Sixth Annual Civil War: Brolic Army Battle for Supremacy
DJ battles have been a critical part of DJ culture dating back to the formative years of Hip Hop’s creation.
During the emergence of Hip Hop DJing, 1973 to 1979, DJs would engage in showdowns that would declare a winner using the criteria of who had the loudest sound system. But by 1983 Tom Silverman (founder of Tommy Boy Records) decided to host the New Music Seminar Battle for World Supremacy, a competition that pitted the world’s most technically sound Hip Hop DJs against each other in head to head matchups that culminated into a finale between the last 2 DJs standing. Although the early 80s also brought us the Disco Mixing Club (DMC), their battle initially started out as a platform for Disco and House DJs. The New Music Seminar however encompassed the essence of Hip Hop. Silverman’s battle was where DJ legends like Whiz Kid, Charlie Chase, Mix Master Ice, Cut Master D.C. EZ Gee Rockwell, Jazzy Jeff, Joe Cooley, Jazzy Joyce, Cash Money, DJ Aladdin, and Cut Master Swift were made!
The NMS officially ended in 1990, with Steve Dee being the last to win the iconic belt. Another noteworthy DJ figure, Clark Kent, took over the NMS competition and named it the Supermen Battle, paving a way for the next generation of DJs like Roc Raida (RIP), Mix Master Mike, Mista Sinista, DJ Shortkut, DJ 8-Ball and even myself. The last Supermen contest took place in the Summer of 1994. Fast forward to 2017, after some convincing from a former student of mine, DJ Wallzee (2X Australian DMC Champion) I decided to throw my own battle. I decided to call it the Civil War: Brolic Army Battle for Supremacy because this would be a bracketed DJ tournament just like the original NMS competitions but the twist would be it featured my Brolic Army students as contestants and would take place online. I even brought back the belt!
My goal with the Civil War is to provide a space where the DJs I teach can put all they’ve learned into function inorder to gauge just how much they’ve mastered. One week from today (October 31st at 8pm est), I continue to put the skills my Brolic Army soldiers have acquired to the test with the 2022 installment. Honorable mention to the Civil War sponsors Glowtronics and JICO International.
