Perfectly in tune …
March 1st, 2006This post has been copied from an article on “06 NEWS the week” Magazine March 1, 2006 Issue# 156 { Masscat - Oman }. For DJ Crow, life is a techno blast as he goes about experimenting with different melodies. 
DJ, producer, remixer, and lyricist Hassan al Khoumassi (aka DJ Crow), born in Lebanon,Is someone you shouldn’t underestimate? Finding music at a very young age, composing at 12 and rapping to hip-hop at 14, he has a heart full of determination and a soul that never sleeps. DJ Crow was introduced to the music scene through house parties, and he was amazed by how a DJ could get ‘the energy in the air and the crowd moving’.Soon after that, he picked up his own set of turntables and started spinning at small gigs at 16.Many genres of music he heard as a kid played an important role in his style - techno, disco influenced with a funky hip-hop twist, with a bit of Arabic melodies to showcase his cultural roots and background. DJ Crow says that music runs through his veins, and he thinks of melodies and bass lines all in his mind and imagines the song before he plays it out. DJ Crow makes it a point to play hits by other DJs as well
An artist in the true sense of the word, DJ Crow began to experiment with his own sound. His blank canvas was quickly brushed, layered and filled with a supreme set of elements, derived from not only his earlier musical influences, but also his new-found passion for R&B and soul.He developed a rich tapestry of sounds, distinctive and balanced, yet original and reflecting his deeper understanding of the art form. It was not long before this aspiring DJ got his first break. Since then, there has been no looking back.Over the years, DJ Crow has played at some of the most happening discotheques around the GCC including, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Egypt, Lebanon and now Oman, as well as supporting other DJs by playing some of their hits. I He said:
“Sometimes I play music from other DJs because it is good to play other tracks as well. I believe that it is very important to support one’s community.
If you have the opportunity to promote someone else’s music when you already have established your name, it’s really nice.”D J Crow performed at the HolidayIn Muscat recently to a packed house at an event organized by QIK.When asked what the most difficult aspect of Dj-ing was, he said:
“I think the hardest thing to learn for most DJs is the matching of the beats. It is really important to mix tracks and the better you are at it, the more time and thought you can put into the real part of DJ-ing, which is reading a crowd and deciding where you want to take them with your music.Of course, once you’ve reached the point where beat matching isn’t an issue, I think the hardest part would have to be learning the ability to mix any part of a record at any time, not just overlapping ends of songs.”DJ Crow has created his own platform, setting a fast pace, raising the bar and leaving the rest in his wake.
He has developed and refined an ability to connect with the crowd he plays for.
He constantly intensifies his capture of the audience with each track that he plays.
He is well known for pushing the boundaries of DJ-ing with his mixing, coupled with well timed and well executed ’scratching’ - qualities that seem all too rare today.
