SPIN CITY By JOSLYN YANG  Email  Archives  Print  Reprint January 10, 2004 -- They may be too young to get into nightclubs, but some New York kids know how to get the party started. All it takes is some scratching, blending and mixing - and hey! Meet the new DJs. "I ran a 41/2-hour party for my friend's sister," says 14-year-old Graham Golden, an Upper West Sider. "I was the center of the attention. It was a lot of fun." And profitable to boot: He got paid $200 to do it. The fun began 18 months ago, when Graham took a DJ 101 class at the Scratch DJ Academy, the world's first hip-hop DJ school. Since it opened two years ago in SoHo - with a faculty that includes GrandWizzard Theodore, the inventor of the scratch; hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Caz and Reg E. Gaines, who wrote "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" - students ages 8 to 60 have poured in. Some students are so small, they can't even reach the turntables. "We actually have footstools for them to stand on, so they can be tall enough," says David Perpich, director of operations. Many of them have never stepped behind turntables before signing up. "The first class, they didn't even know how to turn the equipment on," says Rob Principe, who opened the school with late Jason Mizell, better known as the hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay. "Some students are afraid to touch anything at all," says instructor Damian Minervini. "They learn from their parents that they should never put their hands on the records or scratch them." Sorry, moms - fingerprints are a prerequisite at the Scratch Academy. The first time Graham scratched a needle on vinyl, he says, "it sounded like nails on a chalkboard." But he quickly fell in love with it. He studied, he practiced, and eventually, his parents bought him a pair of his own turntables - a $900 investment. "Graham has become more aware of himself," says his mother, Kim. "His music appreciation has also developed after taking classes." After taking two six-week classes, DJ 101 and DJ 151 (the school offers four in all), Graham now knows how to make a full-length mix tape. "It gives me immediate satisfaction," says Graham, who also plays guitar. "Deejaying, I'm in control of what I can do." DJ 101 alumnus Jesenia Perez, 15, says she felt intimidated the first time she walked into the academy's second-floor studio, with its 30 turntables. "You might walk in nervous. Then you will walk out so excited," says Jesenia, who lives in Union City, N.J. "It relaxes me," she says. "It's like the soul you feel inside. The school offers both group lessons ($300 for six weeks) and private classes from $75 to $90 an hour. For more information, check www.scratch.com or call (212) 529-1599.
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