June 01, 2009

DJ Kentaro - Spinning in Style

By Madeleine Chong

Turntable prodigy? Or just plain hard work? With DJ Kentaro, you sense that it's really a blend of both.

At the age of 13, he had his first taste of the profession and never looked back. At 16, he took part in a DJ tournament, the first of many to come. When he turned 20, the Japanese turntable maestro made ripples in the scene when he became one of the first Asians to come out tops at the 2002 DMC World Championship, a testing ground for the best and brightest deejays out there. He made history in the process by being the first winner to achieve a perfect score on his brilliant 6-minute set. Mad skills indeed.

Since then, DJ Kentaro has been involved in a whirlwind of frenetic spinning activity, with a 12-city tour of Japan in 2007, an album, Enter, on independent label Ninja Tunes, and collaborations with stellar artists such as the Roots, Coldcut and The Pharcyde.

MTV Asia recently caught up with the modest turntablist when he was in Singapore for the Asian Edition of Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Festival. We find out more about his love for soccer, funnyman Jim Carrey and how practice really makes perfect when it comes to honing one's craft.

You've made quite a name for yourself in the industry since your 2002 DMC World DJ Final win. What was the experience like?

It was very exciting and a dream come true; the memory of it is still fresh even though that was quite a few years back.

When did you discover that you wanted to become a DJ?

I'd always wanted to become a soccer player when I was young. Then, one night I was watching this local TV show on DJ battles and that got me hooked on all these different elements, like hip-hop music, scratching, and spinning on the turntables. I got myself decks after that. I was only 13 years old!

About the Championship 6 minutes winning set, did it take a lot of practice to perfect?

After I came in third at the Finals in 2001, I flew back to Tokyo and spent the rest of the year practicing all the way till the next competition in 2002. The key to success is spending more time on the turntable. These days I've been busy with traveling, and I would really like to take some time out to practice again.

What is the best and worst thing about traveling?

Mostly bad food, other than that, everything else has been pretty much smooth-sailing. I'm not that into greasy and oily stuff, and I really miss Japanese food if I am away for too long.

Do you have any mentors, or any DJs that you admire?

Yeah! There are many good deejays. I like DJ Food, DJ Craze and DJ Marky from Brasil. Personality-wise, I think DJ Food is quite similar [to me], he loves a good challenge, plays very different genres of music and is not afraid to tackle new things.

Is there any celebrity or artist that you'll love to meet?

Jim Carrey! I loved his character in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I play football and I love the sea, so I'd say scuba diving.

If not for deejaying, what would you probably end up doing?

I want to travel the world. Maybe I'll become a writer and publish a book, or even a journalist, who knows?