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Bio From All Music Guide
DJ Babu's Bio From All Music Guide
Beat Junkies' Bio From All Music Guide
Official Site: Dilated Peoples
Evidence, Rakaa & DJ Babu (Chris Oroc)
Dilated Peoples - Expansion Team
Dilated Peoples - Heavy Surveillance
Dilated Peoples - Neighborhood Watch
Dilated Peoples - Major League
Dilated Peoples - 20/20
Dilated Peoples - Back Again (Single)
The Alchemist - Insomnia: 1st Infantry Mixtape Vol. 2
The Alchemist - 1st Infantry
Bad Azz - Executive Decision: Business, Nothing Personal
Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (Babu)
DJ Muggs - Take Aim (Evidence)
Essential Underground Hip-Hop 2 (Evidence)
Julio G - Westside Radio Vol. 3
Lyricist Lounge, Vol. 2
Mobb Deep - Free Agents: The Murda Mix Tape (Evidence)
Muggs Presents Soul Assassins II
Paris Presents: Hard Truth Soldiers Vol. 1
Phil The Agony - Steady Aromatic Mixtape
Soundbombing II
Statik Selektah - Spell My Name Right (The Album) (Evidence)
Sway & King Tech Featuring DJ Revolution - This Or That
Termanology - Hood Politics V (Evidence)
Truly OdD - West West...Get Your Bars Up
Viva La Revolución Volume I: Get Up, Stand Up (Thug Radio Mixtape)
Kanye West - The Lost Tapes
Kanye West - The Remixes
X-Ecutioners - Built From Scratch (Babu)
With just a few (mostly underground) releases, Dilated Peoples have energized the rap underground in similar fashion to fellow West Coast crew Jurassic 5. The duo of Evidence and Rakaa came together in the mid-'90s, when they met at many of the same hip-hop shows; after deciding to start making tracks together, they formed Dilated Peoples. Once they added to the fold an excellent turntablist, DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies, the group recorded the singles "Third Degree" and "Work the Angles" for ABB Records. The latter became an underground hit via hip-hop radio and clubplay, prompting Dilated Peoples' signing to Capitol. The Platform followed in May 2000. The group's follow-up for Capitol, The Expansion Team, was released in late 2001 to positive reviews, and the group hit the road the following March, touring with the film Scratch, a documentary about hip-hop DJs and turntablists. Neighborhood Watch followed in 2004. - John Bush
Born Chris Oroc, DJ Babu is a member of Dilated Peoples and the on-again/off-again DJ crew Beat Junkies. The California-based DJ began making mix tapes in the early '90s and joined the Beat Junkies in 1994. Babu has won multiple competition titles including the DMC Championship in 1997 and multiple ITF titles. As a revered battle DJ he has appeared in and hosted numerable videos and — under the name Turntablist — produced perhaps the genre's most popular battle record, 1996's Super Duck Breaks, which sold over 10,000 copies, and its inevitable follow-up, Super Duper Duck Breaks, in 2000. - Wade Kergan
Along with the Invisibl Skratch Piklz and the X-Ecutioners, the Beat Junkies were one of the seminal DJ crews that revived the art of turntablism (i.e., using turntables as musical instruments in and of themselves) during the '90s. Distinguished by their multicultural membership and trademark Green Lantern rings, the Beat Junkies were formed in Orange County (outside Los Angeles) in 1992 by J-Rocc (born Jason Jackson). Fellow core DJs Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nizra) and Melo-D (born David Mendoza) were joined by charter members Curse, Icy Ice, Symphony, and DJ What?!. Other crew members came onboard within the next year, including core DJ Babu (born Chris Oroc) and two future members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Shortkut and D-Styles, plus Havikk and Tommy Gun. Mr. Choc completed the crew upon his arrival in 1995. That year, the Beat Junkies got their own radio show in the suburb of Santa Ana, and began testing their skill regularly on the DJ battle circuit around southern California. The core quartet of J-Rocc, Babu, Rhettmatic, and Melo-D all won individual titles at various levels of competition, and as a team, the Beat Junkies won the ITF (International Turntable Federation) world team championships in both 1997 and 1998, after which they collectively retired from competition.Also in 1997, the Beat Junkies released their first widely available (i.e., non-mixtape) album, The World Famous Beat Junkies, Vol. 1, on PR Records. It was followed by further volumes on Blackberry in 1998 and 1999, with the former including their ITF championship-winning routine from that year. J-Rocc and Babu teamed up to form the Bumrush Bros., who appeared on the 1999 Rawkus compilation Soundbombing, Vol. 2, and also opened the Fat Beats record shop in Los Angeles, which later spawned an acclaimed compilation series of its own. Babu became the third member of the L.A. underground rap crew Dilated Peoples, serving as DJ on their acclaimed albums The Platform and Expansion Team; meanwhile, Rhettmatic landed a similar post in the Visionaries, and Melo-D served as the in-house DJ for Vibe magazine's late-night television spin-off. Several crew members past and present also worked in radio or other aspects of the industry. In 2001, J-Rocc launched the group's own Beat Junkie Sound label with Classic Material, a collection of Beat Junkie-related items spanning 1995-2000. - Steve Huey
Pictures are courtesy of Katherine Gaines. Check out her website:
AmbientEye Photography
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