Q-BERT

Richard Quitevis was born October 7, 1969, in San Francisco, California. Known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Grandmixer Qbert, is a Filipino-American Turntablist and composer. He is often referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of the turntables, known to make them sing in complex and unimaginable ways. He has invented the most scratching techniques and musical innovations than any DJ in history. QBert is credited for being the world ambassador of the DJ as a musician and turning the turntable into a respected musical instrument.

Hip-Hop's founders created a set of rules and created a tradition for champions, it was proven during DJ battles, and it was put on wax as the DJ's & MC's paved the path proclaiming their DJ was the best. To prove themselves, DJs would be judged on their scratching cuts.

A former DMC World Champion and DMC Hall of Fame inductee, DJ QBert has developed some of the most important works that have shaped the Hip-Hop and Electronic music landscape to what it is today. From the early beginnings, with the 1994 release of Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik, hailed by Source Magazine as the best mixtape of all time. To his innovations with his very own skratch records that set the stage for DJs to rebuild all their elements ready to manipulate through custom created vinyl. With Mix Master Mike, Dj Apollo & Shortkut, He Help created a DJ group to play pieces of his turntable band, giving rise to the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. In 1998, he released his album Wave Twisters, while immediately an animated film to sync with the music was drawn by legendary San Francisco artist Dug-1, drew the movie as he heard it. While in production of Wave Twisters the Movie, another film, Scratch, by director Doug Pray, was being filmed about the history and culture of the Hip Hop DJ, featuring DJ QBert as he is Knighted by GrandMixer DXT. Both films premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

In the musical technology circles, DJ QBert is the most sought after stamp of approval. His inventions for Vestax hold as today's blueprints for turntablism. In 5 years, 5 different designs broke the 1 million sales mark, unheard of designing mixers above the $500 price tag, five times more than the price of battle mixers at the time. On the other side of the world, in an almost century history in the phonograph industry, Ortofon chose DJ QBert to represent the first needle ever made celebrating his achievement and design. DJ QBert's last hardware concept was the QFO for Vestax, a lightweight all in one turntable and mixer combination. Limited to only a few thousand made, it set the explosion of portable musicianship for the digital disc jockey.

DJ QBert was also first to breakground for DJs in gaming. In 1998 EA Sports brought him in as the first turntablist to score several of their titles which led to the DJ/Producer invasion inside the gaming industry. QBert has been featured in Street Fighter 4, Frequency by Harmonix, Tony Hawk Underground by Activision, and rumors abound about his next projects with Activision for 2010.

Apple Computers with the comeback of Steve Jobs started series of smart and forward thinking ad campaigns and brought in the likes of Will Ferrell, Yo Yo Ma, Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater, and the one and only DJ QBert. The campaign showed today's influential contemporary's who have made the switch from PC to Mac. It solidified Apple's "cool" effect on it's brand standing by leaders in their respective markets.

DJ QBert live performances are to be witnessed by jaw dropping fans in total standing about-face solidarity. Entire dancefloors stop and just amaze in the turntable wizardry that no other DJ can perform. Throughout his entire career, his style has never veered away to explore the current trends and the latest fads, but stay true to the skills of two turntables and a mixer, these are the official instruments of Hip-Hop.

Friends and fellow turn tablists Triple Threat - Apollo (Apollo Novicio), D-Styles (Dave Cuasito)and Shortkut (Jonathan Cruz) - joined Mike and Q-Bert to form the Invisible Skratch Picklz (ISP), the most influential and recognizable turntablist crew in history. Though the ISP no longer exists, the five founders still remain close to this day.