2005: SCRATCH MAGAZINE – Most Versatile Player
June 23, 2008
July/August ’05 — … On the Court Jalen Rose brings crowds to their
feet, and keeps them moving at night behind the decks. While
embarrassing pretty-boy point guards on the court functions as his day
job, Toronto Raptors guard Jalen Rose gets his hands spinning for his
night gig. After learning the mixtape game from older heads as a
shorty, Jalen turned his admirations for DJing into a hobby and now
spins across the country playing whatever crowd he damn feels like.
How did you first get into DJing? From just being around people
back in the day, back in Detroit. I always kept up with the latest
songs so eventually I started making mixtapes for myself that turned
into making CDs.
What do you use? Technics, man. I like normal turntables. I?m
not a Neanderthal but I’m old school. I like bringing crates of records
into the club with me. The hard part is finding someone to help me
carry it all.
When do you spin? Anytime I’m not traveling. When I was in Indiana, Chicago, wherever I’ve played [basketball], I would spin there on the side.
Who are the guys that inspired you? There are a lot of guys I like. Dudes like Scratch, Clue, Kid Capri. Those are my peoples.
When you’re spinning, what do you play? A good DJ plays
everything. When I’m at family functions I play stuff for the kids,
when I’m at the club I play something for the girls or whatever crowd
I’m at. My versatility is my strength. Right now I’m playing a lot of
Styles P, Beanie Sigel and Game. And Nas, who I think is sometimes
overlooked; he does a lot of different shit.
How’s the club scene in Toronto? Toronto is hot. It’s different
but not that different. It has a real exciting vibe to it. They
appreciate the music the same as we do. They grew up with our style,
the way we dress, everything.
Why DJing instead of testing your MIC skills? Mainly because I
used to go see guys spin and got cool with them. I saw JMJ, Terminator,
X, guys like that. I love rap music too much to try to be an MC.
By Khalid Salaam
