BEHIND THE GROOVE “Playin’ the classics that make you move.”
 

Spinning Funk, Soul, Disco, Hip-Hop, Salsa & House

One of the busiest DJs on the U.S. B-Boy/B-Girl scene, DJ DP ONE might rock as many as three events a day, zipping to and from battles and clubs in his home town of New York City.
 
Born in a very legendary year for Hip Hop culture; 1977, in Brooklyn, it is no surprise that he is not sure when he first witnessed Hip Hop. He was born into it!
 
DP ONE first put his hands on the wheels of steel at the age of fourteen, at the home of the Alava family, known for their house parties, where he finally saw two turntables and a mixer together.
 
Like any truly embedded DJ in Hip Hop culture, he pays respect to an extensive list of influences including Kool DJ Red Alert and DJ Chuck Chillout, whose early radio shows he listened to, wanting to find out “how they were making that scratch sound.” To DJ DP ONE, DJ Enuff is the “Puerto Rican version of Grandmaster Flash”. DP ONE explains, “He introduced me to DMC DJ battle videos and blessed me with a lot of my foundation.”

Kwikstep , known as DJ-KS 360 on the turntables is an internationally known Hip hop dancer/ choreographer/ poet/ actor and hand percussionist. Kwikstep (DJ-KS 360) began dancing at the age of 8. He started working his way up from the local parties then the clubs and later started touring the world as a Hip hop dancer. He later ventured into theater and production where for more than 15 years has contributed to pushing the standards of a new genre called Hip-Hop theater. Kwikstep (DJ-KS 360) founded a crew he called Full Circle in 1992. In 1996 Kwikstep and his wife B-girl Rokafella established Full Circle as an internationally acclaimed non- profit Hip hop collective known as Full Circle Productions INC, it’s members are known as Full Circle Souljahs.
 
Kwikstep (DJ-KS 360) and Rokafella have written many Hip hop theater pieces. One of them is called Soular Power’d. It was their directorial Broadway debut in which DJ-KS 360 was also Musical Director and Producer. It was enthusiastically embraced by sold out audiences due to Soular Power’d receiving rave reviews in the New York Times for fusing elements of urban arts on the main stage while maintaining the New York urban experience, appeal and feel through it’s Music, Dance, Spoken Word, Monologues and the writers of the visual Aerosol Art also known as Graffiti.
 
KS 360 credits the mix of music he produces for Full Circle shows as being a product of his environment. DJ- KS 360 explains this environment; it’s what he calls his “sound scape” referring to the variety of music that was being played at the local block parties and basement parties as well as the roller rinks and clubs he went to while growing up in New York. Especially the NYC club scene where dance was prominent, in clubs such as The Fun House, Roseland, The Roxy, Palladium, 1018, Sound Factory, Sound Factory Bar, The Shelter, The Building, Lime Light, Mars, Red Zone and The Tunnel just to name a few. It’s why DJ-KS 360 is also known as Kwikstep on an international level. He is known for his smooth Breaking style and signature head spins, as well as his versatility with other classic Hip hop and funk dance styles known as Up-Rocking, Popping, Locking, plus African, House and Salsa.
 
You know what they say about dancers…they make some of the best DJ’s!
 
What the letters and numbers KS 360 stand for you very well might know by now, KS are the initials for Kwikstep and 360 are the numbers that represent his company of 15 yrs plus known to many as Full Circle to which he is a dedicated Souljah!
 
Now DJ-KS 360 of Full Circle Productions offers his smooth versatility with 360 degrees of the cultural urban and artistic New York experience that has influenced him since his youth. DJ-KS 360 enjoys giving the crowd what he calls Soulutions-“good music always has the answer to your questions and the Soulutions to your problems. In return we celebrate those gifts with dance”. DJ-KS 360’s takes you on a journey through his musical selections of Rare 70’s Funk, 80’s Soul / RnB , Afro-Beat, Hip-hop, Disco, Garage, Salsa and House.
 
DJ-KS 360’s music selection references his exposure to New York’s intimate Basement, Rooftop and Apt parties from around the way to local Park Jams and festive Block Parties as well as the most popular Dance Clubs in NYC and brings it “Full Circle” with some of New York’s best known Dancers, DJ’s and Musicians! Come and get “Behind the Groove” at Le Poisson Rouge as DJ-KS 360 plays the classics that make you move!!!

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​Hip hop music has always been unafraid to push boundaries. Perhaps because it simultaneously came from nothing yet came from everything, the genre stands alone in how creatively outside influences can be incorporated into its musical mix.
 
PitchBlak Brass Band uses the epic sounds of tubas, trombones, saxophones and other typically non-hip hop instruments in the spirit of The Roots and some of rap’s iconic live bands, to deliver an energy that samples, loops and breakbeats can’t always capture. Their blend of soundscapes and lyrical exuberance creates a grand adventure in listening, one that can hold the attention of music fans from across a fairly wide spectrum.
 
-Manny Faces, Birthplace Magazine