1. WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME?

Martin Smith

2. AGE?

23

3. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Southfield, MI

4. WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?

Ann Arbor, MI -7 Years

5. WHEN DID YOU START TO D.J.?

My first year in Ann Arbor, so right around 7 years ago.

6. WHO ARE YOUR 3 ALLTIME FAVORITE D.J.S?

I'm all about DJs with versatility. Jazzy Jeff - Longevity in the game, dope with the cuts and Touch of Jazz production is sick! Babu - Dude does it all, skratch, produce and mix... DJ K-Dog - Gotta give him props, he schooled me to the game in his basement during the summer of 96'.

7.WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE 12" OF ALL TIME?

That's a good question, my theme song when I play is Al Green - Let's Stay Together. It seems that any crowd I'm playing for can enjoy that song and most people always know the words.

8. YOUR FAVORITE BATTLE RECORD?

Dirtstyle Shampoo Breaks

9. WHAT MIXER AND NEEDLES DO YOU USE?

I'm actually in search for a new mixer. My workhorse was my Vestax 05Pro for a long time, but one of the fader channels went out and now I'm trying out a lot of new mixers to see where I'll make my new home. I'm a manager at Sqratchattack.com the premiere online store spot for the skratch DJ, so searching is pretty easy for me. I'll be reviewing quite a few mixers over the next few months and then probably choose one around the end of the year. For the time being I'm using a Stanton SK6f. Needles : Shure M44-7

10. HOW DID YOU GET THE NAME GRAFFITI?

I started out rapping. My first name was Scholar. Probably 10 or so years back I was in a freestyle cipher with my boys and said "I spray mentals like lyrical graffiti". And everyone went "ohhhhhhhh". After that I was talking with my partner Mr. Futprintz and he said he thought graffiti was a dope name. From then on I became Graffiti the Intellectual Scholar, because I didn't want to leave my old name behind for no reason. I was never really a writer and if I had the choice now I would never have named myself Graffiti. How can you name yourself after an art form? But now what's done is done, so I'm going to rep the name to the fullest. I might change it later in my career once enough people have heard of me to care that my name is changing.

11. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT D.J.ING?

I enjoy people's response to whatever it is I'm doing. That feeling you get when people are enjoying your performance is like pure adrenaline. Whether it's dropping that perfect song or just taking time in a set to stop and skratch, I bug off everyone staring to see what you're going to do next and then cheering when you rip it up.

12. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?

Mixing & record selection first, skratching second. I started DJing to rock crowds. However, I didn't want to be wack in the skills area so I tried to make sure all of my skills (sadly, except juggling) progressed pretty equally. I've seen many DJs rock a crowd without skratching ability, but if you can't mix then you're like a fish out of water if people are trying to dance while you play.

13. DO YOU PLAY ANY WEEKLY / MONTHLY GIGS?

As of right now I don't play any weekly gigs. It's a good thing for me at the moment because I'm always trying to hit up a different spot promoting Bling Free Vol. 2. I was playing at the World Famous Motor Lounge in Detroit for a while, but it shut down due to ownership issues. That club is known across the world for it's electronic music scene. Since techno started in Detroit the Motor always had a hotbed of good talent. I think the club was open for about 6 or 7 years, it got the name of best nightclub in America by URB magazine. I do however spin a weekly radio show called Underground Reciprocals with three other DJs on Ann Arbor's WCBN 88.3FM.

14. DID D.J.ING COME NATURAL TO YOU OR WAS IT SOMETHING YOU HAD TO WORK AT GETTING GOOD AT?

Oh, I definitely had to work at it and still do! I guess the basic skills came pretty easily to me, seeing as I know people that started out before me and are still wack! haha I'm joking, but I still have so much progression to do. I don't know of any DJs that are really at the top of all aspects of mixing, skratching, juggling & record selection, so there is always something for everyone to work on.

15. HOW OFTEN DO YOU PRACTICE?

Since I focus mostly on mixing, I guess anytime I'm mixing is like practice. If you don't stay on top of it you fall off. I'm spinning something somewhere every other day at least.

16. HOW IS THE HIPHOP SCENE IN YOUR AREA?

The Hiphop scene in Metro-Detroit is blowing up. There are a lot of artists and a few of them are getting their weight up in the game. Look out for Finale, Warpath, the Athletic Mic League, Subterraneous Crew/Binary Star, Invincible, Wasted Youth --ok there are too many to mention. As far as DJing and battling the scene is pretty thin. The most frequent battle here is thrown annually by Guitar Center (a musical instrument and equipment store) and my boy Alf-1 keeps winning that battle.

17. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PRESENT STATE OF HIPHOP?

I think Hiphop is fine. There have been a lot of outside forces and influences that put the wrong ideas in the heads of some artists but good Hiphop is like truth, if you are searching for it you will find it. I've also changed the way I look at the Hiphop game. I think it's important to know that not every artist is trying to be super-lyrical, philosophical or political on the microphone. A lot of cats just want to make parties live when their song comes on. So for you to sit and analyze every track they make according to your standard of how their music should be doesn't make sense. I think at times you have to step back and be objective and ask, "Is this music doing what it set out to do?" If the answer is no, then it's wack, but if the answer is yes and you just don't like then the music just isn't for you. The only thing that is universally wack to me is negative music that brings you down. For instance, tracks that only focus on pumping drugs and guns through the community... the only place that will leave anyone is dead or in jail, so it's kind of hard to find an upside in that.

18. IF YOU COULD WORK WITH ANY HIPHOP ARTIST (GROUP) WHO WOULD IT BE?

I don't know yet. It will be an artist I discover. I'm looking for that special artist who is bringing ridiculous heat and I can just take them under my wing and make all of the resources I have access to available to them. Basically doing what DJ Clue did for Fabolous. I won't be yelling annoyingly all over the tracks though.

19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LATE NIGHT FOOD SPOT?

My favorite food spot at any time of the day is Mom and Dad's crib. The best food and always free.

20. IF YOU HAD TO STOP D.J.ING WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I won't stop DJing. As long as I have some kind of limb on my body I'll still be rocking. It's my passion, expecially making mixtapes, but business & marketing is more of my job. I'm finishing my last year of law school right now. Law and business are my full time gigs. I never thought I'd be out here trying to be a DJ/Artist in a world-famous sense because that alone takes so much dedication and passion that there really isn't time for anything else. But I found that DJing & production and business & promotions go hand in hand.

21. ANY SUGESTIONS FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO BE A D.J.?

Learn how to mix first. Being a better mixing DJ opens up all of the other aspects... skratching, juggling, party rocking. Most people don't know that rocking a crowd is a skill in and of itself. You can be the most skilled DJ on the planet and still not know how to rock a crowd. Record selection is something you only learn by experience.