
- turntables (1989–2009) (deceased)
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
* ''Música Negra (Black Music)/Wordplay'' (1997)
Compilation albums
* '' Japan X-Clusive'' (1997)
* '' Scratchology'' (2003)
Singles
* " It's Goin' Down" (2002)
References
External links
The X-Ecutioners
at ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''
The X-Ecutioners
at IGN Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:X-Ecutioners
American hip hop groups
American hip hop DJs
Columbia Records artists