Cut Chemist

As well as being one of the ablest solo turntablists on the globe, Cut Chemist is also a member of two highly rated crews: underground rap kings Jurassic 5 and the Latin-funk band Ozomatli. He came up with the L.A. rap group Unity Committee, and debuted on wax with the B-side of UC's 1993 single "Unified Rebelution." The track, "Lesson 4: The Radio," was a tribute to and continuation of Double D and Steinski's seminal hip-hop collage masterpieces "Lessons 1-3,"and included nods to Indeep, Bob James, Spoonie Gee, and Dan Ackroyd.

Soon after the record's release, Unity Committee came together with another group, Rebels of Rhythm, to form Jurassic 5. Cut Chemist kept quite busy with the group, contributing "Lesson 6" to the group's eponymous EP and producing the entire record. He also delved into remixing (DJ Shadow, Liquid Liquid) and outside work (scratching for Less Than Jake; appearing with another Los Angeles group, Ozomatli). In mid-1997, Cut Chemist recorded his album debut, Live at the Future Primitive Sound Session, with Shortkut of Invisibl Skratch Piklz. His tracks have also appeared on two seminal turntablist compilations, Return of the DJ, Vol. 1 and Deep Concentration. - John Bush

He left Jurassic 5 in 2006.