Hop-Fu live presentation @ off_corso, Rotterdam, 28/11/03 with DJs Excess and IXL of the Kolabz. “How to score a movie with turntables” workshop @ Hip-Hop Huis, Rotterdam 25/11/03.

Hop-Fu is the brainchild of John Carluccio and Barry Cole, who have been involved with the Hip-Hop and scratch DJ scene in different ways. John is most well known for his documentary BattleSounds, which was the first documentary to look at the Hip-Hop DJ on his own, focusing primarily on battle DJs and to that extent scratch DJs and turntable musicians. John has since been involved with many projects including “Scratch the Movie” (for which he was associate producer), a system of scratch notation known as TTM, and organising the Battle Sounds turntablist festival in NY. Barry (aka DJ Jes Grew) is a music supervisor and long time DJ who has worked on over 50 feature films and soundtrack albums including “New Jersey Drive”, “Drumline”, “American Psycho” and more recently “Brown Sugar” (which won a Grammy). Barry is also the founder and president of Spot Music in NY, which acts as a center for the leading network of music supervision and clearance worldwide.

Hop-Fu first came about in ’98, under the name X-Fu, following John and Barry’s ideas of merging film and DJ composition to create new and exciting work. With DJs Rob Swift and Roc Raida they put on a 15 minutes showcase, as part of an art exhibition, where the DJs scored short segments of the classic kung fu movies “The Bronze Man” and “Five Deadly Venoms”. Following this the road was paved for the idea to germinate further and turn into one of the most remarkable and interesting fusions of image and sound. John and Barry took the potential of their idea to the next level and decided to score a whole movie, not just short segments. In 2000 they teamed up with DJs Excess and IXL, both talented musicians and established battle DJs who had been working on similar projects that linked live turntable music with visuals.

They started work on scoring the whole of the classic movie “Prodigal Son”. Using their previous experience they set upon transforming the movie and turning it into an audio-visual experience that tips its hat off to the existing link between kung-fu and hip-hop (can anyone say Wu-Tang?), showcases the talent and ingenuity of turntable music and also manages to make a classic foreign movie relevant again for a whole new generation of spectators. Since 2001 and the first official showing of Hop-Fu, they have been touring the movie around the world, trying to get people interested in the idea and refining the concept as they went along.

Before the live show, John, Barry, IXL and Excess put together a workshop as part of the Blacksoil Festival entitled: “how to score a film with turntables”. We had the chance to catch part of the workshop (thanks to the dodgy instructions from the hotel manager which lost us 30mins) and see the guys jam with some local kids who had come down to see it. The workshop itself was as interesting as the concept behind Hop-Fu as they broke the concepts involved in marrying images and sound. Things such as audio and visual cues were explained and demonstrated as well as a short clip from the movie, which IXL and Excess then performed and broke down into component parts. The workshop took place at Hip-Hop Huis, which is a space for local kids to come to and take part in classes on breakdancing and other aspects of the culture. It was great to experience the vibe at Hip-Hop Huis and to see that no matter where you are in the world there are always people who are dedicated and in love with Hip-Hop. This is the sort of places they should have more of in the UK, a place where kids can come and be themselves and get involved with something they might not have access to normally.

The live show itself was everything I had imagined and more. Seeing it in a club venue made the whole experience even more palpable and enjoyable, as the DJs let loose for over an hour and the crowd just sat back (or stood for most) and witnessed one hell of a show. From the opening track all the way to the final battle between Leung Chang and his nemesis, Excess and IXL weaved together an hypnotising and captivating soundtrack to the movie, matching the moods, body expressions and characters to the music so accurately you wish all kung fu movies were reworked in such a way. The only audio element kept from the movie was the dialog, pretty much in its entirety (bar a few scenes where the DJs re-dub the dialog), and even though the cheesy English dubbing can become annoying when watching the originals, in this supped up version it becomes highly entertaining as the DJs fuse it with classic hip-hop beats which always fit the dialog and sometimes even manage to near enough sync to it. The fight scenes are all re-dubbed by the DJs using scratching, improvised on the spot. The furiously fast kicks and punches turn into sonic battles as the DJs let loose and incarnate the energy and fury of the on-screen battles on their own sonic battleground.

The movie itself is shown in pretty much its entirety with some scenes shortened and others speeded up, to fit with the music and tempo. You might think that 70mins of such a show might get tiring but the ease with which the DJs suck you into their version of the film and carry you along using instantly recognisable instrumentals and samples speaks volume about the amount of work and care that has been taken into putting the show together. Aided by the use of visual and audio cues, the DJs really work wonders and manage to turn Canton upside down on its head, breaking down boundaries between genres and cultures faster then you can drop your jaw. The selection of tracks was perfect with everything being used from Blackalicious to Kool G Rap, via East Flatbush, DITC, Dilated Peoples and even bits of jungle and breakbeat.

Some of the best moments include a kabuki singer belting out Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di”, a night time attempted murder played out to the dark sounds of a classic jungle tune and a final fight which gathers momentum on screen and tempo in sound as the two protagonists fight each other to death.

By the end of it you were left wishing there was more, as the final (and also opening) tune played out and Excess and IXL had once again showed the versatility and musicality that is inherent in their work as DJs/tablists/producers and also showed us all what we can only hope is a glimpse into the future of film soundtracks and live scoring. When we spoke to them in the afternoon during set up, Barry explained that the main reason for their extensive touring was to get people interested and attracted to the concept as their main barrier to releasing it lies in the money involved to clear the movie and all the samples they use. As such they are reliant on finding investors for the project, which seems to have finally happened as V.A.R.I (John and Barry’s audio visual company) have signed a contract with MTV networks to work on a weekly television based version of the show.

The history and links between hip-hop and kung fu are many starting with the Rock Steady Crew’s kung fu inspired bboying, to the Fu Schnikens short lived career to the rap/kung fu explosion of the mid 90’s helmed by Rza and the Wu Tang (and exemplified in the movie ‘Ghost Dog’ and its soundtrack), and so it seems strange that multimedia companies and media conglomerates do not see that there is money to be made by tapping into these links and using something like Hop-Fu to re-work classic movies into instant crowd pleasers, but I’m sure that with time Hop-Fu might indeed turn into something that will become very popular and help to shine some more light on an artform that is still widely misrepresented and abused by most media outlets. The way in which Hop-Fu manages to marry Asiatic film tradition with Afro-diasporic music tradition, taking both heritages and merging them into a whole seems so simple and obvious yet the potential of such marriages has only been hinted at. We can only hope that as the interest in Hop-Fu grows, alongside recognition of the musical talent of people such as Excess and IXL, the time will come when we will see things like this on our DVD shelves and go to movies which are scored and sound tracked by DJs and producers. Until then these guys will keep on kickin’ and scratchin’ till someone pays attention…

The showcase was followed by sets from local residents Waxfiend and Mr.Wix and a two hour set by the one and only Jazzy Jeff alongside ATOJ rapper and vocalist Paul Yamz. Jeff showed why he is still one of the best club DJs in the world, as he spread the gospel as only he can. He was on top form and the crowd seem to enjoy themselves massively, as Jeff pulled out tune after tune, with just the right amount of technique and skills to keep things lively. The way he broke "Crazy in Love" down and made a new melody out of it using two copies once again proof that he is not to be dismissed when it comes to being funky! Oh and props must also go to him for opening his set with Witness! Cos' when we get down we represent for London town! Check out our interview with Jeff when he passed through London last summer.

Many thanks go out to John, Barry, IXL, Excess for their time, Drew @ chocolate and Sasha Dees for arranging the hook-up. For more info on Hop-Fu and the people involved go to hop-films.com, styluswars.com and battlesounds.com.