Then he corrects himself. "I mean, I'm an 18-year-old living in the body of 29-year-old. Uh... Yeah." Even though it was one in the afternoon when I talked to DJ P, he had just gotten out of bed, because he was still so tired from his long move to Portland from Springfield, MO, and the fact he's been flying all around to play glamorous shows in other states. What he was actually trying to explain was that he loves old school hiphop, but loves it with the same energy he did ten years ago when he first discovered it.

Which is why he rocks so hard. DJ P is the first one to call himself a party rocker, meaning he's into playing '70s and '80s funk, early '80s hiphop, drum & bass, and '80s rock. "I can't do all the technical stuff," he explains. "I mean, I like to take a song that everyone knows and doesn't care about and make it good." What's amazing, however, is that even with a more melody-based style, DJ P still managed to win the 2000 USA DMC/Technics DJ Championships--a national contest that's usually dominated by geeky scratchaholics. Moreover, in the years before he won, DJ P placed several times in the top five. "That's what made [the contest] so unique; I was the only one who did rock the party, and I believe that's what deejaying is all about," explained DJ P. The winning mix was based on Bruce Hornsby's "That's Just the Way It Is."

But even though winning the contest was good for DJ P's cred, he's now decided to come to Portland and give up the battles in the name of "rocking the party and having a good time with that," as he explains it. Though he doesn't have anything regular lined up so far, DJ P is already networked with Portland's DJ scene. "Right now, I'm just working on getting a place to live," he explained, after waking up a little more.

Watch for him.