EXTRA | The Transformer Scratch

DJ's Jazzy Jeff and Cash Money describe the origins of The Transformer Scratch.
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[@MrRasheed7]

Cash is from my neighborhood so I ride wit him as the best Dj to ever do it.. He has multpile supremacy belts and was incredible on the 1200s. I remember cheating using this alt switch on the cross fader that made it sound like a transformer. Point is, Philly had the best Djs and NY had the rappers.

[@dannyherbert9171]

Jazzy and cash are the greatest…… period

[@alexmack2014]

Perhaps you're right. However Joe Cooley,DJ Miz,DJ Scratch,Rich Nice may beg to differ.

[@maccagrabme]

@@alexmack2014 All amazing DJ's, I think it comes down to memorable trademark scratches, Scratch had that on So Watcha Sayin but Cash and Jeff had memorable scraches and routines in droves and were always inventing new ones and still are, plus both amazing producers. Out of the two I say Cash has the edge but I think Jeff had the most precise and rhythmic transformer I've heard.

[@ircreg8639]

I agree 100%. Would love to see a video of both of them sitting down together talking about stuff like this.

[@ignoranceisnotatrend4669]

​@@alexmack2014and dj Aladdin

[@logicalblackman8228]

@@alexmack2014You can’t go wrong with any of those guys. With that being said, Cash is my favorite. But honestly, you need to look at guys like DJ Q-Bert and D-styles. Those guys are insane.

[@brew62]

Being a kid who grew up in New York City, thought we had everything on lock. But when I heard jazzy, Jeff do the transformer on the Mr. Magic 😊show. It changed the entire game of DJing. Salute to Philly.

[@tjridez6331]

Early chirp scratch there too and they dont even know it. Sick.

[@maccagrabme]

The chirp has been around since the early 80s, he was using them way back as well as many other djs like Howie Tee, Tat money, Jazzy Jeff, you name it, it was very common, just that people didnt name scratches apart from the transformer. Just checkout scratching to the funk by cash Money or Live at Union Square Jazzy jeff.

[@jusdef07]

It's good to hear that someone gave the original DJ Spinbad from Philly his overdue props. 💪💪💪

[@coreyanalogfresh9705]

Damn....what happened to GRAND DRAGON KD ???? He was the 1st...BRING THE BEAT BACK

[@DumbDriversYouNearlyDied-vq4wd]

Cash Money & Jazzy Jeff were years ahead of KD using what they'd already mastered long before Bring the Beat Back. Philly's got a lot of great next level DJ's but if you listen to Jeff & Cash Money's Twins of Spin tape you'll know that it was years ahead of anything GDK was doing.

[@coreyanalogfresh9705]

He came out1st thatz all i know@@DumbDriversYouNearlyDied-vq4wd

[@maccagrabme]

​@@DumbDriversYouNearlyDied-vq4wd What I find impressive is how good Jeff and Cash were in 1985 even though they could only have been scratching since 1980 at the most so in that span of time they had, surpassed all the legends like Flash, Jam master Jay, Jazy Jay, Whizkid, Mixmaster Ice and advanced the artform with chirping, transforming and beat juggling with very few being in their league. Most DJs now are nowhere near that good within 4-5 years, yes I know the techniques have advanced now which can make beginner Dj's appear to sound good but very few DJ's can master all those skills to a high level, with that much control and finesse and entertain a crowd and have their own individual sound on the decks like Cash and Jeff had.

[@Kmakmizzle]

Props to Jeff for keeping it 100. I still say he perfected it. Cash money's version was crisper but Jeff's rhythm is superb .

[@papadre70]

Dj Spinbad aka Master D from the Group Force 5 . Philly Dj revolutionized the Game.

[@fredmitchell9489]

Thank you Germantown H.S finest I’ll just say I was around for some of the ride if not we were Riding the Aero 80 Scooter heading to Mickey D’s or in his Sisters basement on Champlost Ave

[@manuelemariani4609]

What Cash is trying to show calling it "rythim scratching" is what is known today as "chirp scratch". Proving that also the chirp was pioneered in Philly before the 1986 NMS. Check "scratching to the funk" out, it was first printed in 1985, in this recording you can also ear what would be know after 1987 NMS as the "joe cooley scratch" (fast babies/tears combined with chirps).

[@maccagrabme]

No one used names for scratches back then until the transformer came along.

[@corywilliams458]

Jus Dope!!....DJ Gold!!!...2 of the Best!!!..My Real Reason I got in DJ thing!...& (JMJ)🙏🏽

[@RJay207]

2:54 "Ain't nobody inventin' nothin'." Jeff's fucking mother: Apparently a goddamned prophet. I honestly can't think of a more profound thing I've heard in a long time. Legit, this is going to stick with me.

[@webbgems67]

Jeffrey and Jerome

[@UBZUKki]

Cash is the funkiest

[@maccagrabme]

Yes and Jeff did the transformer the fastest and gave it a melody.

[@marcusadams2347]

All these years I always gave credit to Jazzy Jeff for inventing it because I heard him do it first!!!

[@charlieg4732]

Right he introduced it to the world at union Square but cats like Cash money and Sinbadd doing it way before him in philly

[@maccagrabme]

The way Jazzy Jeff did it was unique, it was like he was using a switch it was so sharp and had that swing which i've not really heard since, it was almost like it was talking.

[@maccagrabme]

@@defcreator187 Also some basic tazers in there too? He was a lot better scratcher than I thought he was and had advanced quite a lot since 85.

[@HypnoticHollywood]

@@maccagrabme Not only a better scratcher than you thought but Jazzy was also the 1986 World Seminar DJ Champ. Also the first to introduce the transformer scratch was Philly's Grand Dragon KD on Steady B's song Bring The Beat Back.

[@HypnoticHollywood]

@@charlieg4732 The first to introduce the transformer scratch was Philly's Grand Dragon KD on Steady B's song Bring The Beat Back.

[@ignoranceisnotatrend4669]

Im actually a more fan of the joe kooly scratch "AKA" THE LA WILD STYLE SCRATCH 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽i use to burn records up with that scratch

[@vaslim80]

Class of '88 brought me here

[@daviddrummond9386]

PHILADELPHIA stand up. We was there from the beginning!

[@retired55.]

First dj i heard do it was cosmic kev at new Brunswick high school in new Jersey the following week fresh prince and jazzy jeff were on the radio in ny introducing the world to the transformer scratch it blew my mind cosmic kev was scratching rock the bells by ll cool j crazy shit i witness in new Jersey dj scene mix master caz and the twins from Asbury Park dj cheese from Plainfield dj row from freehold these guys are legends in early hiphop and no one doesn't even know these guys❤❤❤.

[@kennethwatkins6126]

I know them

[@maccagrabme]

DJ Cheese was well known in the UK in 1985/6 via DMC

[@gaffle-411]

Naw… PhiLLy DJs did that first. Wasn’t no NY’ers was doing NOTHING like that way back then. That’s why they L👀KED at him like he was an alien at the NMS.

[@HypnoticHollywood]

The first to introduce the transformer scratch was Philly's Grand Dragon KD on Steady B's song Bring The Beat Back.

[@originaldjfinesse3593]

Thats not a transformer scratch. KD was stabbing n dragging the record. Listen very closely

[@originaldjfinesse3593]

Jeff was very popular at that time. Just because you heard him do it first doesnt mean 💩

[@Darrin-h1l]

To the Gen Z DJ's take notes from the true pioneers of mixing scratching right here an more

[@ignoranceisnotatrend4669]

The crab scratch to me is one of the weakest scratches ever created, its too much of a off beat scratch

[@maccagrabme]

Not sure why you think its the weakest and what do you mean offbeat?

[@ignoranceisnotatrend4669]

@@maccagrabme it's not in rhythm with what's playing, or maybe I'm just an oldschool dj from the 80s 😂

[@maccagrabme]

@@ignoranceisnotatrend4669 It takes a while to get used to the newskool scratches if you are coming from the 80s scratching days, I know this because that's exactly what I did, I had to learn all the newer stuff and it wasn't easy as I took a 20 year break from it from the late 80s and slowly got back into it and by then it was a bit overwhelming as it had moved on considerably. I still prefer the oldskool sound but also admire the new scratches as its a lot more inventive and has far more possibilities. I like the crab, it can be effective, perhaps overused but it has its place, you have to have the right kinda backing track to use it, seems to work best with slower, hard edged stripped back beats.

[@40EastTrill]

​@@ignoranceisnotatrend4669Depends on who's doing it. I put a rhythm in mine. But I have been doing it years before it even had a name lol

[@MattieBeverly-h7i]

I think dj scratch is better then all of them, and then dj jaycee

[@djsk1200]

the most underrated scratch ever.

[@HypnoticHollywood]

Underrated by who?? The transformer is the most famous scratch ever.

[@MattieBeverly-h7i]

Exactly cause if you can't transform you ain't shit, so what is dude talking about​@@HypnoticHollywood

[@kennethwatkins6126]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥👊🏾👊🏾

[@chevy2883]

Are we forgetting about Marley Marl and Hitman Howie Tee

[@RickyVanderslice]

I can't believe you'd disrespect Mixmaster Ice by not even having the decency to mention him. SHAME ON YOU.

[@WillieTonka]

@@RickyVanderslice I agree. chevvy is acting like Mixmaster Ice never even existed.

[@chevy2883]

I totally forgot about him ​@@RickyVanderslice

[@greatness3928]

The dj for bring the beat back

[@CDP76]

I guess I heard it from the horse’s mouth……. No more debates.

[@George-vl4lm]

Cash is by far the better Hip Hop and King of Scratch DJ. Jeff is just the prince of fresh air

[@kevinjones238]

Cash is tight, but Jeff’s cuts have always been cleaner.

[@jrkeemo]

No Disrespect to Mr. Jeff but he knows himself he can’t touch Cash $!

[@theharshtruth8563]

@@jrkeemo Cash is more sloppy. Jeff is on point.

[@maccagrabme]

I think Cash has more inventive and rhythmic scratches and more interesting mixes, Jeff is cleaner and is the master of the transformer on Live at Union square and the Magnificent but Cash is more raw, better at juggling and had better production on Wheres the Party at over anything JJ&FP did.

[@OgDj2024]

Exactly!

[@webbgems67]

I know both of them watched them spin around each other on the wheels much love to Yeadon,Philly, Chester Pa.

[@eddiesoul4890]

Well it was rumored that Hit Man Howie T invented that...

[@geechiegeech]

Q-bert & Mixmaster Ice FAR surpass Cash Money's skills. 💯

[@maccagrabme]

MM Ice isnt even close, I'd say Cutmaster DC and Howie Tee are better than MM Ice. Q-bert cant do the oldskool scratches anywhere near as well as Cash. Yes he has the new techniques down but he cant entertain a crowd in the same way as Cash.

[@culturemax234]

I thought Jeff invented it lol

[@charlieg4732]

He perfected it from other cats in philly and introduced it to the world just like Scholly d started gangsta rap in 3:23 philly and the godfather and kings Ice T and NWA perfected it made it a pop heavy to the world

[@maccagrabme]

@@charlieg4732 Jeff had the most precise and cleanest transformer I've ever heard, even to this date but I think Cash has the edge as a performer.

[@djcook5854]

WTF did Jeff EVER Invent?? The Peter Piper Routine?? LMAO!! Cash Money is a True Inventor a True Creator and He Wouldnt Lie about ANYTHING..,.

[@RickyVanderslice]

Cash is a douchebag. Jazz is the truth.

[@vinylmassacre1659]

Love it