Waiting for the future of turntablism? Look no further. David Lopez AKA Dopez (pronounced like "Lopez" but with a D) is the answer. The University of Texas at Austin student took home 1st at the regional DMC competition in Austin this year and will be attending the US Finals as a result. He's no stranger to winning, earning the title at the Instacuts tournament held by the Texas Scratch League twice already. In case you have early doubts on an unfamiliar DJ, we included him in our Show & Prove last week as an Honorable Mention. This week, he's the headliner.
Kid Koala recently did a show in Texas and had a few opening acts, one of them being Dopez. And thanks to Swiftstyle, we have the first five minutes of Dopez's set on film. As you would expect, based on his previous videos, Dopez is not only fast and creative with his scratches but is also extra clean in execution. As you may start to wrap your head around his cuts right before the minute mark, he moves into a beat juggling routine that uses one turntable for the melody and the other for the beat. But there are no triggers involved-just old fashioned turntable movements and cross fading. The set is composed of classic and jazzy Hip-Hop beats, including Biggie's "Unbelievable," which he breaks out later in his set for another beat reconstruction in case you got dizzy from all of the scratching.
Stay up to date with Dopez on his Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and Facebook.