DJ CO-MA

DJ CO-MA farming rice!

Is there a better story in DMC’s history? Meet the 2006 DMC World Supremacy Champion DJ CO-MA who juggled his life as a turntablist with life as a farmer.

Komagata – what a life you have led already! Let us go back to where it all started. At what age did you begin to have a love of music?

I started seriously listening to music around the age of eight, mainly focusing on Japanese music. Later, my older sister had CDs of The Beatles and jazz, and so I began listening to those. I also got to like more Western music, my tastes were quite eclectic.

How did DMC first appear on your radar?

Back then, when I went to my regular music store to buy a DJ tutorial video, I noticed a DMC World Final video on the same shelf there and bought it out of curiosity. That was how it all started.

In 2001, after graduating from university, you returned to your family farm following his father’s suggestion and began working as a rice farmer in Niigata Prefecture. Was this your life dream back then?

For me, farming was the last job I ever wanted to do in the world. Ever since I was a child, I saw my father coming home from work covered in muddy clothes, always smelling of fertilizer and dirt, and I thought to myself that this was definitely the kind of job I never wanted to do. However, since I didn’t have any money and couldn’t buy records when I was young, I reluctantly started helping my father with farming as a part-time job.

How did you combine your love of scratching with your farming duties – did your family approve?

Farmers start their days early and finish late, so I sacrificed sleep to practice relentlessly. I was often tired and sleep-deprived, often catching colds and oversleeping. My father used to get angry with me almost every day back then, but what kept me going was the joy of noticing my skills improve day by day. I believe it was my exceptional passion for DJing that allowed me to keep pushing forward.

Never letting go of your ambitions, in 2005 you won the DMC Japan title – and soon secured a top 8 finish in the World Finals. What are your memories of this time? 

That year, I competed against my close friend DJ HI-C from KIREEK in the finals of DMC Japan Final. I personally thought I had completely lost, so I was very surprised when the judges declared me the winner. I didn’t know what had happened and my mind went completely blank. Since DJ HI-C had announced beforehand that he was going to participate in the competitions, I believed I couldn’t beat him with my skills and thought that just making it to the finals would be my best possible result. But winning was totally unexpected. Every year around the DMC Japan Final, it’s the watermelon harvesting season, so I was very busy. I had to lied to my father saying I needed a day off to go to a friend’s wedding, but I never imagined that I’d actually win and get to go to London for the World Final. I was so happy, but also felt conflicted about how to explain this to my dad (laughs).

Do you miss anything about the competition days?

Yes, what I remember most is being constantly sleep-deprived! (laughs) The DMC JAPAN FINAL always coincided with watermelon harvesting season, and the DMC WORLD FINAL overlapped perfectly with rice harvesting, so it was tough for me. I have many memories of how hard it was, but even more than that, I was deeply drawn to turntablism, I was able to pour my entire life into it. I'm truly grateful to have encountered turntablism and DMC, which gave me a platform to express myself. It was truly an invaluable experience.