Review of DJ Battle.net

Monitored by the Swedish DJ Tobbe, DJ Battle.net dates back to 1997, when it was published only in Swedish, and functioned as an online community and voice for the Swedish DJ scene. In January 2007, DJ Tobbe decided to branch out and translate most of the site into English in order to reach a broader audience. Djbattle.tv has been in effect since late 2005, with its first episode featuring DJ QBert.

DjbattleTV covers mostly live footage of DJ performances in clubs, scratch battles, and interviews with prominent DJs from all over the world like RA the Rugged Man (episode 11), and DJ Maseo (episode 7). Episodes can run anywhere between 20 and 50 minutes long, and must be downloaded (for free) to view. Because they are so long, they can get a bit tedious at times, particularly when there is 15 minutes of scratch battling and little editing. In general, the high quality of the sound and video allows the viewer to genuinely hear and see the intricacies of scratching, and that it’s not just moving a record around on a turntable. Djbattle.net also has a great audio archive

to which any DJ who is a member of Djbattle can add his/her sounds, and it appears that anyone who DJs can join. There is a forum, a number of articles: news, reviews, interviews, editorials and tips; as well as a “marketplace” where members can buy and sell turntables, mixers, and other equipment (although much of this section is not written in English).

I recommend checking out Episode 16 with Roc Raida, member of the New York based X-Ecutioners, who focused heavily on beat-juggling, and furthered the turntablist movement in the 1990’s. He tells us about his Gong Battle video and we see a portion of his show in Gothenburg.