| ABOUT

King Cut has been a fixture in NYC Nightlife since 2001. His weekly Saturday Night party, Bad Meaning Good, has been dubbed “The best impromptu dance party” in NYC (New York Magazine’s “Best of New York”). 6 years strong, it’s one of the longest running parties in town. He also guest DJ’s and throws his own parties at different venues across the city. He helped found the non-profit organization Urban Art Beat, and most recently has partnered up with Scratch Music Group to provide his services to corporate clients as well as weddings. He continues to build his name as one of NYC’s top party-rocking DJ’s with his unique blend of classic and current Hip-Hop, Reggae/Dancehall, R&B, Funk, Soul and 80′s music.

As a child, King Cut’s musical tastes varied from Top-40 to classic rock and eventually Hip-Hop. His parents had him taking piano lessons from the the time he was 6 years old. “I hated it. I was taught classical music and I didn’t like what I was playing. But I was pretty good. I just didn’t appreciate it as a kid. I quit when I was 13. As an adult, I definitely regret that decision, and I have always wanted to take it up again. But that foundation in piano and theory really helped me develop my appreciation for music of all kinds. Today, I can appreciate classical music. The stuff that Mozart or Bach or Beethoven created is nuts. I mean, literally insane. You listen to it and it’s like, somebody thought of that? That was in someones head? It’s absolutely crazy. But I didn’t feel it as a kid. I was listening to rap music so all that classical music was corny to me. ”

In high school, Cut was always on top of the latest Hip-Hop. He would record his favorite underground radio shows and bring the tapes with him wherever he went. He became fascinated with the art of DJing and even duplicated turntable techniques on his walkman. “I could play a tape, then turn the radio on and the tape would keep playing. So I could go back and forth without stopping the music on the tape. If I toggled the tuner really fast and to the rhythm of the music on the tape, I could make it sound like I was scratching. The function switch was my cross fader.”

“My walkman was dope,” he continues. “It had a reverse function, so I could switch immediately to what was on the other side of the tape. I would hit the reverse switch after a word or a line I liked. Keeping the rhythm, I would switch it back so that the line repeated, in time and on beat. That was how I first started juggling records.”

Eventually, he would have to take his passion for music and his fascination with DJing to the next level. “I was a freshman, and there was this kid Rich who was a senior. He went by the name Jiminy Crooked (later DJ Crooked). I saw him DJ a couple of parties and he saw that I was into the music, so we connected. A couple years after he graduated, he gave me his old turntables when he upgraded to Technics. They were a pair of belt-drive tables, not great for DJing but it got me started, and I never looked back.”

From there, Cut began building a record collection of not only Hip-Hop, but classic rock, funk, soul, R&B, as well as obscure unknown vinyl. He started sampling, looping, and producing tracks, and he even started making songs. “The process of producing and writing really helps you as a DJ. It’s the same thing. You put together a set that makes sense and makes people feel you. That’s what you’re trying to accomplish with a song. Just like a song can build energy, just like a song needs to breath, a good DJ set has all the same elements.”

Through his late teens and early 20′s, he crafted his talent and taste as a DJ, producer, and emcee. DJing became his focus after he was called in as a last minute replacement for a small club in the East Village. “It was like a day or two before New Years Eve. Aside from house parties, I hadn’t spun records in front of people before other than my friends. I was nervous, but I grabbed like 4 or 5 crates of vinyl and did the damn thing. That gig led to another gig which led to another gig and I’ve been at it ever since.”

“Before DJing went digital, it was really a labor of love. The time and energy and money required to build your collection really meant you had to be dedicated. That’s something that’s lost on a lot of kids that fashion themselves as DJ’s. I’m not saying that DJ’s today aren’t real. Everything evolves and changes, hopefully for the better. I actually think that the digital age has made DJ’s better. Everybody spins now, so you’ve got to distinguish yourself through skills. But if you never carried multiple crates of vinyl up and down stairs, in and out of cars and clubs; if you never spent all day in a record shop digging until your fingers were raw and dusty; if you never went to three different boroughs of the city in search of one record; if you never bought two or more copies of the same record and if you don’t know why you would even do that, then we’re not speaking the same language.”

VENUES

No Malice Palace
Underbar
Sutra
Arlo & Esme
Ava Lounge
Le Souk
TenJune
Greenhouse
Union Square Lounge
Capitale
Sway
Stay
Katra
Gold Bar
Norwood
Galapagos
XIX
Gallery Bar
M1-5

CORPORATE

H&M
Ann Taylor