Skip to content
SKILLZDJ Lethal

The Archive

Life Archive

Films from the life and work of DJ Lethal Skillz, kept here by hand.

Life Crate 05

Watch on YouTube

Lebanese DJ History, From My View: Turntablism Before the Internet

There was a whole DJ culture in Lebanon that most people never saw: pirate radio, cassettes, VHS, underground battles, records with their labels covered so no one could see what was being played. I grew up in Beirut during the war and learned turntablism from tapes, with no tutorials and no internet. This is my own view of that history, not the complete one.

Life Crate 04

2015 · LebanonWatch on YouTube

A Rap Show Hired Me. I Wasn't the Rapper. | Lebanon 2015

In 2015, the Malaysian TV production Hip Hoppin' Asia: The Saga Continues came to Lebanon to explore hip hop culture, and I was hired as its Location Manager. Years later, I went back through the original episode and cut this LifeCrate edit: not the full episode, but my personal archival look at that chapter.

Life Crate 03

Watch on YouTube

PhonoSapien: The Monk of the Third World | DJ Lethal Skillz

PhonoSapien was another side of DJ Lethal Skillz, taking the story beyond hip hop and turntablism into visual art, spirituality, martial arts and the world of Dragon Temple. This chapter traces that strange creative path from Beirut to Malaysia, and the collaboration with Atomsk that helped bring the vision to life.

Life Crate 02

Watch on YouTube

961 Underground: Before It Had a Name, There Was Beirut

Before 961 Underground had a name, a generation of DJs, MCs, writers, breakers and graffiti artists were already building an underground culture in Beirut. This chapter looks back at that scene from my perspective, and at the people, records, places and connections that eventually became part of 961 Underground.

Life Crate 01

1998 · BeirutWatch on YouTube

Safeit bi 3akss el Seir | Beirut, 1998

In 1998, I put my turntables in the middle of a Beirut intersection for a music video by Aks'es Seir. Shot on a small video camera with borrowed clothes, old DMC gear and a yellow Mustang, the footage later became something more than a music video: a document of Beirut and an early Lebanese hip hop scene.