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DJ Skitz or Skitz is a British DJ and
music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
. He was born in 1970 in
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
and started DJing in 1991. He has compiled a number of
British hip hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...
compilations and other hip hop compilations. Along with
Rodney P Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop gro ...
, he produced the first track to ever be played on
BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...
in 2002, when the station launched; the BBC called Skitz a "hip-hop star". They also presented a weekly show on the station called "Original Fever", which formed the backbone of the radio station, until 2007. ''The Independent'' considered it the "show of the week" on the radio station. In 2008 he competed in the DMC UK DJ Championship. He had also created his own
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
, Titan Sounds.


History

In 1996, Skitz released a single "Where My Mind Is At" with
Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...
, which launched both of their careers, being noticed in both the hip hop and jazz scenes, as well as by
Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...
and Patrick Forge. The track was sampled by
Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, and film producer from Columbus, Georgia. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfir ...
on Monica's track "Gone be Fine" on her 1998 album, '' The Boy Is Mine''. In 1998, he released a second single, "Fingerprints Of The Gods", which was the only British track to feature in the ''
Hip Hop Connection ''Hip Hop Connection'' (''HHC'') was the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. It was described by rapper Chuck D as "the most important magazine in the world". History Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the m ...
s top ten tracks of the year and which ''The Independent'' called "impressive". Speaking to ''The Independent'' at the time, he remarked how the genre was entering a new era and how the quality of British Hip Hop in general was improving. In 2000 he released "Dedication" featuring Rodney P rapping and the DJ, Deckwrecka; the single went on to win the best single at the UK Hip Hop awards in 2000.


Countryman

Skitz's debum album ''Countryman'', released in 2001 on Ronin Records, is considered "ground breaking" in the
British Hip Hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...
genre. Skitz told ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' magazine that the album reflected his rural upbringing and that it "helps define the simplistic life most of us strive for". Estelle, who was then unknown, featured in the album on the track "Domestic Science" along with two other female MCs, Wildflower and Tempa. Estelle approached Skitz to create the tune, thinking it would be successful due to the 1990 single, " Ladies First" by
Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...
and
Monie Love Simone Johnson (born Simone Gooden) (born 2 July 1970), better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an English rapper, actress, and radio personality known for her singles during the late 1980s and the 1990s. Love is a radio personality for u ...
and because nothing similar had been made in the UK since the
Cookie Crew Cookie Crew were an English rap music duo formed in Clapham, South London in 1983. Career Their career took off after winning a national rap championship and recording two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show. They gained a recording ...
in the 1980s. Other artists on the album included Roots Manuva, Rodney P,
Skinnyman Skinnyman (born Alexander Graham Holland, 9 November 1974) is a British rapping, rapper who was born in Chapeltown, West Yorkshire, Chapeltown Leeds, Yorkshire and moved to Finsbury Park (area), Finsbury Park, London at a young age. He is best ...
, Phi-Life Cypher, Taskforce and MC Dynamite and the DJs Tony Vegas and Primecuts from the
Scratch Perverts The Scratch Perverts are a collective of Turntablism, turntablist DJs from London, formed in 1996 by Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts and DJ Renegade. World DMC team champions in both 1999 and 2001. Additionally Prime Cuts won 2 consecutive ITF World Sc ...
. ''The Independent'' said the album provided "evidence of the rude health of the UK's hip-hop scene". A BBC review said that Skitz "delivered a consolidation of talent and attitudes of a musical movement that has been both struggling and hugely underrated for too long" and that it was "perhaps the best illustration of the state of home grown hip-hop today". The beats on the album were described as "a distinctive blend of breakbeat funk, jungle and reggae". Dotmusic.com said that Taskforce's track "The Junkyard" did for
Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...
Estate, what
Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...
and
Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...
did for Queensbridge. Roots Manuva's "Inner City Folk" was based around a chorus sung by Valerie Ettiene from the
acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...
group Galliano. In 2004, ''
Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...
'' said that Phi-Life Cypher were "the stand out guest act" on the album. In June 2001, '' The Face'' ran a feature, including Skitz, which stated that there was a renaissance in British Hip Hop. In July 2001, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported on how after 15 years of British rappers mimicking their American counterparts, they had recently created their own style. Skitz was introduced in the article as a "prominent British hip-hop DJ" and in it he discussed why British Hip Hop had not been successful before and how it was different from American Hip Hop. Later that year, ''Countryman'' was named the best UK Hip Hop album at the UK Hip Hop awards and Estelle was awarded best female Hip Hop artist for her performance on the album. This was at a time that there was an "astonishing increase in the numbers of great UK rap records being released". Interviewed by ''The Guardian'', Rodney Smith, also known as Roots Manuva, said he considers ''Countryman'' to be "one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time".


Album discography

*''Countryman'' (2001) *''Badmeaningood Vol.1'' (2002) *''Homegrown Volume 1'' (2004) *''Homegrown Volume 2'' (2005). *''Sticksman'' (2010)


References


External links

*
DJ Skitz
interview at The Situation

interview at UKHH
DJ Skitz
biography at The Big Chill
DJ Skitz
interview at Knowledge {{DEFAULTSORT:Skitz, Dj Living people BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters British hip-hop DJs English record producers Year of birth missing (living people)