Bine ati revenit peeps la partea a 2 a despre regina Turntablism-ului.

DJ Pam the Funkstress era o luptatoare creativa si cu umor. Chiar daca fetele erau (mult mai) minoritare in vremea aceea, ea a pasit alaturi de restul Djilor la battle-uri, si in plus, a aparut si cu o inventie proprie – The Titty Scratch. 🙂

The Titty Scratch

Aceasta devenise semnatura ei unica, care facea publicul sa o ia razna, prin anii ’90. Intr-un interviu pentru Pitchfork spunea ca, odata cu avansarea in varsta, nu o mai practica:

“Oh, I don’t do that anymore, not as I get older! I started because I was going to New York in ’94 or ’95 to the Zulu Battle and I had to figure out, what can I do different? I was practicing in the garage one day and I put on the Lady of Rage ‘Afro Puffs’, and she said, ‘Let me loosen up my bra strap and let me hit you with my raw rap’. I went, wait a minute! ‘Let me loosen up my bra strap?’… I learned to take my bra off while DJing. When I went to the Zulu battle… everyone went crazy. I threw my bra out, I said, ‘Let me loosen bra strap and-uh . . . let me loosen up my bra strap and-uh . . .’And it just became my signature thing.”

Sexismul din lumea DJilor nu a fost crutator nici cu Pam. Renuntase la participarea la battle-uri datorita acestui fapt, despre care partenerul ei Boots povesteste ca a descurajat-o pentru a putea sa-si continue progresul in perfectionarea skillului.

A DJ fit for a Prince

Regina Turntablism-ului a ajuns sa fie DJ-ul unuia dintre cei mai cunoscuti, funky, talentati, muzicieni ai timpurilor noastre, care a numit-o „Purple Pam“. His Royal Badness – insusi Prince. El a recrutat-o pentru ultimul sau tur, inainte ca acesta sa se stinga din viata.

Pam povestea la interviul de la San Francisco Chronicle in Mai 2016, despre momentul cand s-au cunoscut prima oara:

„When we first met, I was like, ‘OK, Pam, don’t act a fool’. I was trying to keep my composure, because this is fricking Prince. It’s like Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson. It doesn’t get any higher than that.“

In martie 2016, Prince tinuse o petrecere surpriza in Bay Area si era in cautare de o DJ-ita. Intamplarea facuse ca si Pam sa tina un after-party la Great American Music Hall, la care aparuse Prince:

“He came up to me and said, “DJ, give me a scratch,” and I scratched with him right there, him playing [guitar] over it. That was the first time we ever jammed together

— no practice, no knowing, just a connection that happened.”

Asa s-a „aliat“ Regina Turntablism-ului cu Printul Funk-ului, pe ultima bucata de viata a acestuia, concertand impreuna in ultimul lui tur, The Piano and Microphone Tour, unde DJ-ita si-a capatat noul nickname – Purple Pam.

Dupa moartea lui Prince, ea a continuat sa lucreze ca bucatar chef la Piccadilly si a lansat si o emisiune radio online, femalefunkradio.com, pentru a prezenta artistii ei favoriti. Ea era o sustinatoare a noilor DJ aparuti si mentor pentru femeile care doreau sa-i urmeze pasii.

Pitchfork ii pusese o intrebare care, intamplator, are legatura cu articolul anterior “Frumusete vs skill”, si anume, daca a intampinat de-a lungul carierei ei vreun standard dublu pentru femei, ca ele sa fie sexy si in acelasi timp sa aiba un set care rupe scena. Drept urmare, Pam a raspuns:

“Say you have this cute girl over here who doesn’t know how to mix water, and then here you have a down-to-earth sistah who’s a little overweight but has the skills to rock the party? They’re gonna take her over me, regardless.

All those little Barbie doll DJs that were coming out with their bikini tops and short-shorts, I don’t see them so much now. Now it’s about skills and talent. That I have, and you can’t take my talent away from me. Now there’s a lot of female DJs, some of ‘em good, some of ‘em bad, but we’re getting more respect.

That’s why I’m here to represent for all women. I don’t care if you’re EDM, house, trap; or black, white, yellow, green, blue, or purple. I want to represent for all the females. I want them all to know that. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing. Don’t let no one discourage you.”

Pam the Funkstress, regina Turntablism-ului, a dat dovada de curaj, ambitie, ingeniozitate si talent cat cuprinde. Scratch DJs are my favorite DJs 🙂 Asa ca ea este categoric in top-ul listei mele de DJ preferati.

Ca final de articol, va las niste ultime cuvinte incurajatoare ale legendei angelice:

“If you want to do something do it. I wanna tell women out there that you can be what you want to be. We can do whatever men can do, we are not limited.” – Pam the Funkstress

Multumim Queen pentru toate incantarile, incurajarile, scratch-urile, si modelul de urmat, pe care le-ai lasat in urma ta.

Cu respect, dragoste si pace,

Pussycutz.