This man is known for his laser-like precision when it comes to conducting a dance floor.
You will be hard pressed to find a brother with a better understanding of beat juggling, scratching, and allowing beat breaks to simmer, elevating the soul through his well selected and even better-plotted-out sets.
No funny dance moves, he doesn’t rock a marshmallow on his head, none of that. He simply steers the crossfader decadently while his wheels of steel churn out immense heat.
You may have seen him at Back To The City on occasion or providing the waves that breakers catch at Red Bull’s BC One break dancing tournament. He is also known to emit ecstasy through his sonics at Smoking Kills just off the strip in Melville.
Bradley Andrew Tapinos AKA Licious, Tap-noses Taps more popularly known as Cutt or Tha Cutt is easily one of the most adept DJs we have locally.
Ardent fans of DJ culture and turntablism will be familiar with the name.
A shrewd customer behind the decks who could quite easily be regarded as one of our best hip hop DJs although his years in the game and meticulous diligence have seen him branch to other genres.
We watched as he manipulated a large crowd on a dance floor in a cave at the Mieliepop Festival in Mpumalanga, a few weeks ago, playing music that was slanted more towards psychedelic trans and trip-hop but this did not trip him up. The sets we witnessed him play at this festival were as good as the ones he traditionally does.
Back in the cut
Boksburg’s finest, The Cutt has scratched and blended his way into the memories of people who are enamoured with good music.
“In Boksburg, there were and still are a lot of DJs, most of them super dope, they played house mostly. I was more into hip hop and listened to lots of 90s/2000s golden era hip hop, where there were lots of scratches on the songs,” the 40-year-old maestro recounts.
“I thought this was really cool and wanted to try. I had a set of drums that I sold and bought decks from my friend DJ-Eazy-E who used to work at Boogaloos [a skate park] East Rand Mall. He helped me with a few records, and I was on my way.”
His fascination fast became a passion, and he would marvel at the DJs he would see in and around the city, filming them on his video camera while wolfing down DJ battles on VHS at his home.
He had a few DJ names before this one, DJ ID, DJ F*** and even Jabba Tha Cutt like Jabba The Hutt from Star Wars.
"But that name was taken so I dropped the 'Jabba' part and went with Tha Cutt which worked out because I am a video editor too which is also referred to as cutting video, and when scratching it's also called cutting. So, it's a play on words now.”
Cutt is a lover of music in general, but his mainstay is and always will be hip hop.
“My style of DJing stems from hip hop, using the turntable as a musical instrument doing on-the-fly mashups of songs and scratch routines. I mainly play hip hop, but I like to genre blend sending the audience to an unexpected soundscape through some of the different sounds I like. Growing up I listened to lots of different music and still do. I may play some hip hop, drum and bass, trip-hop, slow house, disco and amapiano or even gqom. It depends on where and how I will make it flow.”
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When he was starting out Tha Cutt would look up to a multitude of scratch DJs and turntablists. World champions of the time wo would win turntablism competitions and battles.
Veteran talents like DJ Qbert, Mix Master Mike, DJ Craze, DJ Woody, and DJ Boogie Blind. Locally DJ Ready D and DJ Hamma were guys he looked to emulate.
“Nowadays I find inspiration everywhere in any DJ in any music and there is always something to learn and take away from seeing different things, whether it is house music, techno, drum and bass or hip hop.”
Taste makers and tasteful gimmicks
He takes pride in the way DJ culture has made noticeable advancements locally.
“Locally things are doing well, we have many great artists and DJs, we have sounds and DJs all over the world right now and that's amazing to see. An important thing for our musicians is to own their sound and not be afraid to push all the boundaries.”
Still, this art form is shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty as it pertains to pre-mixed sets, USB DJs and using dance as a gimmick as well as DJs resorting to simply playing what is hot and not making tastes as they once did.
“There will always be chancers, if you have a real passion for the art and don't cut corners you will have longevity. I mean premixed is not good, if you're going to stand there and pretend, eventually you will get caught out. If you prepare your set and it's a full show then I don't see it as a bad thing, your selection still has to be great and you have to be able to deviate if the crowd and vibe are changing that’s where the real test comes in, play good music and engage the crowd.
“Preparation is still key. Most DJ software these days has the sync button so either way, it's easier for peeps. I think gimmicks can work but it depends on what it is, are you the gimmick? Or are you doing a thing in your DJ set that's a gimmick? I mean there was a DJ in the early 2000s from Cape Town named SIBOT who set his turntable on fire and was scratching, which was awesome to see, so it depends on how tasteful it is.”
What a mitzvah it would be to have a full-blown record crafted and masterminded by The Cutt and although he has worked on a few, he has yet to release anything official.
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“My aim now is some studio time making music and seeing where that goes, I have some ideas and sketches looking forward to releasing soon.”
Still moving
Besides his astute technique behind the decks, Cutt has a distinguishable appearance that also sets him apart. He was born with a rare muscle dystrophy where his muscles and strength don't develop to their full potential but fortunately, this isn’t a degenerative disease.
“My parents instilled positive assertion in me, and they always told me that nothing is holding me back and that gave me the confidence to do. I did have some complications throughout my childhood and early adult life such as developing scoliosis of the spine where I went for corrective surgery, and I also now have sleep apnoea. But all in all, we are good to go! I'm still moving.”
He believes his condition has led him to see the world very differently and allowed him to stay humble.
“I realise none of this shit comes easy. We must enjoy it while we can and push the most, that's why I never gave up and never will. At times it was very tough carrying heavy DJ equipment (vinyl is heavy) travelling up and down long hours long nights, luckily, I had people around me who supported me and wanted to see me do well. It has gotten easier over the hours but at times it can be tough.”
