A new website for DJs, mixcrate.com, created in part by 8asians alumnus Genghis Mendoza, has a story about how the DJ scene in San Francisco Bay Area became large and influential. Turntablism is now practiced worldwide, and many legendary DJs like Qbert and Babu are Filipino-Americans from the Bay Area. CSU Long Beach Sociology professor Oliver Wang did his Ph.D dissertation at UC Berkeley on this subject. “Spinning Identities: A Social History of Filipino American DJs in the Bay Area” chronicles the history of the mobile DJ scene. He has created the web site http://legionsofboom.com/ for sharing this work.
The Bay Area DJ scene definitely has had influence, even in my family. My nephew Ryan Buendia, who is currently a music producer for the Black Eyed Peas, started out as a turntablist and is part of the Fingerbangerz crew . This DJ crew has produced a lot of music for the dance crew Jabbawockeez.
As I mentioned, mixcrate.com is a site where DJs can share and promote their mixes. Created by Bay Area DJs (Genghis is also a DJ), it too is part of the ongoing heritage that Wang describes.
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