It was the David and Goliath of DJ battles. Student versus teacher. New school versus old school. One Tuesday night in July, the Longhorn Ice House was packed. The 20,000-square-foot bar was filled with seasoned and rising local and national DJs. All eyes were on the stage.
The 2023 King of The Streets DJ Battle (KOTS) was underway. Reigning champion DJ Ivan G, a skilled turntablist with a resume heavy with accolades, and 33-year-old West Texas transplant DJ Jay Bray had battled set-to-set to be one of the last two spinning.
Jaws clenched as event organizers KNON DJ Albert G (Albert Gonzalez) and DJ Like Dis (Luis Mendoza) walked from the judging table to the stage. Gonzalez lifted the mic. Eyes widened. Sound seemed to flee the room.
“The winner of this round, who will move on to the finals, is,” Gonzalez said. “Jay Bray.”
Bray almost quit DJing three weeks prior, but he had eliminated one of Dallas’ “rulers of the turntables.” The shoo-in was out. Bray would now battle Houston’s Bruce Waine for the KOTS 2023 title.
KOTS is an annual three-day Dallas-based DJ Battle organized by Gonzalez and Mendoza. It is created by DJs for DJs. The competition attracts national and local talent to showcase and compete.
“This is their playground,” Gonzalez says.
The event embodies a family reunion. The DJs do the work. They set up equipment, lay out the tables, design the event logo, print shirts, emcee, help attendees, record video, and take photos. They thrive off the camaraderie and enthusiasm for their craft.
“Music has helped all of them in some type of way,” Gonzalez says. “It’s my therapy.”
The battles take influences from the globally acclaimed Disco Mix Club (DMC) and Red Bull 3Style DJ competitions. This year’s was a reimagining of last year’s inaugural battle, then titled Dallas DJ Battle. For this iteration, Gonzalez and Mendoza united forces and rebranded.
It spans three weeks. The first two event days are qualifying rounds. Each week, eight DJs are tasked with preparing a seven-minute set to showcase their talent. They are judged by a panel of local and national DJs. Four DJs from each qualifying event advance to the finals, where they battle head-to-head over two-minute sets in elimination brackets.
For the events, KOTS organizers flew in legendary talent well-experienced in DJ battling. Invisibl Skratch Piklz’s ShortKut and DJ Lök judged the first qualifiers of the tournament. Da Odd Couple, Rob Swift and Mista Sinista of the New York based turnbalist crew X-Ecutioners headlined week two. Arizona’s Chris Villa and Matt Villa judged the finals and closed out the event.
“Battling is a great entry point to this world,” Swift says. “It’s a great way to get your name out there, get the experience of performing in front of people. It’s a great way to establish camaraderie amongst other DJs and meet DJs and push yourself to be creative.”
Swift, the 1992 East Coast Disco Mix Club champion, says DJ battling has had three iterations throughout hip-hop’s 50 years. The earliest DJ battles were a competition of who had the loudest sound system, then who had the most eclectic record collection before ushering in the precursor to modern battles: who had the better technique.
“You’re making music manually on turntables, and people are reacting to you in real time,” Swift says. “They’re reacting to these routines that you develop at your house, by yourself, in your bedroom for months leading up to that day and now you’re unleashing them.”
KOTS takes the namesake from Mendoza’s former battles at defunct City Streets in Fort Worth. It is a nod to local DJ battles and DJ culture before social media transformed the craft.
“Back then, especially in DJing and DJ culture, a lot of stuff was word of mouth,” Mendoza says.
The former City Streets resident held three DJ battles at the club. KOTS finalist DJ Elements won one of those three foundational battle titles.
“We didn’t want to be out there to the masses,” Mendoza says. “Nowadays, it’s different because a lot of the DJs that are battling now are different.”
This year’s finals included an impressive talent roster. Alongside DJ Ivan G, Bray and Bruce Waine was returning battle-champion DJ Elements; FC Dallas and KISS FM’s Madd; Red Bull 3Style USA National champion DJ Lazy Boy; KiddNation DJ John Styles and Pitbull Globalization’s Mark Cutz.
“This was like a battle, battle, battle,” Bray says. “I was going against my idols, DJ Madd and Ivan G.”
The event was Bray’s second battle ever. KOTS was a battle he didn’t think he deserved to be in, he says. For seasoned battlers, winning a battle is simple.
“The number one thing you need to do to win a battle is to orchestrate and command the energy,” Gregory Sherrell, DJ Lazy Boy, says. “It’s all about the energy.”
Sherrell traveled from San Francisco to take another shot at the KOTS championship. In 2022, he took second place. DJ Ivan G displayed exquisite scratching skills, which Dallas has grown to expect. The win was imminent when Ivan G transitioned to Vicente Fernández’s “El Rey.”
“That was the moment,” Sherrell says.
Battle DJs must be prepared for all scenarios. Sherrell says a minimum of seven prepared routines is required for the KOTS final. A prepared DJ would have at least 14. Preparation is vital.
“Success happens when preparation meets opportunity,” Sherrell says.
A panel judges competitors on their mixing, blending, crowd response, musical selection, and technical skills. That panel included local DJs Leo J, DJ Does It All, Menace the DJ, and legendary producer Doctor Butcher.
First prize would walk away with $2,500 cash, bragging rights and a championship belt. KOTS commemorated one of their own, DJ Tony Thrown Down, who passed away from medical complications September 2020. His logo is engraved on the coveted belt.
Second place would take $1,000 and third place would win a Hercules DJ controller and monitor speakers, all courtesy of Gonzalez, Mendoza, and sponsors. It is their way of giving back to the DJ community.
Bray was guaranteed to walk out the door with at least $1,000.
Battling is more than a contest. Each contestant reinvigorates the culture with their willingness to compete. Swift, who only battled for two years, used his battling experience to create a legacy.
“You can make an impact as a DJ on DJ culture without necessarily winning a title,” Swift says. “You could battle and not win and still make a significant impact, sometimes even more of an impact, than the guy that won, depending on what you’re bringing to the table.”
In the final battle, Bruce Waine manipulated the turntables and put his showmanship on display with swift body tricks. Bray, the newcomer, focused on the audience. He layered and blended hip-hop, cumbias, and Latin freestyle. He played a melody of one song with the notes of another. His hand moved the crossfader with lightning speed, showing why he’s so well known for his mashups.
At 10:38 p.m., Gonzalez and Mendoza stood in front of hundreds of DJs and announced Bray as the 2023 King of the Streets (KOTS) DJ Battle champion. Confetti flew. In lieu of champagne, Bray was showered in Red Bull.
“Our goal is to set a foundation,” Gonzalez says. “If we grow, the people around us will grow.”
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