ALF aka DJ Alpha
Nausea Grl
DnZ
Fresh Joyce
Tall Paul Lowe
Bas-One
DJ Pone
DJ Stoic

Yve-One
DJ Dank
Frank Casiano II aka DJ Munkifunk
Stevie K
Timi D…
Dawgisht
Billy Jam

ALF aka DJ Alpha: DJ/Video Producer/Editorial Contributor

Alf is a DJ currently serving in the U.S. Air Force. He truly regrets his decision of joining the military due to many factors including what‘s going on with the current administration. However, he has made the best of it thus far making various skratch songs, mixes, and videos. His frustrations from working nearly 80 hours a week at his job are released through his works.You can also catch him simply saying “I hate my wack ass job and all the fools who have done dirt to me and others!”,”You got yours coming to you!“

He has been interviewed on KALX in Berkeley, Billy Jam‘s weekly radio show ”Bring That Beat Back“ on WFMU,and 79.2FM in Okinawa, Japan. Also he has written a few articles on this site. They are articles #027, #031, and #034 located under the News section of this site.

ALF‘s Top Five Rigamarole

1. Okinawa, Japan — Love the beauty of the island. Hates Kadena Air Base with a passion! Don‘t go there if you work on F-15‘s.

2. Ronnie Darko — Helped jump start Alf‘s DJ journey back in Maryland

3. 1976-1988 — The time period when Alf was exposed to various music by either his parents or listening to the radio in the morning before heading to school in the morning.

4. Hip Hop Slam — Expanded Alf‘s Hip Hop knowledge with various videos, CD‘s and other things the label have put out over the years. Played a major influence in the ”Don‘t give a fuck!“ style.

5. Lost In Oz — A 3 day beach party sponsored by the OkiZoo crew, which took place 4th of July weekendat Miyagi Island, Okinawa, Japan.

Nausea Grl: Video Producer

"I like black cats and BB guns."

Cheryl Martinez started watching screens in 1980 and began cutting them up twenty years later. When she met Billy Jam, ham in hand, he sententiously shouted that "Japan is a dishpan", and they lit a joint the size of a Berkeley Police Mobile Substation. Afterward, it felt like word/image viruses needed to be scratched out of the skin like the raging mites that eat away at dad's ilocano folksong record collection. Nausea also collaborates on Hip Hop Slam music video projects with Zombie Glue Sniffer and his two 1982 VCRs. In her spare tire time, she bikes around on a low rider selling experiMental flicks that flunked the fuck out of film school. And in the same fashion as the late Wesley Willis, she likes being in a one-man band.

Nausea's Favorite Toppings

1. Del tha funkee Homosapien — "If your titties is pink you are white and, I'm not the right man"

2. Werner Herzog — "I'd shoot that shit, sure"

3. Chris Marker — "Did you know there are emus in the Ile-de-France?"

4. John Cage — "Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?"

5. Jean Baudrillard — "It is a world-wide verbal fornication"

6. Prof. Julian Boyd — "If you didn't understand what I've been saying all semester, then FUCK YOU" said with chalk fingers and big pants

7. Jean Paul Sartre — "This is all and it is not even an event"

8. Black Olives on Arinell's Pizza

DnZ: Worldz Tallest DJ

DJ, producer, journalist, publicist, lover of all fine women, ("Worldz Tallest DJ" at 6'7") and graduate of Pinole Valley High (Class of 2002), is a BayArea native, born in the mighty 415, then moved around to the 510, 925, then back to the 510. He started being active in the hip-hop scene at age 13 by becoming a B-Boy and a writer (tagger), and then DJ. DnZ began learning DJ'ing from listening to radio DJ's on 106 kmel and Wild 107 (94.9 back in da day for all u kidz). At age fifteen he started a Bay Area hip-hop crew consisting of B-Boys, Taggerz and DJ'z called the Shogun Stylest. In '97 he first heard ISP and Beat Junkies at his cousin's house off a tape which he said, "sucked me into the whole skratch world" In 2002 he competed in his first DJ battle, the Spin Off in Concord. He joined Youth Radio in 2002 where he teaches younger kids how to dj and also got to interview such heroes as Rob Swift and Kuttin' Kandi. As a mobile.club DJ he has spun with most of the best Bay Area House DJ'z (inc. Reckless Ryan, Ghost Tribe Crew, Joey Mazzolla)and had own hip-hop room at a under ground rave spot in Point Richmond. In 2000 he started his DJ crew, T.F.S. DJz. DnZ joined Hip Hop Slam in January 2003 where his duties include production (radio shows and album tracks), writing for the website, publicity and promotions and much more. "DnZ is a very smart, talented, and focused individual who I predict will go far in the music world," said Billy Jam.

DnZ's Influences

Mix Master Mike for his fuck it style
DJ Craze cuz he can cut left or right
Rhettmatic cuz he'z the wise fool in da game and he'z a dope drummer
Triple Threat DJ's just cuz!!!!
Pone, Platurn, Spair, 4OneFunk, Shing02 and Billy Jam... and everybody that I have met through Hip Hop Slam

DnZ's Goals

1. DJ more parties!!!

2. Start doing clubz

3. Have a crew to go into I.T.F. and/or DMC and do some dope ass team shit

4. Transfer to SF state and finish college

5. Come up more in the skratch scene

6. Be able to provide for myself

7. Be on radio more

8. And make lotz of babies!!!!! thatz all wayz fun(>.<)

DnZ's Top Five Dopest Things

1. Life

2. Skratching

3. Newportz

4. Femalez

5. Those records with the crazy ass sayingz on them, like the old Dirt Style rekkids

Fresh Joyce: Graphic Art and Production Assistant

A native of the East Bay, Fresh Joyce is currently a super senior at UC Berkeley majoring in architecture. She first dabbled in graphic art and film with her work in Loni Ding’s PBS series, Ancestors in the Americas. Fresh Joyce has also worked with youth at the Korean Community Center of the East Bay (KCCEB) and at various other Asian/Pacific Islander groups in the Oakland area. “Growing up I didn’t have any Asian American role models so I volunteered at KCCEB to become one myself and give back to the community,” said Joyce. It was during her time at KCCEB that she was introduced to hip hop as a tool for activism. Fresh Joyce looks forward to the opportunity to expand her creative wings through her collaboration with the Hip Hop Slam crew on projects that include live productions, posters, and album artwork. Stay tuned!

Fresh Joyce's Top Five Hip Hop Inspirations

1. Mainstream Radio — for making me search for music that’s enlightening, innovative—and doesn’t suck. (record store digging is her main source)

2. Qbert vs. D-Styles / "Hot Sauce in the Dickhole" — the work that introduced me to the art of scratching.

3. The Roots Come Alive album — The fact that they all play live.

4. The Red Tower’s stairwell at UC Berkeley’s Wurster Hall (painted over in 1999) — "At least 5 stories of this stairwell’s walls were covered floor to ceiling in a giant collage of graffiti that was as beautiful as any I’ve seen elsewhere."

5. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha "Dictee" — her investigation of language, its rhythms, and its role within identity links it to hip hop in more ways than most people might think.

Tall Paul Lowe: Hip Hop Slam, Ireland

Dublin’s Tall Paul Lowe was among the first wave of Irish diehard hip hop headz. In 1984 after seeing the films Beat Street and Breakin' he got swept up in the culture, first by getting into breaking, and soonafter all aspects of hip hop culture. Paul has been an avid fan/supporter ever since; especially of Irish hip hop and goes to more shows than anyone else in Dublin. In 2001 he began representing Hip Hop Slam in Ireland and as such has done such things as report on hip hop in Ireland and organize the two Irish DJ tracks on the recent Hip Hop Slam compilation CD Global Turntables.

Tall Paul Lowe's Top Seven Irish Hip Hop Moments

1. 1989 when Public Enemy played in Dublin, three gigs in one day: an a capella in afternoon, evening at McGonagles and also at the Trinity College Debs ball when I got all the guys autographs.

2. Seeing DJ Mek winning the Irish DMC Champion in the 90’s and also the emergence of the Scary Eire crew live on stage and the infamous lyrics “Fuck Ollie Dowling his baldy head and the DFC.”

3. June 3rd, 2001: witnessing Rahzael live and his amazing beat box.

4. July 6th, 2001 when we had the 20th Anniversary Tommy Boy tour swing through Dublin with such legends on stage as Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Dan the Automator, and Maseo. What a night! What a party! And what great mixing!

5. 2001 July 10th The opening night of Fresh Mode run by Davey Splyce and O.B. with A-Trak on hand demonstrating the skills that earned him the title of the youngest ever DMC champ.

6. 2002 April 7th DJ Cash Money who displayed the skills that earned him his Technics DMC champion title. Too bad there was such a bad turnout for this event.

7. 2002 April 14 Grandmaster Flash, yes the main man himself, came to Dublin, Ireland and rocked it. Also that night watching Ireland’s own DJ Laz-E using the vocoder for the first time and displaying his turntable skills.

Bas-One: MC/Fifth Element

After years of diligently dedicating his life to hip hop culture (via his crew Style Elements and his various battle record samples: most notably on Dirt Style) Veteran Bay Area b-boy Bas-One, who is finally getting the kind of recognition he deserves (much in part to his recent instant hip hop classic debut (triple-vinyl) album For The Mentally Astute: Theory Of A Throw-Up (Heratik Productions) prompting an East Bay Express feature on the artist to dub him "The Fifth Element" of hip hop, is a key member of Hip Hop Slam. Not only is he one of the most vocal and recognizable personalities on the Scratch Attack radio show but he also participates in every Hip Hop Slam event such as hosting the Independent Sounds compilation instore/record release party/concert at Amoeba Music in January 2002. And like everyone else involved at Hip Hop Slam, hip hop is more than just music to Bas-One: it is a lifestyle!

Bas-One's Top Eight

1. THE GREATEST EMCEE GRAND MASTER CAZ

2. MY FAVORITE BREAKER KEN SWIFT

3. PHASE2 AND GRAND MIXER/MASTER DST FOR OVERALL SKILL

4. ALL ELEMENTS CULTURE

5. MEETING AND PERFORMING @ ZULU NATION ANNIVERSARY

6. ALL THE BAY AREA FOR MAKIN ME RECOGNIZE ALL OF THIZ IN OUR OWN SPECIAL WAY

7. DJ DARRYL FOR SO MANY SKILLS

8. BAS-1 STYLELEMENTS CRU/BASBOMB-N-SOUNZ

DJ Pone: DJ/Backspin Boy

DJ Pone, Fairfield’s favorite son, has won the 707-area code North Bay town great pride and notoriety as an accomplished global star DJ. To many DJ fans back home he may be known for things such as his part in the 1999 DMC US Finals but in the Far East DJ Pone is a household name, pinup, teen-idol thanks to his membership of the international DJ boy-band sensation The Backspin Boyz, who are Top Ten pop hit-makers in such countries as Singapore, Korea, Fiji, and Japan. “The fact that we are still unknown in America doesn’t bother me,” confided DJ Pone in an interview with TV Asahi backstage at Tokyo Concert Dome after The Backspin Boyz’ sold-out Summer 2001 Tour final show. “I like when we get off tour and I get home to the Bay Area I am able to walk down the street and not be noticed or mobbed by screaming girls.” This anonymity allows Pone to perform with his other groups. These include been a member of the ‘89 Skratch Gangstaz (featured on Return of the DJ Vol. 4, Turntables By The Bay, and Global Turntables), a DJ with the reggae band Dub F/X, and as the main house DJ/personality on the Hip Hop Slam radio show, Scratch Attack: I Want My Battle Record Back You Bastard.

DJ Pone's Top Five

1. NWA / “Express Yourself” 12” single (not the LP version) — Minimalist but funky—my favorite instrumental. And you can’t forget the bodybuilders and the dancer with MC Hammer pants in the video. Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

2. Early-mid 90’s Pete Rock productions — One of the few hip hop producers I’ve heard with a good ear for harmony. My favorites are the remix of House of Pain’s “Jump Around”, the Youngstaz’ “Pass the Mic”, and Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s “I Got A Love”.

3. The motion pictures Commando, Dawn of the Dead, and Star Wars: A New Hope — As a child of the VCR generation, these are probably some of the biggest formative influences on my personality. Dawn of the Dead left me especially scarred for life.

4. Miles Davis “Four” from Blue Haze (Prestige) — So I jumped on the jazz/turntablism-connection bandwagon about 4 years ago. I’ve liked any performance of “Four” I ever heard, but this is the best one by far.

5. Peter North — The “God of Gravy”, he inspired everything from a song ("Cut From Behind") to a trip to Las Vegas to meet the man himself—and I gave him his first skratching lesson.

DJ Stoic: DJ/Producer

DJ Stoic was born and raised in San Diego where he got into mixing at age 13 by using two cassette decks. Two years later he had saved up enough to buy his first set of turntables and a mixer and later by seventeen was DJing house parties and making mix-tapes and entering local battles at places like Behind The Post Office in San Diego. Simultaneously he became a hip hop journalist when he began writing under his real name, Mike Salamida, and consequently has written for such publications as Subculture, URB, GIG, and the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper. Even though he's made a couple of dozen mix tapes it wasn't until 2000 (by which time he had relocated to Oakland, CA) that he released his official release, the underground 5-song EP 1200 Theory where his radio hit "3PM Migraine" (off Turntables By The Bay) first appeared. Consequently he has worked as Producer for Hip Hop Slam on several projects including Turntables By The Bay (he has recorded and remixed tracks and engineered 8-Ball's "The Poetry of War of The Flies"), and the Shigger Fragger Beats Loops & Breaks and Don't Give A Fuck Style Battle Beats & Breaks. He is currently working on an underground EP and his much anticipated solo album, slated for a 2002 release.

Stoic's Top Five

"Everyone likes lists... my top 5 hip-hop albums/tracks & events."

1. '85, learning to beat match on two tape decks, feathering the play/stop/pause buttons to speed up & slow down the tapes. discovered my natural element in hip-hop.

2. '84-'85, staying up past midnight on Saturdays to tape the mix shows on old 92.5 (San Diego). I was a rugrat but had the dopest tapes in the neighborhood.

3. Skratchcon2000: like being in an orgy w/ your favorite porn stars.

4. Run-DMC, Run-DMC ('83): the album captures all that I admire in hip-hop.

5. B-boy Summit 95: back when they were small gatherings, being able to talk w/ living legends like Futura, Lee, Crazy Legs, Kurtis Blow & Qbert.

Yve-One: Production Coordinator

"Getting busted and thrown in jail is a very humbling experience. It puts your life in a whole new perspective," says Yve-One, speaking first hand in reference to the SFPD who busted the graffiti artist on three occasions over the past decade. Raised in Stockton but living in Oakland, Yve-One has been down with all aspects of hip hop culture for as long as she can remember. Not just a talented artist, the tireless Renaissance woman epitomizes the true hip hop spirit of "giving back to your community." She teaches a graffiti/mural workshop for young women of color and over the last six years has volunteered countless hours in the fight against AIDS with such street level organizations as the Glide Memorial HIV Testing Program and Proyecto ConstraSIDA Por Vida: Mobilization Against AIDS. "To me the fight against AIDS is a serious issue that we in the hip hop community cannot ignore," she states. As Hip Hop Slam's Production Coordinator, Yve-One's duties include overseeing all production aspects of putting together such Hip Hop Slam releases as the Turntables By The Bay CD compilation (including the comprehensive list of Bay Area DJs), The Last Kreep's The Good Scratching Record, and the Global Turntables compilation. Aspiring labels/artists should check out her invaluable Guide To Making A Record or CD.

Yve-One's Top Five

1. Gang Starr in concert at San Francisco's DNA lounge '92 (I think...)

2. Invisibl Skratch Piklz taking the DMC championships in the early '90's

3. Dream One — TDK bombin' the streets (Restin' In Power)

4. Q-Bert's Wave Twisters: the Movie

5. Going to NYC with Cypher (TMF), while we kicked it in Greenwich Village with PhaseOne and Daze back in '93.

DJ Dank: Producer/Weed Connection

DJ Dank (real name Dan Kay) first arrived at Hip Hop Slam in 1993 during the Soulbeat TV years when his friends at Dawg Eat Dawg Designz introduced him to the crew. He instantly won the hearts of everyone at the Hip Hop Slam TV show by breaking off free twomp-sacks of some of the best, sticky-green, killer-Cali, weed ever smoked then or since. Consequently he has become, not only the organization's main weed hookup, but also a very talented producer (he produced the Turntables By The Bay CD). Additionally he recently unveiled his own (Hip Hop Slam distributed) vinyl-only label, Chip Shop Spam Records, whose first release is The Last Kreep's The Good Scratching Record. But what makes DJ Dank so unique is that 100% of the time he talks in (rap) tongues: meaning that every single word he says is a lyric(s) from some rap song (mainly Bay Area/West Coast ol' skool rap). "Since I was a youth I smoke weed out... so don't gimme no bammer weed," says Dank of his affinity to the chronic. When quizzed on the art of graf he responds: "Yes indeedy I wrote graffiti on the bus." Besides his uncanny method of only reiterating rap verse in conversation, DJ Dank has one other most unusual character trait. He is a comic-book, cartoon character and although he flatly denies being the slave to some illustrator's commands but rather in control of his own destiny ("Don't quote me boy. I ain't said shit... My hoe's name is Nina!") he does admit to living in a parallel, animated, hip hop universe hanging with other like-minded characters such as Red Worm and Lord Ook (from Wave Twisters), members of Gorillaz, and the Cat named Five. "It's a game and we in it... game recognize game in the Bay mayn," he said between bong hash'n'dank hits.

DJ Dank's Top Five

1. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) / The Chronic

2. N.W.A. / Straight Outta Compton

3. Too $hort / Born To Mack

4. Poohman / "Fuckin’ Wit Dank"

5. 11/5 / A-1 Yola

Frank Casiano II: Chief Editor (Literary Thug)
aka DJ Munkifunk

Frank Casiano II, (a.k.a. DJ Munkifunk) was born and raised in the East Bay. He began mutilating music at an early age after discovering the capabilities of the pause button on a tape recorder. Likewise, he started writing once he realized a pencil could be used for other things besides stabbing people. In addition to his DJ interviews and other writings on this website he is also working closely with Billy Jam on editing the ongoing QBert biography (slated for a 2002 publication). Under his "DJ Munkifunk" alias he has recorded/performed with the groups SoundtheFury and The Harvey Woos and also co-hosts the Hip Hop Slam radio show "Scratch Attack". In addition to scrawling curse words for Hip Hop Slam, his hit-man style of journalism has also bombed the pages of Inspector, Ventilator, SF Bay Guardian and Philippine News. He now lives in the Sucka Free City and is a terror to editors and musicians everywhere... including himself. "No fucker rewrites me."

Frank's Top Five

1. Run D.M.C. / self-titled debut

2. Egyptian Lover / On the Nile

3. Time Zone feat. Afrika Bambaataa & Johnny Rotten / "World Destruction"

4. Beastie Boys / Paul's Boutique

5. El Stew / No Hesitation

Stevie K: DJ/Producer/Mastering Engineer

Stevie K has been down with Hip Hop Slam since the mid-ninties when he collaborated on several of the Pirate Fuckin Radio shows/mix-tapes and appeared on the air with his old rap hip hop crew Closed Caption (1994-1996). He has mastered every Hip Hop Slam label release to date. Stevie started as a DJ in 1987 performing at local schools, and later doing battles around the Bay Area. In 1990, he began building up his home studio, the infamous Ice Chamber. The Closed Caption albums he produced showed his unbiased approach to hip hop: with lots of him scratching in Bay Area/West Coast records (check for his "Young Mixdown" on Closed Caption's first album and also on Pirate Fuckin' Radio). After Closed Caption disbanded Stevie had totally upgraded his studio. Consequently he has worked with a long list of artists, in both production and engineering capacities, that include Fanatik, Boots, Shingo 2, Mystik Journeymen, Bas-1, Pinay, and Yvette Pylant. He is currently working on a new break record series for Chip Shop Spam Records. Visit his website: www.icechamber.com

Stevie K's Top Five

1. EPMD / Strictly Business

2. A Tribe Called Quest / Low End Theory

3. Eric B & Rakim / Paid In Full

4. N.W.A. / Straight Outta Compton

5. RBL Posse / A Lesson To Be Learned

Timi D...: Photographer

Timi D... started taking pictures as a young kid with a Mickey Mouse camera and hasn't stopped since. He joined Hip Hop Slam by accident when in 1991, after coming back from living in Japan, he came on the KUSF radio show armed with, not just great photos of Japanese hip hop, but also lots of Japanese hip hop to play. He never left and consequently has been the photographer for Hip Hop Slam taking thousands of incredible pictures. As well as gracing many of the Hip Hop Slam label releases' cover artwork, Timi's pictures have appeared in countless publications including: Billboard, San Francisco Chronicle, BAM, Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, URB, BOMB, 4080, SF Examiner, Strivin', Hip Hop Connection (UK), Stealth (Australia), and Top 40 (Sweden). Timi is also the main Hip Hop Slam videographer: he did camera for the "Hip Hop Slam TV" series on Soulbeat Television and the "Shiggar Fraggar Shows." A collage of Timi D's work appears in the Pirate Fuckin' Video set to Peanut Butter Wolf's music, and six of his ol skool still photos appear in the documentary Scratch (including one of Mixmaster Mike, QBert, Apollo, and Disk from '92). He is currently archiving his past ten years of hip hop photography for future publication.

Timi D's Top Eleven

Why eleven? "Because mine goes to 11!!!!" he insists.

1. The Hip-Hop Slam Show years on KUSF with all guest appearances 1991-1994!

2. BDP / Ghetto Music, The Blueprint of Hip-Hop

3. Andre Nickatina / Cocaine Raps Vol.1

4. Bush Babees / Gravity

5. Goodie Mob / Still Standing

6. Bomb Hip-Hop / Return of the DJ Vol.2

7. 11/5 / Fiendin' 4 Tha Funk

8. Boo Yaa Tribe / One Funky Nation

9. The Shiggar Fraggar Show! Vol.5

10. Some mix tape from Z-Trip in '94

11. The Hip Hop Nation exhibit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Dawgisht: Graphic Artist

Geoff Rantala and his successful, independent Oakland graphic company Dawg Eat Dawg Designz (which has designed numerous Bay Area rap/hip hop and drum'n'bass record/CD covers) has been an integral part of Hip Hop Slam since 1993 when he handled all the online graphics for the live, four-hour weekly show, "Hip Hop Slam TV" on Soulbeat Television. It was at this time he designed the hip hop dog character Dan K (pronounced Dan Kay), which originally was the code word for saying that it was time for the HHS crew to smoke a joint. Since '93, Dawg Eat Dawg has designed nearly every Hip Hop Slam flyer, mix-tape and many album/CD/video covers. Ever a humble fellow, Geoff is not just a graphic artist but also a talented music producer and beat digger. Recording under the name Dawgisht, he has a series of recommended underground breaks and beats CD compilations, and has also seen his music appear on the Drop Beat and XLR8R (as part of H.$.O.) labels.

Geoff's Top Five in the Past Shit

1. Growing up in Oakland and always hearing beats everywhere ("Rapper’s Delight" in kindergarten, "Jam On It" and the Beat Street soundtrack all summer in '84, 75 Girls Too $hort fleamarket bootlegs, etc.)

2. Taping Beni-B’s KALX show every Saturday night in '90, and then trying to dub the records I heard off my friends

3. Getting an Amiga 4000, 8-bit sampler cart, and tracker program (OctaMED!) and starting to learn to make beats in '91

4. Doing video graphics for the live Hip Hop Slam TV show on Soulbeat in '93 (after growing up watching Soulbeat since '83), and getting to meet so many artists each weekend

5. Your Mama’s Cafe in '95-'96 (always someone spinning SOME kind of beats there... gave me ideas and started to get me more open to other shit)

Top Five Records

1. 415 / 41Fivin’

2. K.M.D. / Mr.Hood

3. Too $hort / Born to Mack

4. Organized Konfusion / self-titled

5. De La Soul / ... Is Dead

Billy Jam: Executive Producer

"I'm not old. I'm old school," insists Irish immigrant Billy Jam who fell in love with hip hop back in the late seventies when he first got to New York. Since then he has dedicated himself to supporting the art form of hip hop through various forms of media. "I look at media, be it print, radio, Internet, television, or whatever as all the same thing: just another way to get your message across," says Jam who in 1984 started as a radio DJ on KALX, Berkeley, CA. Consequently he has been on countless radio stations (many of them kicking him off their airwaves for "obscene content" in the hip hop music he played). He has also produced numerous Hip Hop Slam TV shows over the years. In 1987 he added journalism to his media assault, with publications including: The Source, BOMB, Vibe, XXL, CMJ, Hits, No Joke, Stealth, Rap Pages, BAM, Murder Dog, San Francisco Chronicle, SF Weekly, and The SF Bay Guardian. In 1998 he began producing music CDs, records, and videos with an emphasis on DJ/turntablist music. Along with Hip Hop Slam's Chief Editor Frank Casiano II, he is currently working on the authorized biography of DJ QBert.

Billy's Top Five

1. 1979: Getting my first taste of hip hop when I moved to New York City (seeing all the subway trains bombed with this graffiti art & hearing the music blaring out of boom-boxes).

2. 1983/84: These were the years that convinced me that hip hop was the most important music out there: going to rap concerts like Egyptian Lover & Uncle Jamm's Army along with Run DMC at Oakland Convention Center and Grand Master Flash at Berkeley Square, seeing b-boys breakin at Fisherman's Wharf, being inspired by movies like Wild Style & Beat Street, and being spellbound by records like Run DMC's first album, Egyptian Lover's single "What Is A DJ If He Can't Scratch," Malcolm McLaren's "Duck Rock," the Art of Noise's first album, and "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock with Grandmixer DST and getting started as a radio DJ who could play all this great music.

3. 1986-1990: "Hip Hop Slam" the KALX years, when hip hop was a rare thing on the radio so there was this electric energy with every show: with the live call-in raps and knowing that every new hip hop record would be a good record: and a time when every album had a DJ song.

4. 1990-1995: The golden years of Yay Area hip hop with amazing releases from such diverse acts as RBL Posse, The Click, JT Tha Bigga Figga, Dre Dog, 11/5, Cellski, Cougnut, Paris, 415, Filthy Phil, MC Pooh, The Coup, The Govenor, 2Pac, Digital Underground, Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf, Too $hort, Mac Dre, X-Raided, C-BO, Herm Lewis, Saafir, The Automator, and Blackalicious.

5. 2001: Going to DJ events like the Scratch / Wave Twisters screenings, the Tableturns and Allies Beatdown events in NYC, and the U.S. Finals and Regional DMC battles in San Francisco, and just being blown away at witnessing how far scratch DJ/turntablist music has advanced as a fully recognized art form.