Spin Doctor: saving hip-hop one spin at a time

Authenticity at UK club nights is fast becoming a rarity. The blame comes in a two-way finger point: epic venues are shutting down at an alarming rate and celebrity image is fast assimilating with reality. The result is that club nights are becoming more and more exclusive.

Hailing from North London, Spin Doctor is an ambassador for the upkeep of hip-hop’s spirit in London’s clubbing scene. And he’s not just limited to strictly providing the hip-hop flavour on a night out – he drops funk, rare groove, jungle and house all in between.

Spin Doctor is the brain and resident behind The Doctor’s Orders – a promotion company born in 2005, who have since been dubbed by Time Out as “the kings of the capital’s Hip-Hop scene”. They’ve hosted a huge number of world-renowned emcees and DJ’s in London, Brighton, Manchester and even in Croatia for Soundwave Festival. Alongside this, they run Hip-Hop vs. RnB, The History of Hip-Hop and a Hip Hop Pub Quiz.

The Doctor’s Orders host a range regular of authentic and unpretentious dances at heavyweight venues such as East Village, The Jazz Café and Scala. Their guests have included a wide and balanced span of UK and US acts – previous guests include Foreign Beggars, Fatima, The Four Owls, Erykah Badu, Questlove and DJ Premier to name a few. They are also the people to be thanking every February for bringing the sold-out J Dilla Changed My Life tours over to the UK in London, Bristol and Manchester. Doctor’s Orders focus on the music and the party as opposed to the ‘styling and profiling’. Steering clear of the glossy flyers with half dressed women, they don’t play around when it comes celebrating a genuine love of hip-hop.

London can pride itself in hosting a heap of hip-hop nights that cut right to the chase: Supa Dupa Fly and Living Proof sit alongside The Doctor’s Orders in allowing the city to indulge in both commercial and underground hip-hop and contributing to the life of the scene here in the UK. Spin Doctor is all about making hip-hop accessible for the hip-hop lovers, old and new. In an interview with Raw Roots, he said, “Hip-hop is often seen as being quite exclusive and sometimes intimidating so I like nothing more when people tell me ‘I’m not really a hip-hop fan but came to your event and loved it’. If we can make sure people see hip-hop in a more positive light and feel involved then all the better”.

A Tribe Called Quest and Dilla are among his favourite emcees and producers, so this bodes well alongside the simple message expressed through his collection of nights. He has compiled a mix ahead of his headline in Bristol at Boombox later this week.*

*Spin Doctor will be on the ones and twos at the second instalment of Boombox, a night for hip hop and garage lovers Blue Mountain, Bristol this Thursday. Tickets are still on sale – grab yourself one here.

Tracklist

If I Rule The World – Lauryn Hill ft. Nas
Ain’t Nutting But a G Thang – Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
Players Ball – Outkast
Southern Hospitality – Ludacris
Check The Rhime – A Tribe Called Quest
Pass The Courvoisier Part II (Instrumental) – Busta Rhymes ft. P Diddy and Pharrell
Woo Ha!! (Got You All In Check) – Busta Rhymes
Shutterbug – Big Boi
Shake Ya Ass – Mystikal
The Red – Jaylib
Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby – The O’Jays
I’m Not A Player – Big Pun
Family Affair – Mary J. Blige
Dude – Beanie Man
Lost Ones – Lauryn Hill
So Ghetto – Jay Z