Biography
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Born In
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States
Brad Forste,better known as Mr. Dibbs, is a DJ and hip hop producer. The founder of the turntablist collective 1200 Hobos, he has also appeared on numerous underground hip hop records as producer or DJ as well as releasing a number of solo works.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forste was introduced to DJing around 1985, when he saw Grandmaster Flash performing on the syndicated light news/entertainment show PM Magazine, but "didn't really understand what he did". After watching an MTV broadcast of Grand Mixer DXT performing with Herbie Hancock on the latter's 1980 single "Rockit", he learned the hand motions and began to learn scratching himself. He estimates that he spent six months "getting the hang of" scratching, subsequently spending two years "cutting and scratching to whatever was on TV" to practice.
Dibbs formed his own turntablist crew, the 1200 Hobos, in the early 1990s. The crew's rotating line-up has included Buck 65, Adeem, Sixtoo, Doseone, Jel, DJ Abilities, Adverse, and DJ Signify among others, and at its largest numbered 23 members. They have released two mixtapes.
In addition to the 1200 Hobos, Mr. Dibbs has also been on-off touring DJ for Minneapolis hip hop group Atmosphere (though never an official member) and, with anticon.'s Doseone and Jel, a member of the group Presage, who released one album, Outer Perimeter, in 1998.
Mr. Dibbs' "Turntable Hardcore" series of releases was notable for its genre-straddling approach, blending a wide variety of styles along with more usual hip hop turntablism.
In 1996, Forste teamed up with graffiti magazine Scribble to put on the first Scribble Jam event as a promotion for the magazine's launch. The event has since become America's largest hip hop festival, with separate competitions for rapping, DJing, graffiti, b-boying and beatboxing; its past participants and guests have included such names as Eminem, Big Daddy Kane, Masta Ace, Juice, Prince Paul, Hi-Tek, Rhymefest, Sage Francis, El-P, Cage, MF DOOM, Doseone, Atmosphere, Buck 65 and Mr. Dibbs himself.
Mr. Dibbs is the founder and owner of his own label, Self Core Records.
Mr. Dibbs was featured on the Tony Hawk’s Underground (2003) soundtrack with his track Skin Therapy.
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