Head to head competition is where the X-Men thrived. When we trained we practiced for scenarios in which we’d battle DJs one on one, in 60 to 90 second spurts. That was our comfort zone and comfortable we were. To the credit of the Piklz, they brought it too. We always considered Mike to be the biggest threat. After the example he made of his competition in 1992′s Clark Kent Supermen Battle we knew he’d bring it. But it was also dope seeing Q-Bert apply his skills within the frame work of a head to head style battle. Up until then Q was known as a scratcher. And so seeing him bust into his own style of “Beat Juggling” was a treat to watch.
Then there was Shortkut. Although Short repped ISP, his style was influenced by the X-Men. Thus, we viewed Short as you would a cousin. He may of not been immediate family but he was family nonetheless so clashing with him on the turntables was the weirdest feeling for us.
It’s a battle tho and our strong connection to those 3 dudes had to take a back seat to what we were there for, turntable combat!
Here’s a little fun fact about the competition y’all don’t even know about. Originally it was s’posed to be 4 on 4. So Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, Shortkut and DISK vs Raida, Sinista, myself and DIAMOND JAY. For whatever reason Disk didn’t show so Diamond Jay agreed to take himself out of the battle to make things fair. We can only imagine how ill a head to head battle would of been between Disk and Jay. *Honorable mention to the homey Total Eclipse who technically wasn’t a member of the X-Men but was hanging around us so much that he helped contribute some ideas for the team portion of our routine.
At the end of the day, more than “who won…”, both crews sacrificed their reputations to put on a great show for Hip Hop fans that came from all over the globe to witness history. We were superheroes contending with each other for those who were in attendance, taking score of which crew was better at Scratching, “Beat Juggling” and body tricks. Never has a DJ battle of this magnitude taken place before or after that historic day!
*Check out X-Men vs Invisibl Skratch Piklz part 1 (Team round)