The Triple Threat members have credentials that run as deep as their record crates; Apollo helped pioneer the "band DJing" style along with the Beastie Boys' DJ Mix Master Mike in the late '80s, utilizing multiple turntables live to build sounds in the same way a conventional band utilizes different instruments. He also DJed alongside Branford Marsalis in the jazz-fusion band Buckshot LaFonque. Shortkut collaborated with Cut Chemist on the classic hiphop album Live at the Future Primitive Sound Session and used his reputation as one of the world's best scratch percussionists to work with Vestax to create the most popular DJ battle mixers in the industry. Vinroc made his name by winning back-to-back ITF World Championships in 1997 and 1998 and has since worked with and played alongside such artists as Grandmaster Flash, X-ecutioners, Jungle Brothers, and Pete Rock. If people want to battle this team, they better have a few tricks up their sleeve that these guys didn't already invent.
On their newest release, Many Styles (Fat Beat), Triple Threat live up to their album title. They manage to balance good turntable techniques, solid head-nodding beats, and sampling, while enlisting world-class MCs like Mystic, Main Flow, Talib Kweli, Souls of Mischief, and Rob Swift and Roc Raida of the X-ecutioners, to name a few. On "The Cipha" with Swift and Raida, Triple Threat create a track that sounds as if it came off a mix tape made in '84, cutting up classic hiphop samples, beats, and vocals; on "On and On," Mystic holds it down with her buttery smooth flow. In between the vocal tracks, the album delves into solid instrumentals with a couple of hilarious skits exploring the ridiculousness of hassling a DJ with requests.
With the chance to check out three world-class DJs of this caliber under one roof, I'd say this show is quite a bargain! NICOLAE WHITE
The Triple Threat DJ Tour w/Shortkut, Apollo, and Vinroc. With DJ Vitamin D, Fri April 18 at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm-2 am, $10.
