Well the journey for DJ.L, has been a pretty long one, dating back as far as 1983, when he first tried to scratch on one of his uncle's old turntable's (Which was a Technics But not a 1200 which is meant for mixing & scratching ) but when first trying, it did'nt really come together the way he wanted, but the love of music was so strong in him by means of growing up in such a musical family that he was still determined, and one good thing he had going for him was he had already been playing drums by ear as young as 9 years old so he somewhat had a sense of rhythm & timing which is a main requirement for scratching to begin with, so still in middle school at the time and being in detroit which at one time was the musical capital (Back in the early Motown days) he went back to doing what most kids do having fun playing with friends outdoor games like basketball in the summer etc, still playing drums off & on but not as much as before seeing how he was living with his grandparents and at their ages they could'nt take the loud banging for long periods of time (to bad he was'nt able to get the basement soundproofed) but maybe it worked out for the best, because after not being able to practice the drums very often he started listening more to the music being played around him via family members & the radio which at the time detroit radio had two of the best DJ's around, The electrifying Mojo & The Wizard (Jeff Mills) so between Mojo's fearless way of talking on the mic, making you believe he was in outer space on top of playing the best mixture of music genre's around without a given playlist (Unlike today's DJ's) and The Wizard who with his turntable skills influenced almost everybody djing( or if they was'nt it made them wish they were ) but it really rubbed off where DJ.L started looking at the turntables as the instrument to take the place of the drums, but all of this would'nt really come about until a weird twist of fate happens after being born & raised in detroit for 13 years his grandparents decide after graduation from middle school that's it's time for a change so his father who was in the military, that he only got to really spend time with was on leave for a few weeks at certain times of the year, ended up being stationed in Hawaii which was right before the start of DJ.L's high school year's and he tells me at first when his grandparents told him he was going to live with his father he did'nt want to go but look where he got to go, paradise, so in sep. 1985 school starts where of course he knows nobody there and not really trying to meet anybody new but one day in gym class a guy comes and introduces himself as Dino ( who later is known as Dynamic D) and just so happens Dino is a DJ who was just starting out but knew enough of the basics to teach DJ.L which was a god send, so they become best friends and started practicing together every weekend since Dino had turntables and the weekend was the only time his parents would let him spend time away from home, so during a short time from listening to recorded tapes of The Wizard and other great DJ's from that era they become the best DJ's in the area at such young ages because they had mastered scratching where alot of the older DJ's still looked at it as making noise, so Dino Who is now known as Dynamic D & DJ.L become really focused on being the best so during this time another DJ joins the team Jose, who is a little older but with his knowledge, gift of gab & management abilities Jose A.K.A Mixer J helps promote and push DJ.L & Dino into doing everything from talent shows, prep rallies and DJing at the weekend teen club called the warehouse, as well as DJ battles held there which they won hands down, but in 89 DJ.L graduated from high school so he had a choice to make go wherever his father was going to be stationed next ,or go back to detroit, so like he say's it would have been hard to decide between detroit & hawaii but since the service said his father had to finish his tour somewhere else the place to be was the "D" so once back in detroit DJ.L was on his own no partners and out to try and make a name for himself, so between late 89-early 1990 he started doing parties whenever asked family, friends, etc it was also at one basement party in 1990 where he met DJ Shotgun who was up and coming but had the skills to pay the bills, but always remarked at how fast DJ.L could scratch to uptempo songs using the phono line switch instead of the crossfader which at the time was the only way to do certain patterns because of the stiffness of the faders on the bigger club mixers like the Numark he was using so by late 1990 early 91 DJ.L joins forces with his cousin and first musical partner ( going back to his grade school days when he first started playing drums ) Larry Live, and they linked up with his cousin derrick and started their own political rap group General Principle which lasted for about 2 years,then around 93 derrick moved to california and that was kind of it for GP, but DJ.L & Larry Live were still planning on making it and getting that record deal so they started their second venture as a group now dubbed The 8th Storm, they started working odd jobs here and there to pay for studio time to record & recorded when they could but would still perform when & wherever possible, so in between their own project DJ.L started doing guest spots on other peoples songs whenever scratching was called for (it was still a good time for dj's during the early 90's as far as getting work in studio's ) one major person he did scratching for around that time was Norma Jean Bell, but she never used the song just paid him for the studio session, which kind of broke DJ.L's heart somewhat because she had such a big name in detroit at the time & he believed in the song which featured him so much, but maybe it just was'nt meant to be, so he continued on with doing whatever he could to pay dues and spread his name as far as he could & still being a member of the 8th storm, so around Late 97 Larry Live decided to take a break for personal reasons so determined to still keep the music alive DJ.L by chance met local rapper & singer Seven who was just starting to work on his new group concept called Black Magic Crossing and was looking for a dj, so after the first audition DJ.L was hired & became a full time member in 1998, so for the first 5 years they rehearsed & played as many shows around metro detroit, as possible building a name & a strong fanbase really fast during 2001 they opened up for Uncle Kracker, and countless others as well as headlining shows, also during that time DJ.L was nominated for outstanding hip hop dj, at the detroit music awards 3 years in a row 2001-03 and the band received nominations for outstanding hip hop & alternative band, also during this time a relationship was built with now Geffen recording artist Mc Hush who was on the verge of getting his record deal, so Hush collaborated with Black Magic Crossing and started recording new material, which went really well on both sides in 2003 they performed as Hush at the state theater at the detroit music awards and by DJ.L already a member of BMX it was the perfect combination, so from there came appearences on fox 2 news, opening up for the anger management tour 3, playing label showcases in california, chicago, new york, atlanta, & boston just to name a few, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control the Hush and BMX project ended early this year, so now during this time DJ.L is back working in his home studio remixing tracks mostly for Larry Live (currently a member of the Sicknotes production team ) and some solo mixtapes that he's in the process of putting out, so from what he tells me he's still a member of Black Magic Crossing, but is still available for freelance work in the studio, live shows, & parties. LT Mills Freelance Writer.
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