Roc Raida

Who was Roc Raida?

Anthony Williams, better known as Roc Raida or Grandmaster Roc Raida, was an American DJ, turntablist and producer. He was also a member of the legendary DJ group the X-Ecutioners.

He joined the X-Men in the late 80s, but due to copyright reasons, the group later became known as the X-Ecutioners. The group released three studio albums, 1997's X-Pressions, 2002's Built from Scratch and 2004's Revolutions. In addition to his work with the X-Ecutioners, Roc Raida released albums as a solo artist, his most famous being 2005's Rock Phenomenon, a mash-up album he released with DJ Vlad that blended rock songs with hip hop songs, which won the Mash-Up Mixtape of the Year at the Justo Mixtape Awards. He also produced songs for artists including Ill Al Skratch, Showbiz and A.G., the Jungle Brothers, Mad Skillz, Smif-n-Wessun, Jehst, and Big Pun, and he served as Busta Rhymes' DJ.

He won the 1995 DMC World DJ Championship and was inducted into the DMC Hall of Fame four years later. He was the DJ for rapper MF Grimm through the mid-1990s, during both of the early stages of their careers. He also appeared in the 2001 film Scratch and the international television series Kung Faux.