DJ Scientific, longtime host of KUNM's "Street Beat," has found a new platform to showcase his ideas about hip-hop - television.
"Boombox Mathematics" first hour-long episode airs on public access TV tonight. The show, which Jason Marchiondo, DJ Scientific, describes as "just a lot of good stuff," is a hip-hop soup bowl full of MC battles, old hip-hop music videos from the early '90s, graffiti artists and hip-hop skits.
"This seemed like the next logical step," DJ Scientific said. "You can do a lot with radio, but you can do a lot more with TV."
DJ Scientific, MC Precise One and Chud, the show's hosts, plan on taking the show further than Albuquerque's public access channel. They have already talked with people from Santa Fe and New York about airing their show there.
"There is a misconception about what hip-hop is in the media," DJ Scientific said. "We are trying to express what it really is because it's much more beautiful than it seems - we want to express the true culture of it."
"Boombox Mathematics," besides the three hosts, has many other local and national acts that want to see this message spread. Lee Qui§ones, famed American graffiti artist, is making an appearance on the first episode to discuss his part in the street art movement. Qui§ones has said graffiti, which began in the early '70s as a result of the end of the Civil Rights Movement, is the purest form of hip-hop.
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"It's not the vandalism kind of graffiti - not spray paint on cars," DJ Scientific said. "It's art work. Artists may be interested in this to see what you can do with just a spray can."
In addition to Qui§ones are DJ's Vast Aire and J Rocc, who DJ Scientific said are very well known in the underground DJ scene.
DJ Scientific said that not only will people who are into hip-hop enjoy the show, but also those who don't know anything about it. Beyond just watching the show, the three hosts want Albuquerque's hip-hop community to have a chance to submit to this project, which they said will help restore dignity back to the hip-hop culture.
"It doesn't seem like anyone is doing the good old stuff anymore," he said. "The modern hip-hop isn't even hip-hop to me; it's more like pop music. It's not the culture it was 10 years ago. We are aspirating to get that good feeling back."
