If you were to search for a single name or face behind the wild success of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, you would inevitably find the mastermind called Yogafrog. As president of the recently revamped Thud Rumble Ltd., he has taken their patented style of "skratch music" beyond all known boundaries and placed it atop a burgeoning cultural movement.

With almost no formal business training, Yogafrog has managed to earn shining credits as executive-producer for both the Wave Twisters album and Wave Twisters the Movie. As producer of the widely popular Turntable TV videos and co-founder of the Skratchcon2000 event series, Yogafrog has successfully secured his position at the forefront of a million-dollar industry. If you’ve ever wondered how far "skratch music" could go, peep Yogarfrog on the horizon….

Yogafrog.

Never to be caught in the vapor trail, Yogafrog is always looking to the future. Since taking over the business affairs of the former deejay crew, his incredible foresight has kept him on an unwavering road of success. "We just watched this movie, Scratch, and it encompassed the last 20 years and it was great," says Yogafrog. "And that’s what influenced all of us to be where we are today and I guess our focus is where the next 20 years will be for scratching—all scratching."

With the ISP name officially retired, Yogafrog has continued to evolve his business persona in order to stay ahead of the game. "It’s a continuation of this transformation we’re going through. I guess, for us to do that, it will enable us to focus on what’s new and not just what’s been," explains Yogafrog. "We want to focus on more futuristic things for the people instead of just old history, old music, old topics…."

Though many people are still lamenting the demise of the former crew, Yogafrog assures that the changes will be for the better. "The same focus we’re on is training," says Yogafrog, "so whatever comes out of that is going to be good no matter what. We’re all training—not just for the turntables—but spiritually and [for] the advancement of the art form."

As for catching Yogafrog himself behind the wheels of steel, he continues to sheepishly demure: "If you want to see me, just come here or something or to the Warplex and, y’know…we’re all having a good time…yeah…I’ll do something…." So while a live public performance may not be forthcoming, you can still catch a glimpse of the turbo skratch in Wave Twisters the Movie.

"There’s a lot of things…" says Yogafrog, "like DJ Flare, who you’ll never see him up on stage, but you’ll see him cut it up here in private. Every deejay, I’d bet would say, their best routines or best performances were done in closed areas or intimate settings. I kind of enjoy that more."

While the future is still open to even more dizzying heights of achievement, Yogafrog’s legacy has already been etched firmly in stone. His company, Thud Rumble Ltd., made a major mark on the world of turntablism when it hosted the now-legendary Skratchcon2000, which included the Invisibl Skratch Piklz’s final swan song at the Fillmore auditorium.
"I think it all went as planned, as we wanted it planned," says Yogafrog. "We wanted to just encompass everyone getting together and utilizing what was learned in the last 20 years into one show."

By any standard, Skratchcon2000 was a huge success, surpassing all expectations and weathering well through some serious detractions—some from one of the longest running crews in the Bay Area, the Bullet Proof Space Travelers, who’s hardcore b-boy stance was too much for some attendees to handle.

"What they’re saying is everyone that was a part of it is wrong," says Yogafrog. "So that’s the whole entire deejay world—from everyone from DJ Shadow to the X-Men, to the Beat Junkies…to everyone. But they’re the only ones right… that’s my interpretation. We’re all wrong but they’re right. We’re all together trying to do something positive. We got every crew in the whole world, in one place and we all agreed to do it…but we had one group that said it’s all wrong. So who’s really wrong?"

Whether or not there will be another such forum on the DJ arts is still up in the air. "Our intention was to do it like the Olympics, like every other year or every four years, but I think that was it," says Yogafrog. "We’ll see what the next 20 years does…."

This interview took place on December 12, 2000 at the Lair of the Octagon.
Dopestyle, yo.