Magazine: HONG KONG
Title: DJ Gives Lesson In Girl Power
Words: Alan Warboys
Issue Date: 08.05

US scratch master is set to turn the tables in Hong Kong
If you want to learn the basics of DJing, the DJ Shortee's your woman. The American scratch master is not just a highly acclaimed performer, but also a so-called professor of turntablism.

Shortee, who hops genres and countries with equal ease (she lands in Hong kong on Saturday), has produced her own instructional DVD series. Shortee's DJ 101 and DJ 202 are aimed at budding spin masters who want to learn how to mix, scratch and juggle beats with lessons from the mistress herself, as well as input from colleagues and MCs in the business.

Such was the success of the teaching series that Shortee was recruited to be a "DJ Professor" at the Scratch Dj Academy (founded by RunDMC's Jam Master Jay) and she now teaches in Los Angeles, at the west coast branch of New York's top mixing school.
Shortee' herself was a quick learner, but needed no schooling-just the tuition of her flatmate DJ Faust (now her husband), who moved in with her 10 years ago when she was 19.

"He'd seen me playing drums and thought I'd be a natural at DJing," she told gurl.com website in a feature celebrating women DJs recently. "I've been a turntablist since."
"I practice & perform scratching regularly. I experiment with different sounds, styles & forms of music."

Shortee is a diverse and technically skilled DJ who is as adept spinning hip-hop or drum'n'bass as breaks, house funk or soul. And she's also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Shortee' didn't enjoy her own school years, "I hated high school," she says. "I was only good at art & music. I was really into music and followed the Grateful Dead and Phish."
Nonetheless, she took a degree in Graphic Design & computer animation. But it was her drum playing in the school bands that lead to her music career.

And within a couple of years of starting out she's become the only female to win the Fever/Buss Battle of the DJs in Washington, DC and the first woman to release a solo turntablist album, The Dreamer, in 1999.

Her performances behind the decks and studio work have won praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Spin & Playboy-She Dj-ed alongside bunnies for the magazine's 50th Anniversary tour, including gigs a Hugh Hefner's mansion - and she's shared the stage with such diverse performers as Q-bert, Method Man, Roni Size and Carl Cox.

For a Dj used to "the only woman" tag, it's no surprise that she was also to sole female featured in Doug Pray's highly regarded movie Scratch, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and has been seen on major networks & theatres across the globe.

With numerous records to her credit, Shortee's computer skills are evident in her production, in particular the single Shortee's Return, on which she manipulated the pitch and tone of dozens of voices so they sounded like one person and then scratched them into the song.

If you think you're unfamiliar with Shortee's music, odds are that you will have heard it-especially if you are a sports fan. The Dj has licensed her music to networks such as MTV, ESPN, CNN and NBC and also official soundtracks to major events, including the World Cup and the X-Games.

She still regularly performs with her husband, but will be flying solo for her gig at Jewel. It should be an education.

DJ Shortee, Jewel, Pottinger St, Central, Sat, 10pm, $150 HK (members $100 HK). Inquiries 2541-5988.

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