I was the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument.

My contribution is: I was the first DJ to make the turntable an instrument.

My contribution to this whole thing is I was the first DJ to take an inanimate object called the turntable and play it like it was an instrument.

My father was my first inspiration. He had an incredible stereo and a turntable, and I was told not to touch it. But I'd go back and touch it anyway. I gained a respect for the turntables when I was a kid. When I was a teenager, I came up with a 'cueing system' to work the turntables because they didn't have it at that time.

The turntable is now an instrument at the Smithsonian.

But I had two very special people who helped to take my style to the next level. Thank God for my first MC Cowboy and my first student Grand Wizard Theodore, and to go out after creating this art form and finding everyone jamming to it - that too was pretty scary.