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Doug E. Fresh is known the world over for his innovations in hip-hop, particularly the Beatbox art form, but one thing he is just as passionate about is DJing. As the official ambassador for McDonald’s recent “Flavor Battle” DJ competition, the Harlem native and founder of the Get Fresh Crew got to evaluate some mix masters up close.

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“I just appreciate the fact they got some real DJs and they got real cats that’s gonna go up there and do they thing. It keeps the art form alive,” he told TheUrbandaily.com. “It’s one of the five elements of Hip-Hop.  So based on that, I think McDonald’s did a great thing by really stepping up and making sure that the flavor battle is set up. And I appreciate them wanting me to host it because I’mma take it all the way. It’s gonna be crazy.”

Lending his face to the DJ competition was a no brainer for Doug, considering his own history with DJs. His group The Get Fresh Crew was anchored by two DJs, Chill Will and Barry B, a first in hip-hop according to Doug.

“Barry B and Chill Will  are the first two DJs ever in Hip-Hop to DJ at the same time,” he says matter-of-factly. “Like before the X-ecutioners, before any DJ crew, Barry B and Chill Will were the only two DJs that were DJ’ing at the the same time. We, as a group, collectively created this brand of us being able to rock at the same time.”

Before TGFC went on to make history with classics like “The Show” and “La Di Da Di”  DJ Barry B was down with his crew called “The Devastating 3″ and  Doug was down with Chill Will. Will had been working with an MC who ended up going to college. With the popularity of the Beatbox growing Doug had the idea to bring all three of them together to rock a crowd.

“So at that point were trying to figure how are we gonna make this thing work,” he remembers.  “And I said, you know what we’re gonna do?  We gonna put together a show, and I’m gonna be the only guy that has two DJs together and DJs at the same time and when they DJ at the same time  it’s gonna be incredible because we’ll be on 3 records. You have 4 turntables, so when you playing one, your DJ is getting another one ready. But imagine you getting one ready and you have two in the chamber. So your thoughts and what you’re capable of doing is moving way faster than the average situation. So it was a fascinating plan that I came up with and it  worked out very well.”

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How Doug E. Fresh Keeps Making History  was originally published on theurbandaily.com