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The latest installment in the music-based video game craze is “DJ Hero.” Instead of manically pressing buttons on a guitar controller, players manipulate a turntable controller, mixing some of the greatest beats in dance, electronic, pop, rock and hip-hop.
From a musical standpoint, this game is what I have been waiting for. It boasts 94 original mixes and mash-ups, many done by legends such as DJ Shadow, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the late DJ AM. This is not a game but a musical experiment that finally gives DJs the rockstar status they deserve.
What I cannot do is comment on the gameplay, as I have not yet had a chance to test my plastic DJing skills. However, I have been surfing the internet non-stop since the game’s release a few weeks ago to listen to its setlist. I have listened to Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock” versus Queen’s “We Will Rock You” countless times and have yet to come across a mix that lacks any luster. Kid Cudi gets mashed up with the Black Eyed Peas, Justice with Public Enemy and Rihanna with The Killers, to name a few of the standout tracks.
It’s not hard to tell that “DJ Hero” is in a world of its own compared to the “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” games. Perhaps because the mixes themselves are works of art, creative masterpieces.
“Guitar Hero” lets players play along with some classic songs, but the songs were not made to be played this way. I’m sure the Beatles didn’t imagine “The Beatles Rock Band” when they wrote “Helter Skelter.” But DJ Shadow had the game in mind as he created his mash-ups, according to an interview in Rolling Stone magazine.
Ever since “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” 7first appeared, musicians and music fans have been up in arms. Musicians have decried these games for simplifying their craft. It takes most people years to become proficient at guitar, but now people can master technical riffs in an afternoon. Music fans are threatened by the sudden accessibility of rock music to an unimpassioned audience.
“DJ Hero” has little to no transferable skill to the real thing, but at least the principle is the same. Gamers and DJs are both manipulating the playback of songs. “DJ Hero” gamers shouldn’t be showing up at any clubs or weddings, but at least the game is more like the real thing than “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band” are.
True music enthusiasts can appreciate the game’s compositions as well. Instead of turning 14-year-olds on to played-out classic rock tunes, “DJ Hero” reimagines some of the best current music. Instead of players committing musical heresy by making Kurt Cobain sing Bon Jovi songs, they are making the DJ vignettes in the game mix tracks by artists they love.
“DJ Hero” will hopefully turn the world on to an art form few people know about. Most people wonder what DJs really do besides just press play. The art of mixing, beat-matching, sampling, scratching and mashing are lost on the majority of people.
Rockstardom should not be reserved solely for shredders like Eddie Van Halen and Kirk Hammett. Lightning-fast scratchers and mixers like Daft Punk and DJ Grandmaster Flash deserve their place as well. If “DJ Hero” proves anything, it’s that there is a DJ heaven where DJ AM is spinning away right now.
