The turntable

Turntables were used for a half-century prior to the 1990s. Despite this, the phrase turntablism wasn’t used until just a few years before the 2000s. The turntable first allowed a DJ to play songs back-to-back with no break, but as the turntablists became more skilled, they learned to scratch, flick, and turn the record to create entirely unique sounds. It was at this point that DJs started to take their true place in hip hop culture, and the beats created by turntables would go on to background many of rap’s most famous albums while some DJs themselves made their own careers just mixing with their tables.

 

(Clean version of Biggie Smalls song “Gimme the Loot”)

 

 

In “Gimme the Loot“, along with other songs on the album, the piece is started off with just background music. There is a very distinguishable crackle sound that can be heard when Biggie Smalls is not rapping, indicating that the sample was done on a record, most likely a turntable. Shortly before the lyrical part starts, there is the iconic scrubbing, or scratching, sound of turntablism. Although the singer almost always gets most of the credit, these sounds take a highly skilled DJ to create. Sean “Puffy” Combs was the producer who worked with Biggie Smalls on the album and would spend hours meticulously remixing the sounds to his liking. Even when a song’s specific producer wasn’t present, Combs would have someone else step in, and he’d make the mixes himself. Puffy’s dedication to perfecting the mix helped not only Biggie Smalls, but the turntable itself, achieve its legendary status.