Invisibl Skratch Piklz

The Invisibl Skratch Piklz were a rotating crew of hip-hop DJs whose tactile acrobatics were more accurately served by the term (coined by Piklz founder Dj Q-bert) "turntablist." A quintet (although their lineup shifted constantly), the group's core consisted of Q-bert (Rich Quitevis), "mixmaster Mike" Schwartz, and Shortkut (J. Cruz), with newcomers D-styles and Yoga Frog replacing founding member Dj Disk (Lou Quintanilla) in 1996. Individually and as a group, The Piklz's reputation in the hip-hop underground is undisputed, and journos get a kick out of describing how they were asked by the world's most prestigious international DJ association (DMC) to stop competing since they were discouraging other DJs from even bothering to enter. But it's the leaps the group have made since they retired from competition that have proved most impressive; dragging turntable tricknology into new and wholly autonomous territories of musicianship being developed by a new generation of bedroom virtuosi, with turntable groups such as The X-men, The Beat Junkies, and The Skratch Piklz at the forefront.

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