Art Basel visitors can expect to hear scratching sounds coming from the old-fashioned turntables at Las Rosas this Thursday. Scratches That Matter, debuting during Miami Art Week, is a party designed to present female-identifying DJs and turntablists and to raise scholarship money for underprivileged youth.
Daniella Rascón, otherwise known as RADskillZ, is the lead planner of this event. A photographer by trade, she found inspiration for the event when she began photographing female DJs behind the turntables and noticed there was a lack of exposure for these talented women.
“There are some guys I see all the time, but where are the girls? I want to see more girls,” Rascón says.
The event, which is coproduced by the Houston-based DJ Mz Rico, is designed to not only give exposure to women DJs but also revitalize a dying art form in an age when technology-based DJ'ing and syncing is the new normal.
Rascón says she has always appreciated this manual style and is eager to increase scratching awareness. “Right now in the rap and the hip-hop and R&B world, Miami has a lot of talent,” Rascón says. “Rappers always have DJs that do background stuff... I want to see that younger kids still have that [scratching skill] as technology takes over.”
Admission to Scratches That Matter is free, but donations are encouraged. Door proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund for underprivileged students to attend Scratch DJ Academy’s summer 2018 program. The school is dedicated to teaching DJ'ing styles and skills to students of all ages. The scholarship will benefit children from lower-income families.
“Gaining a respect for female turntablists while creating a scholarship for underprivileged youth is a pretty good thing,” Rascón says, emphasizing this event is one where attendees can “party with a purpose.”
In addition to the DJs, there will be clothing vendors, a self-proclaimed “tarot queen,” and performance artists. “Everybody is volunteering their time and energy for this first one to see what we can do,” Rascón says. “I want to produce a great event so next year we can get some money sponsors and pay the DJs so the door proceeds can always go to the scholarships.”
Scratches That Matter. 9 p.m. Thursday, December 7, at Las Rosas, 2898 NW Seventh Ave., Miami; 786-780-2700; lasrosas.com. Admission is free.