Master turntablist DJ Roc Raida (B. Anthony Williams) passed away today. Part of the original DJ collective and turntablist group the X-ecutioners, (formerly known as X-Men), Raida’s vinyl exploits quickly earned him a reputation as one of the best DJs in the world. He captured the DMC World DJ Championship in 1995 with his superb beat-juggling, seamless mixing, and flawless, ambidextrous execution. He was so talented, he could literally spin with his arms behind his back. Not only a master of the turntables, Raida was also an accomplished martial artist.
He was most recently on tour with Busta Rhymes. Busta expressed his condolences over Twitter, “I am sorry 2 say that on this day at 2:05 Sept 19th we lost another incredible life…Dj Roc Raida died 2day my personal Dj is gone… I just wanna thank everyone 4 ur love and support and ur prayers,” Busta Rhymes Tweeted. “We will never let ur name die Roc…We love u and will 4ever miss u…RIP…I was told 2day, We r loosing [sic] all of these great people this year as a result of God calling his army because something is about 2 go down! WE LOVE YOU AND YOU WILL FOREVER BE FLIPMODES DJ……(R.I.P. ROC RAIDA)” Roc’s global popularity was evident as tributes to his passing quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
Raida’s masterful DJing skills helped solidify turntablism as an art form and the turntable as a musical instrument in its own right. He brought scratching, beat juggling and mixing to the forefront of DJ culture. He raised the bar for aspiring DJs.
Roc Raida was the creator of the popular Gong DJ Battle, inspired by the 1970’s tv program, The Gong Show, in which losing contestants were kicked off via the sound of a gong. Similarly, in Roc’s version, faltering DJs were humorously gonged off the decks. The most recent battle took place a few month’s ago at SOB’s in NYC.
According to AllHipHop.com, Grand Master Roc Raida started DJing at the age of 10, after being inspired by his father, who was a member of Sugar Hill Records group, Mean Machine. Raida released 12 albums total as a solo artist and as member of The X-Ecutioners. He also produced tracks, and worked with artists like Smif-N-Wessun, Fat Joe, Ghostface, Black Thought, Pink, Linkin Park and others. His scratching can also be heard on O.C.’s timeless Hip-Hop track “Time’s Up.”
The entire music community mourns the passing of such a massively talented, down-to-Earth, chill, all around cool cat. Rest In Power Roc. We love you!
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