(Left to right) Apollo,
Vinroc and Shortkut make up
Triple Threat, which came to UCLA Wednesday.
By Antero Garcia
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Class was in session at noon Wednesday in Westwood Plaza, but
instead of a lecture on economics or biology, Bruins were treated
to a lesson in hip hop history.
The DJ crew, Triple Threat, provided the education by cutting
records ranging from current rap anthems to ’70s soul
hits.
The trio is comprised of Shortkut, of the Beat Junkies, Apollo,
the 1992 Digital Music Communities U.S. and World Champion and
Vinroc, the 1997 and 1998 International Turntablist Federation
World Champion. In addition to these impressive achievements, all
three of the DJs have been members of the legendary crew the
Invisbl Skratch Piklz (whose other members include the likes of DJ
QBert and Mix Master Mike).
Starting off the event with the laid back groove of the Black
Eyed Peas’ classic, “Joints and Jams,” Apollo
added in mellow scratches and deepened the already heavy pocket
that the groove carried.
 Photos by CHRIS BACKLEY/Daily Bruin Triple
Threat sets up turntables for their noon performance in
Westwood Plaza Wednesday.
After setting the smooth and relaxed ambiance of the concert,
Apollo cut-up the declaration “Get Funky,” and the
audience witnessed a massive whirlpool of funk scat and vocal
diatribes.
With this, Apollo started the unspoken trend of the concert of
letting the records speak for the DJs. Other effective rap quotes
that the crew used from records included, “How many real hip
hoppers in the place right now?,” which got a large number of
enthusiastic yells in response, as well as “Throw your hands
in the sky,” which was obediently carried out by the
crowd.
While Bruins seemed at first unsure about how to respond to the
syncopated rhythms, the head nodding of Triple Threat seemed
contagious, and like a ripple in water, the audience slowly started
bouncing to the songs.
Once Apollo warmed up the crowd, DJ Shortkut took to the tables,
throwing out some of the thickest, heaviest funk around. Scratching
music reminiscent of the “Godfather of Soul” James
Brown, Shortkut started the history lesson that would continue
throughout the concert.
This lesson helped take UCLA students on an exploration of the
roots of hip hop, and included styles such as funk, soul and dub.
Of course, all of this was intermixed with plenty of rap as
well.
Once Shortkut created a sufficient amount of hype, the rest of
Triple Threat came out, and slowly set the records to begin what
would be an amazing onslaught of syncopated rhythmic, hip hop.
Before the spectacle could begin, however, MC Rhemattic made his
first, rather late, introduction.
“This is the first time that Triple threat has been at
UCLA,” he said.
After his speech and the blazing performance by all three of the
Triple Threat members, each DJ was allotted his own solo
performance.
Apollo and Shortkut continued to amaze the audience with their
phenomenal scratching abilities. It was Vinroc, however, who put
the emphasis on the music and showed an extreme amount of
reservation, only using scratching to transition from one song to
the next. It was also Vinroc who really got the biggest stamp of
approval from the audience for his song selection.
With songs from such popular rap musicians as the Roots and Dr.
Dre, in addition to more obscure songs from genres such as dub and
Kung Fu movie sound bites, Triple Threat displayed the diverse
plethora of its record collection. Throughout the show, the three
DJs scurried to their crates of records, pulling out miscellaneous
vinyl at a dizzying pace.
As if this chaotic madness were not enough, the posse invited
the MC, Rhemattic to join in on a mind-blowing extravaganza of
hip-hop noise. The performance, with the additional hands of
another person, highlighted the tight synergy of the group.
Kicking off the first of a monthly series of concerts, the event
was sponsored by UCLA Campus Events, the Cultural Affairs
Commission and the Los Angeles New Times.
If students learned anything from the concert, they learned that
the art of DJing is not limited to strictly playing and scratching
rap records.
As MC Rhemattic said, “If you don’t know what Triple
Threat is about, it’s about DJing.”