When Paul Murphy, aka Skratch Bastid – one of Canada’s premiere scratch DJs (nay – one of the world’s premiere scratch DJs) throws a party, it’s undoubtedly going to be a banger. When he throws a cookout – add burgers and beers to the banger and you’ve got Bastid’s BBQ!
Starting at 3 pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Montreal’s Mile End, the first ever Pop MTL edition of Bastid’s BBQ took over the Marche des Possibles space on September 28th – hopefully the first of many. The battle DJ from Halifax received all the accolades when he competed in worldwide competitions like DMC, ITF and Scribble Jam as a young DJ, earning a reputation as one of the most talented and creative turntablists in the world (anyone who has ever seen his Imperial March routine will know he is the GOAT)! His BBQ featured some high caliber local talent, as well as international guests, culminating in party rocking sets by Bastid himself, and one of LA’s most celebrated turntablists, DJ Nu-Mark (from Jurassic 5 fame).
After a day filled with burgers, beatboxing, and breakin’, Bastid came on at 8 pm – the crowd had already gathered and assembled into a high vibing community of hip hop heads reliving some of the glory days!
The celebrated DJ delivered a hype set of classic rap traxx, backpacker beats, house vibes, dancehall riddims and plenty of golden era hip hop anthems with ease. Sonically, everything was warm colours and deep bass when Bastid took over the 1’s and 2’s with his vintage selections mixed to perfection. The crowd was vibing hard to Bastid’s turntable acrobatics as he seemingly made entirely new beats from slivers of other songs and proving why he is one of the most people no active and creative forces in the scratch DJ world.
(check out out the video below for an example from the BBQ)
To finish off the night, California’s DJ Nu-Mark hit the stage, with an explosive right out the gate, seamlessly mixing some of the badassest beats from the hip hop history books, rocking the party right, while curating a perfect playlist, and cutting it up with sensational dexterity. Here is hoping this is the first of many Bastid BBQs in Montreal in the future!
