DJ Rafik

DJ Rafik , often just Rafik , (* 1982 as Lukas Langeheine in Düsseldorf ) is a German turntablist , DJ and music producer . Measured by the number of world championship titles won, he is the most successful battle DJ to date .

Career

As a child, Rafik was quickly accustomed to handling instruments by professional musicians, a violinist and concert master of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and a cellist. After learning to play classical instruments such as piano, cello and drums, he turned to turntables at the age of 13. Just a year later he had his first appearance in the Unique Club in Düsseldorf (together with Eric D. Clarke ). Through a show by the Berlin disc jockey DJ Hype , Rafik became aware of turntablism and finally turned to this special kind of DJing.

By participating in DJ battles, Rafik met the DJs Kid Fresh and Rasgunyado and joined their crew, Lordz of Fitness . With his team members (to which J-Bounce later also belonged) Rafik won the world championship title in the team category of the International Turntablist Federation (ITF) in 2003 and 2004 . In 2004 the Lordz took third place at the renowned DMC ( Disco Mix Club ) World DJ Championships .

Rafik celebrated his first major international success as a solo artist when he won the Battle Hit the Decks in Belgium in 2002.

The following year he was runner-up in the ITF Advancement Category.

In 2004 Rafik was the first DJ to win three of the four possible titles at the ITF World Finals: In addition to the world championship title in the team category, he won in the categories scratching and advancement . Rafik crowned his successful year with second place in the showcase category at the DMC World Finals, where he was only marginally defeated by US DJ I. Emerge .

In 2005, Rafik entered the ITF World Finals as defending champion in the scratching category and won again. A year later, Rafik finished third in the DMC World Finals.

Rafik produced his set for the DMC World Finals 2007 together with the French producer Le Jad . With this set he succeeded - in the third attempt after 2004 and 2006 - to win the DMC World DJ Championships. After DJ David , who won the DMC World Finals in 1990 and 1991, and DJ Pro Zeiko , who won the sub-category DMC Battle for World Supremacy in 2005 , Rafik is only the third German turntablist to triumph at the DMC World Finals.

With a total of six world championship titles won, Rafik also holds the current record and is therefore the world's most successful battle DJ.

Others

In addition to his work as a battle DJ, Rafik pursues various projects of his own. He founded the Eurostars project together with the multiple world champion DJ Tigerstyle from Great Britain and DJ Pfel , a member of the French C2C crew .

Rafik also got together with jazz musicians - the result was the band Cosmic Delivery , which sees itself as an interdisciplinary music group.

Rafik also worked with DJ QBert on his scratch DVD Scratchlopedia Breaktannica , a virtual lexicon in which all known scratch techniques are listed. Rafik is considered to be the inventor of the autobahn , a complex scratch technique that has developed into a kind of cult scratch in a very short time.

Rafik also works as a producer and remixer . His projects include the battle tool Workout Essentials Vol. 2: Sucker Punchin and a remix for a remix compendium of the manga Neon Genesis Evangelion, which has been released on DVD . In May 2014 his debut EP "Wait" was released on the Düsseldorf label Ching Zeng with the 3 titles "Can´t wait", "Baby" and "Hide".

Collaborations with international artists such as DJ QBert , The Roots , J Dilla , Laidback Luke , Crookers , DJ Craze , DJ Premier , D-Styles, Pendulum and many more as part of his work as a club, festival and support DJ led Rafik under to Australia , China , Great Britain , Japan and almost all Eastern European countries.

International titles in chronological order

DJ Rafik holds eight national, two European and six world championship titles. For the sake of clarity, only the international titles and placements of the DMC and ITF are listed here.

• 2003: ITF World Finals (Advancement): 2nd place
• 2003: ITF World Finals (Teams): Champion
• 2004: ITF World Finals (Advancement): Champion
• 2004: ITF World Finals (Scratching): Champion
• 2004: ITF World Finals (Teams): Champion
• 2004: DMC World Finals (Showcase): 2nd place
• 2004: DMC World Finals (Teams): 3rd place
• 2005: ITF World Finals (Scratching): Champion
• 2006: DMC World Finals (Showcase): 3rd place
• 2007: DMC World Finals (Showcase): Champion

Quotes

• ... I think Rafik is definitely a worthy champion. He is also a cool dude! He has a very high skill level, musical sense, and swagger.
• ... Rafik is an unbelievable DJ!

( DJ Shiftee , 2009 DMC World Champ)

Trivia

When asked about the origin and meaning of his stage name, Rafik replied in an interview: "... the truth will never be revealed."

See also

• Turntablism
• Disco Mix Club

Web links

• Myspace website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.musikschulen.de/projekte/musikschulkongress/mk05/ag14/index.html
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/djrafik
4. ↑ Christina Horsten: Düsseldorf DJ makes a career in New York . Article from June 24, 2013 in the portal rp-online.de , accessed on June 24, 2013
5. ↑ http://www.ortofon-dj.com/profiles/129-dj-rafik
6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/djrafik
9. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ http://www.ortofon-dj.com/profiles/129-dj-rafik
12. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ http://www.x2k.co.uk/2008/07/06/fast-autobahns/
14. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/djrafik
16. ↑ http://www.chingzeng.com
17. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/djrafik
18. ↑ http://www.myspace.com/djrafik
19. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 2, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
20. ↑ http://skratch.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/interview-shiftee-usa-2007-dmc-world-supremacy-champion/
21. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.