DJ Mark LUV - Required Audio

Required Interview: DJ Mark LUVWe go back like grandmothers with low calcium.gettin our swerve on like a narcoleptic racecar driver.Sometimes People Are Stinky.another required audio interviewZULU King Dj mark luv....It took an hour to drive roughly 30 miles through both Orange and Los Angeles counties (damn Hollywood Freeway) to get to Wilshire. I undershot my drive time and ended up forty minutes late. I caught Mark Luv down the street from the second-story L.A. location of the world famous Fat Beats-crossing the street to sneak a visit to Pennylane Records. I couldn't blame him. I was making him late for an expensive studio appointment. I parked my ride as quick as I could and ran up their pissy stairs to catch his manager on the 2-way with the studio. We did the "wussup" thing and headed down the stairs to see what Mark was doing at the shop. We caught him at the counter paying for a bag of videos. With a kid-like smile he flashes us the Purple Rain video he scored. By the size of the bag I really think it was a cover-up for the porn that he didn't want us to know about. We headed back to Fat Beats to start the interview. On the way in I saw that he couldn't resist touching the tables before getting to the back room. It's a strange feeling to talk to someone that was a part of the beginning of Los Angeles hip hop. It's even stranger knowing about the stuff he's talking about. Mark Luv's truly one of a few DJs still spinning in the scene that could tell first-hand stories about hip hop history in Los Angeles.

What's your definition of hip hop?A lot of people might think that hip hop is an escape, or a way to have money, or a way to blow up-to get the fame and notoriety. Some might use it to get respect. To me hip hop is creative expression. Not in a way like "I'm mad and I want to rap." Anybody can do that, but to do it creatively-express a pain to a person that has never felt it...wow. It's hard to be creative while expressing yourself. If you can't see the difference between being creative and doing something just for the money, you should be no part of hip hop..."hip hop" should not even come out your mouth. Call yourself a rapper instead. That stuff (rap) has its place but it's the kind of stuff that's just filler. It takes up the negative part of your brain. That's where you get gangster shit...dirty south shit. Hip hop music is creative.

What's the problem with hip hop?I think the thing that gets me is that a lot of MCs and a lot of DJs don't work together on shows anymore. If an MC will listen to a DJ's input-work together and collaborate-instead of just relying on him (the DJ) to do just his part, the separation of DJ and MC wouldn't be so prominent today. If they really worked together in the past there wouldn't be this individual one-man-crew DJ/MC thing. You see, the big difference between MCs and DJs is that the MC has something most DJs don't have-MCs have egos. They have really BIG egos. I would love to see a DJ Qbert do a show with one of the best lyricists out there, like a Supernatural, but for some sad reason that will never happen.

How 'bout artists like Jermaine Dupri that can both produce and DJ?Jermaine Dupri is not a DJ. He's not a real DJ.

What makes a real Dj?A real DJ is someone is that lives, breaths, eats, and sleeps vinyl-thriving off the energy from playing in a club. When you have DJs that don't put heart and soul into the vinyl and they're just looking at it from the money factor, then you're not really a DJ anymore. You're a record player. Someone that just plays the music. You're on the camera, I mean, dude, I could show you how to play records in five to ten mins. (I think he just tried to diss me.) It's people like the Beat Junkies and the X-Ecutioners that are truly DJs. They put their time and energy into doing all of the five aspects of DJing.

Five aspects?Studio work, clubs, mobiles, battling, and shows. Real DJs will find their time on each of those branches as well as the branches that those lead toward. When you've covered the five then you've accomplished being a complete DJ. You can then call yourself a DJ.

All five at the same time? Are there many people that do all that?You're talking to one. When you haul your equipment to a house party for $150-crates, tables, speakers, mixer, lights, what have you...and there's no time limit, you don't know when you're cutting off... Then turn around and flip a Unity (one of a few underground hip hop clubs in Los Angeles) or other hip hop event in the same night...THEN do a wedding the next day...and hear people walk away at the end of each gig saying, "Man, he rocked this party." Ahhhh...wow! They could be 50-year-olds or 15-year-olds...after all that, then you can start calling yourself a DJ. Don't call yourself a DJ if you're in it just to make a grip of money. I'm not with that. Those are the ones that are blinded. They don't know the culture.

Who made Mark Luv?DJs like Aladdin, Julio G & Tony G-the Mixmasters, Bobcat, Battlecat, the Egyptian Lover, Lil Egypt, Doug Brooks, General Lee...all of these people gave me reasons to get behind turntables.

What's the record that pulled you in?Mark the 45 King got me. It got me to thinking that hip hop could be like this. It was different. When I heard "Buggin" I thought, "Yeah, this is nice." It was more than just a sample and a loop. After a while I kept thinking there could be more. Then the cut that pushed me all the way the over, past the edge..."Peter Piper." When I first deciphered that song it got me really interested in DJing.

Why RUN DMC's "Peter Piper"?At first I thought he just sampled it from Bob James' "Take me to the Mardi Gras," but what he actually did was mix that shit live. He made the beat but did all the mixing, blending and cutting LIVE. With all the technology available today it's damn near impossible to see. The standard people...Revolution, The Junkies, can do it but it takes a lot of time, talent and creativity to perfect. Mixing is a totally different art form. It's wack that a lot of DJs don't know how.

You are a Zulu Nation King?Yeah, I was part of Zulu security-put in by Zulu King Ed and my man Kevin McDanials.

We took a little break on the Fat Beats stage where the tables were set up. He started up a short training session for a customer/visitor on how to do a one-click-flare-basically it's transforming chirping (a type of scratch pattern) backwards. He talked about the difficulties of transitioning between old school scratching and the styles DJs use today. Ten minutes later the girl trainee gave up and let Mark demonstrate some of what he's learned in his 15 years of spinning. Side note: Mark talked about certain clubs and wishes to correct Ego Trips Book of Rap Lists: Water the Bush came before United Kingdom.

what was your First car?Never had one.

Never had a f***ing car?...First bike?Nope. Never had a bike.

Uh...first pair of dope shoes!?!Oh..uh...that's easy... Stacy Adams. I had a FLY pair for church!

Thoughts about MTV's Hiphopera: Carmen?MTV's been "down" with hip hop for a long time but they let me know that they truely weren't when they stopped "Yo! MTV Raps!" I knew then that they saw hip hop as a fad. Now it's a "Hiphopera"? What the hell is they problem? That's like taking an old toy...like taking out that G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip and taping firecrackers to it. You know you're not supposed to...but what would happen if you did? I guess it looks "cool."

You're hookin up the Import Tuner: "Required Audio" cd-Who's gonna like it?Hip hop heads. People that are trying to know about hip hop. This CD is gonna have stuff that is not out there. You won't be able to find some of this shit anywhere. There's stuff on there that is unreleased. Freestyles. Stuff that will make you go "where the hell did he get that from?" or "I didn't know that emcee was comin' with lyrics like that." You're going to play this CD over and over.

Did you have some type of inspiration?A lot of people haven't had a chance-some will never have the chance-to live the life that I've lived and love hip hop the way I love it. I see it as this, since I've been in love with hip hop and it's given me this respect, it's only fitting that I give something back to hip hop in a form that would be cherished by a lot of people. This is really gonna be a talked-about CD. I'm bringing artists together to put out songs that have never been out. It's gonna be dope.

What would be the Mark Luv slogan?The man who loves hip hop so much that he tears it down just to build it back up.

We ended up in more of a conversation about various topics than an interview. In the process I got more of a feel for what Mark Luv is about. I like to use the technique of mentally attaching a note to people I meet-an association. It took a while to find a comparison for this 6-foot-something 300-pounder until I got home and pulled out Boogie Down Production's By All Means Necessary album. Now when I think of Mark, for some reason I hear a verse from BDP's "I'm Still #1" except in my head it's flipped toward a dj's perspective:

"I'm not Superman, because anybody can or should be able to rock off turntables / Grab the mic, plug it in and begin / But here's where the problem starts, no heart. / Because of that a lot of groups fell apart / Rap is still an art, and no-one's from the Old School / cuz Rap is still a brand-new tool. / I say no-one's from the Old School cuz Rap on a whole isn't even twenty years old. / Fifty years down the line, you can start this / cuz we'll be the Old School artists / And even in that time, I'll say a rhyme. / A brand-new style, ruthless and wild / Runnin' around spendin' money, havin' fun / cuz even then, I'm still number one."

Fact stated: Mark Luv will always be rockin' the tables. Like he said they are "the alpha and the omega-the beginning and the end." Mark Luv is the DJ's DJ. He's an unstoppable and uncensored voice of hip hop. You can have DJ Mark Luv rock your gig by e-mailing bookings@mir-media.com.

Take parts of a super-producer, DJ, lyricist, promoter, publicist, radio personality and porn star fluffer and you've got one DJ Cheapshot. He's gonna be hooking up the final masters of our Required Audio CD. I got a chance to question this crazy mofo before he wrapped up his long day of Feng Shui-ing his computer.

You did a radio show at the University of california (@irvine) for a while. Aside from the top pay, what's the diff between college and commercial radio & Do you miss kuci?There's a lot more politics involved in commercial radio but sheeeit...I'm still ballin' off of the foodstamps I made at the college station. Do I miss it? You mean besides the male groupies? I definitely miss the free wax.

I've seen you spin parties, shows, heard some of your production, and seen you promote at events. I even get check-up calls from you at SCORE PRESS. You're like a Southern Cali pre-"Penutbutter WolF." HOW do you classify yourself? I classify myself as "The-Big-Fat-Nerd-Who-Got-So-Tired-of-Having-His-Milk-Money-Stolen-At-School-By-The-Bullies-That-He-Tried-To-Be-A-Hip-Hop-Guy-In-Order-to-Get-Chicks"-that's actually my professional title as well.

Will your secret group, the Space Invaders, ever do a live show?SSSSHHHHHHHH!!! What did I tell you about mentioning my rap career in public!! Actually, one time me and Jester were offered to do a show, got there, and got so drunk in order to calm our nerves that we ended up passing out before we went on. It was probably for the best, though.

You came out with a couple break records. did it take long to put those together?They really didn't take long. Since I constantly make beats, I have enough of them just lying around for whatever I want. I just have to pick and choose which I think will fit the project. It actually takes longer to design the record than to record it.

Spytech records is your label. Is it your first And how's it coming along?No, Actually I used to be 1/3 of Rocketship Records back in college. We put out music by Zion I, Mykill Miers and Emanon along with my first Break Beat Record. SpyTech is like the first fart during a hangover...pure enjoyment! I have four of the most amazing groups-Styles of Beyond, Lexicon, Emanon, and 4-Zone-who are all making lots of noise. I get to do what I love day in and day out, and since I won't commit to signing with a distributor (as of yet), I answer only to myself-damn, I'm a tyrant.

Tell me about Styles of Beyond.

Me and Takbir actually started the group in '94 through a mutual friend. We did a couple talent shows, and rocked a demo on the 4-Track. But soon after I left for college and my accessibility was limited, so Tak met up with Ryu and Vin Skully, started working on the album and going to the Wake Up Show. After I wiped my tears, I called them up and hooked back up with them, and BAMMM!!!, we dropped the album and started touring.

S.O.B is on that "Tony Hawk's Pro-Skater II" game-How'd you make that happen?We found out that they were looking for music, so on a whim we submitted our newest shit (at that point) and luckily they really liked it and used it for the game.

WE KNOW that you love Import Tuner Magazine because of the beautiful cars we showcase. But there are a few lovely models that have graced our pages. Do you have a favorite? Uh, model not car.

Actually, I've been an Import Tuner fan for a long time. You've exposed me to so many fly girls over the years, but if I had to choose just one, I would go for Francine Dee. I'm not stalking her, but I heard she lives somewhere in my hood...(wiping drool from face) YAY!!!

If you had to choose a porn name would you still use Cheapshot?No...I kinda like the ring of Kent Gethard Forshit III instead.you're controlling the mixdown and mastering on Required Audio. Besides the long hours, extreme dedication and excessive caffeine, what's going to be the toughest part of the process?The lack of masturbation time.

What was your first production setup?I used to make my beats manually. On a four-track I would lay down a break beat on line 1, scratch a jazz sample every 2 bars over line 2, and then fill in the blanks on Line 3. Damn, it was fun. So, to answer your question, 2 turntables, a mixer and a Tascam 4-Track.there's a raging fire at your place-name the three things you'd be saving?My Sampler, my disks, and my collection of Beverly Hills 90210 trading cards.

What tip would you give aspiring producers and indie label starters?Be yourself. Don't try to imitate...try to innovate. If people aren't feeling you at first, keep doing what you're doing. They eventually will.

What was your first car?My first car was a '92 Ford Explorer. After driving with no brakes for 6 months, I decided to get a fly whip for all da' hoes, so I got a 2000 Ford Focus with Gold Daytons, PIAAs, and no rearview mirror!

Be prepared to see a lot more projects from this cat. Cheapshot can be reached at spytechrecords.com.

Upcoming ReleasesAugustRequired Audio! presents DJ Mark Luv w/ Dilated Peoples, Jurassik 5, the Demigodz, Lexicon, Dj Cheapshot of Styles of Beyond, unreleased cuts, dope remixes and more!

September/OctoberBigg Jus "The Black Mamba Serums, Pt. 1", Willus Drummond "New Jack WILLUS", Bahamadia, Scienz of Life , Slum Village, Styles Of Beyond, Triple Threat LP

UPCOMING gamesSEPTEMBER/OCTOBERGrand Theft Auto 3 (PS2), State of Emergency (PS2), Smuggler's Run 2 (PS2), Max Payne (PS2)

Watch August for: "Import Tuner presents required Audio" SO DOPE, YOU'll FAIL YOUR PISS TEST!