Scribble Jam
Encyclopedia
Scribble Jam was an annual hip hop
music festival
hosted in Cincinnati, Ohio
. Dubbed "America's largest hip hop festival", it was co-founded in 1996 by "Fat" Nick Accurso, and Jason Brunson, founders of graffiti
magazine Scribble, and DJ
Mr Dibbs, in the parking lot
of a local nightclub. The following year's event benefitted from better publicity, and included MC
, DJ and breakdance battles for the first time.
In 2000, with the addition of new partner Tony Heitz, the festival grew in popularity, as tens of thousands of hip hop fans flocked to its grounds in early August. It has been known to attract up to 20,000 fans. In early April 2009, Scribble Jam organiser Kevin Beacham confirmed the persistent rumors that the event will not continue this year, citing the struggling economy and difficulty in securing funding as reasons.
For most of its existence, Scribble Jam refused corporate sponsorship, which Accurso explained as an attempt to keep the festival from being run by "those who don't understand [hip hop] culture", adding that outside marketing or promotion would "defeat the purpose" of the festival. By 2003, however, the festival had started accepting some corporate sponsors; that year's event was backed by Toyota/Scion.
competition, the B-boy battle or breakdancing competition, the graff-writer or graffiti
competition, and the beatbox competition. Historically, the most popular of the competitions has been the freestyle battle, although all aspects of hip hop culture are well represented. The festival expanded its initial 1996 emcee and b-boy competitions to include the DJ competition in 1998. In 2003 the beatbox competition was added to the line-up. In the last five years of the festival a Production competition was added to the festival line-up, and there were performances by guests including KRS-One
, Eminem
, Sage Francis
, Atmosphere, Blueprint
, Eyedea
, Mr Dibbs, Little Brother and Living Legends
which greatly increased the festival's popularity.
There are only two production champions listed on the official Scribble Jam website:
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
hosted in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Dubbed "America's largest hip hop festival", it was co-founded in 1996 by "Fat" Nick Accurso, and Jason Brunson, founders of graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
magazine Scribble, and DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Mr Dibbs, in the parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
of a local nightclub. The following year's event benefitted from better publicity, and included MC
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, DJ and breakdance battles for the first time.
In 2000, with the addition of new partner Tony Heitz, the festival grew in popularity, as tens of thousands of hip hop fans flocked to its grounds in early August. It has been known to attract up to 20,000 fans. In early April 2009, Scribble Jam organiser Kevin Beacham confirmed the persistent rumors that the event will not continue this year, citing the struggling economy and difficulty in securing funding as reasons.
For most of its existence, Scribble Jam refused corporate sponsorship, which Accurso explained as an attempt to keep the festival from being run by "those who don't understand [hip hop] culture", adding that outside marketing or promotion would "defeat the purpose" of the festival. By 2003, however, the festival had started accepting some corporate sponsors; that year's event was backed by Toyota/Scion.
Competition
The centerpieces of the Scribble Jam festival are the five competitions, four of which are designed to highlight the main aspects of hip hop culture. They include the emcee competition or freestyle battle, the DJ battle or scratchingScratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
competition, the B-boy battle or breakdancing competition, the graff-writer or graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
competition, and the beatbox competition. Historically, the most popular of the competitions has been the freestyle battle, although all aspects of hip hop culture are well represented. The festival expanded its initial 1996 emcee and b-boy competitions to include the DJ competition in 1998. In 2003 the beatbox competition was added to the line-up. In the last five years of the festival a Production competition was added to the festival line-up, and there were performances by guests including KRS-One
KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
, Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
, Sage Francis
Sage Francis
Paul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
, Atmosphere, Blueprint
Blueprint (rapper)
Blueprint is an American rapper and hip hop producer from Columbus, Ohio. He is the founder and owner of Weightless Recordings and is also signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment...
, Eyedea
Eyedea
Micheal Larsen , known by his stage name Eyedea, was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. His notable wins included the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO and a victory at Scribble Jam...
, Mr Dibbs, Little Brother and Living Legends
Living Legends
Living Legends is a rap group composed of eight hip hop artists from California. Beginning in the early 1990s, the crew garnered a following by recording, promoting, and performing their music independently...
which greatly increased the festival's popularity.
Past winners
As of Scribble Jam's conclusion in 2008 there have been thirteen emcee champions, eleven DJ champions, thirteen B-Boy champions, and six beatbox champions.Emcee battle
- 1996 - Mallachi aka Vendetta
- 1997 - MC JuiceMC JuiceTerry Parker, better known by his stage name MC Juice or simply Juice, is an American freestyle rapper from Chicago, United States. He beat Eminem at Scribble Jam in 1997. He was regarded in 2004 as one of finest freestyle rappers ever produced by Chicago...
- 1998 - AdeemAdeem (hip-hop artist)Adam Michael Arnone, known by the stage name Adeem is an independent American rapper from Keene, New Hampshire. Adeem is best known for his work in the hip-hop group Glue and for winning the Scribble Jam Emcee Battle in 1998 and 2001....
- 1999 - EyedeaEyedeaMicheal Larsen , known by his stage name Eyedea, was a well-known freestyle battle champion and underground rapper. His notable wins included the televised Blaze Battle sponsored by HBO and a victory at Scribble Jam...
- 2000 - Sage FrancisSage FrancisPaul "Sage" Francis is a hip-hop artist from Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:Born Paul Francis in Miami, Florida, Sage Francis is a rapper/writer/performer from Providence, Rhode Island. He is the founder and CEO of the independent hip-hop record label Strange Famous Records...
- 2001 - AdeemAdeem (hip-hop artist)Adam Michael Arnone, known by the stage name Adeem is an independent American rapper from Keene, New Hampshire. Adeem is best known for his work in the hip-hop group Glue and for winning the Scribble Jam Emcee Battle in 1998 and 2001....
- 2002 - Mac LethalMac LethalMac Lethal is a rapper from Kansas City, MO of Irish descent.-Biography:Mac Lethal was born David McCleary Sheldon on July 25, 1981....
- 2003 - RhymefestRhymefestChe Smith , known by the stage name of Rhymefest, is an American hip hop artist from Chicago, Illinois whose first official album, Blue Collar, was released on July 11, 2006. He co-wrote Kanye West's "Jesus Walks", which won a Grammy at the 47th Grammy Awards. In October, 2010, Rhymefest announced...
- 2004 - iLLmacuLateILLmacuLateGreg Poe , known as iLLmacuLate, is an underground hip hop artist/rapper from Portland, Oregon. At age 17, he won the 2004 Scribble Jam freestyle rap competition, making him the youngest winner in the competition's history. He is a member of the Sandpeople group...
- 2005 - Justice
- 2006 - The Saurus
- 2007 - NocandoNocandoNocando is a West Coast battle rapper and member of the hip hop group Customer Service. He is the 2007 Scribble Jam champion, host of Los Angeles club the Low-End Theory, and is currently on Alpha Pup Records....
- 2008 - The Saurus
DJ competition
- 1998 - DJ Precyse
- 1999 - DJ Precyse
- 2000 - DJ Precyse
- 2001 - DJ Sprite
- 2002 - DJ Skwint
- 2003 - Skratch BastidSkratch BastidPaul Murphy , known primarily by his stage name Skratch Bastid, is a Canadian hip hop DJ and Juno nominated record producer. His rise to prominence began with his 2003 Scribble Jam win, and his world class status was solidified with subsequent victories in 2004 and 2007...
- 2004 - Skratch Bastid
- 2005 - Spare Change
- 2006 - I-Dee
- 2007 - Skratch Bastid
- 2008 - DJ T-Lo
B-boy competition
- 1996 - Forrest Gump (individual)
- 1997 - Self-ExplanatorySelf-ExplanatorySelf-Explanatory is the second independent album by rapper Yo Gotti. It was released on May 22, 2001 through Inevitable Entertainment.-Track listing:# "Intro" — 0:33# "Go Gotti Go" — 2:57...
- 1998 - Phase IIPhase IIPhase II may refer to:* Phase II clinical trial* Drug metabolism Phase II* Star Trek: Phase II, a planned Star Trek television series that eventually evolved into Star Trek: The Motion Picture...
- 1999 - Midwest Junkie Cats (group with members of the Junkwartz and the Battlecats)
- 2000 - Junkwartz
- 2001 - Motion Disorderz
- 2002 - Motion Disorderz
- 2003 - Motion Disorderz
- 2004 - Motion Disorderz
- 2005 - Brickheadz
- 2006 - Brickheadz
- 2007 - Motion Disorderz
- 2008 - Brickheadz
Beatbox battle
- 2003 - A Train
- 2004 - A Train
- 2005 - J.Beetz (from SICK.SOUND.SYNDROME)
- 2006 - DJ Snuggles
- 2007 - PoizunusPoizunusAfter many years in the music business as a world renown beatboxer, Poizunus is now looking for another challenge.Since touring England in 2005 and performing at the Miami Winter Music Conference with industry heavyweights DJ Craze and Killa Kela in 2006, Poizunus has had a solid track record of...
- 2008 - Scott Jackson
There are only two production champions listed on the official Scribble Jam website:
- 2008 - Optiks
- 2007 - X:144