Cambridge Versus Boston DJ Battle: City Councilors Face Off Behind the Decks

Photo via Facebook/Jon Edel

Boston and Cambridge have been at odds for years over turf, talent retention, and which city fosters the best students and universities.

But now, there is a new beef stewing, and representatives from each city are prepared to take out the tension on the dance floor.

On Saturday, August 24, Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson, and Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung, will go head-to-head on the ones and twos to see which elected official has the best music-mixing talent to get the crowd dancing during the first-ever Cambridge versus Boston DJ Battle.

Being held at The Sinclair, in Harvard Square—Cheung will have home field advantage—the event will feature eight DJs from both sides of the Charles River, all vying for accolades as the best area talent on the decks.

The event goes beyond just seeing two grown men step out of the office and into the electronic dance world, however. Proceeds from the DJ Throwdown will benefit both the Youth on Fire coalition in Cambridge, and Boston’s Alliance of GLBT Youth, to further fund their mission of helping teens in the gay community that have been kicked out of their homes, or may be homeless.

Besides the Cambridge-based Mmmmaven Project, a school that teaches the necessary skills to create electronic music, the all-ages event is being co-sponsored by the Greater Boston Young Democrats, the Cambridge GLBT Commission, and the Harvard Square Business Association.

Word on the street, according to sources, is that Cheung won’t only have home field advantage, but he has also been know to dabble in the world of electronic dance music. Last year he was behind the turntables at the Together Center, and he also has some experience from his time living in California. “With my experience, track record, tracks and records, I’m clearly the front-runner in this DJ battle; I hope everyone who’s a fan of Councilor Jackson or a fan of Boston shows up at the Sinclair because if the crowd judges based on performance alone, Tito doesn’t stand a chance,” he said.

As of Monday evening, Jackson didn’t have a rebuttal, but that doesn’t mean that the city official hasn’t been practicing for the musical bout. This photo was recently snapped showing the city official putting down tracks here in Boston:

For more information about the show, or to RSVP, visit the DJ battle event’s Facebook page.