W.I.Z.E Crew | Break to the Beat

DJ Roughcut was inspired to explore the emerging artform of scratching and mixing vinyl records during the early 1980s after watching the movie Breakdance. By the late 1980s DJ Roughcut managed to obtain his first pair of turntables and in 1989 at age 15 he entered a DJ competition hosted by the ITV children’s TV program Motor Mouth. The TV appearance led to an opportunity to compete in the 1989 UK DMC Junior mixing championships in which DJ Roughcut was awarded the runner up position.

DJ Roughcut (Right) – Early 1990s.

The following year DJ Roughcut became one of several resident DJs at The Point Club located in central Milton Keynes. Performing at the Point Club led to collaborations with like minded individuals such as The W.I.Z.E Crew, Death Before Dishonour, Klass Dismissed and solo rapper Danny Cooli. By 1991 DJ Roughcut had incorporated musical production to his skill set and eventually established a home studio known as Rough Productions. Continue reading →

The W.I.Z.E Crew were a collective of Hip Hop participants from Milton Keynes that were active during the early 1990s. The W.I.Z.E Crew centred around rapper and producer Judge Wizely and also consisted of DJ Roughcut, MC Law, DJ 2’E’Z, Dancers Hit & Run, X Wize, Last Legionary, MC Other Wize, Simon F and various other vocalists, musicians and dancers connected to the local Hip Hop scene.

W.I.Z.E Crew – The Point, Milton Keynes, 1993.

The W.I.Z.E Crew were regularly performing at local music venues and events in and around Milton Keynes during the early 1990s and by 1991 they had an unofficial cassette known as “The W.I.Z.E tape” circulating amongst the local Hip Hop community. “The W.I.Z.E tape” contained six of the groups early recordings all of which can be heard in the below youtube playlist:

W.I.Z.E. Crew “The Wize tape” – Demo recordings playlist, 1991.

in 1992 Judge Wizely, DJ Roughcut and DJ 2’E’Z recorded and released a 12″ vinyl compilation EP entitled “Kuppa soop – Hardcore mayhem volume 1“. The EP consisted of several Rave\Hardcore recordings and was followed up in 1993 by a second volume entitled “Kuppa soop 2 – Mona in despair” that contained the debut and only official release by The W.I.Z.E Crew to date.

“Kuppa Soop Vol 2 – Mona in despair” – 2’E’Z Records, 1993.

“Beats me” by The W.I.Z.E Crew appears on side 2, track position 3 of the “Kuppa soop 2 – Mona in despair” EP. The recording features rap vocals that were written and performed by Judge Wizely & MC Law with scratches & cuts by DJ Roughcut. The composition was produced and arranged by Judge Wizely and DJ Roughcut and can be heard in the below youtube video: Continue reading →