There's a battle raging in Bangkok's clubs - it's the revolutionary movement of Thai DJ-ing, struggling to define itself amid musical imperialism.

And there are identifiable blocs, each representing a distinct vision for the future of night life: there's the New York crew, spinning hip-hop and old school, channelled by clubs like Q Bar and Route 66; there's the chic electronic trance and chill-out scene; bhangra has enjoyed a popular resurgence; finally, with the radio the mainstream media, we get the ubiquitous sounds of Ice, Palmy and Buddha Bless blasted from every street corner and taxi cab.

How will homegrown DJs survive the fray? US president John Adams' words, more important today than ever, described the battle for the "hearts and minds of the people" - true, but this one is also for their feet.

Last weekend saw two events epitomising the struggle: on Friday, the Chivas New York Fusion Party, supervised by NYC luminaries Ge-Ology, MC Supernatural and Jerome Sydenham; on Saturday, the Heineken DJ 2006 Competition, overseen by Los Angeles trance prodigy Christopher Lawrence.

Saturday's competition afforded the opportunity for three Thai DJ-ing outfits - Angel of Mushroom, DJ Zin, and teammates DJ King Kong & Super Electric Looser - to have their music judged, and thus be given the chance to shape the future of Thai DJ-ing.

Judgement, however, ultimately rests with the audience and Saturday saw crowds flooding into the 45th floor of the Central World Office tower for a New York-style night out.

"New York is in the house no matter where you go," proclaims MC Supernatural, mic in hand, bouncing to the beat. Showcasing his unique talent, he asks the audience to take objects out of their pockets and raise them in the air.

Contents raised, Supernatural starts rapping about L+M cigarettes, a passport, a baseball hat, even a pack of Dentyne Ice.

The audience goes crazy for his improvised lines, cheering madly every time he lands another perfect rhyme: "I'm so hot/ look at what I got/ my man just handed me 100 baht".

"For those of you who don't speak English, I'm the greatest freestyler in the world," he shouts. Like all good things from New York, a heady dose of ego is involved.

Born in the South Bronx in the 1970s, hip-hop emerged from the percussive backbone of funk and disco. In a city often dubbed the "New York of Asia", Bangkok's clubs have readily embraced the urban style.

In line with this, Ge-Ology's set is decidedly old school. From the Sugar Hill Gang to A Tribe Called Quest, even spinning James Brown, Ge-Ology keeps it funky as dancers gyrate on top of platforms shaped like New York's famous yellow cabs and the audience lounges between graffitied walls.

The other camps are equally firm in their claims to DJ superiority. Why is trance better than hip-hop? "It's not shunted away in the corner of a bar," Lawrence declares. "Who wants to go to a bar? Every bar has a DJ playing hip-hop."

Before Sunday's competition starts, one fan asks Lawrence, "What's the future of global DJ-ing?" Winner of the Best American DJ prize at the International Dance Music Awards in 2005, he's as qualified as anyone to answer the question. "I don't know," he says modestly. "Maybe we'll see it tonight."

Leading up to the event, however, the jury was out on whether it was yet possible to speak of a uniquely Thai style of DJ-ing acknowledged on the global stage. "The couple of times I've gone out [in Bangkok], it seemed kind of commercial," Ge-Ology says.

Confirming this view, Angel of Mushroom, one of the Heineken competition finalists, maintained that the music Thai audiences respond to best is "the music that has been played through the Thai media that's familiar and that has been heard a lot".

Lawrence himself hadn't heard of a specific Thai scene, aside from what he called the "legendary psychedelic trance days and full moon parties" of the '90s.

But acting as a judge for the event, Lawrence watched rapt as the Thai DJs worked a crowd of more than 1,000 at Moon Star Studios, spinning music far from commercial or familiar.

Angel of Mushroom led the way, forging a markedly electronic evening. Gathering extra points for showmanship, the three-member group incorporated live percussion and electric guitar into their act.

"They were incredible. I was blown away," Lawrence says following their performance.

DJ Zin is up next. His set is solid and without a lot of gimmicks, relying only on the music and perfect timing to work the crowd into a pulsating frenzy.

For the final performance DJ King Kong and Super Electric Looser take the stage. Starting with simple percussive beats, the set concludes with DJ King Kong leading the audience in chanting "Back to the old school!" until the beat crescendos and cuts out to wild applause. It is a performance that garners these two artists the 2006 title for Thailand's best DJ and an accompanying Bt100,000.

The evening ends without a trace of hip-hop or pop; the electronic camp has won out. What's the best way to describe Thai style? "Eclectic," says Lawrence. "Originality is the key. The world is full of DJs. The ones that are good are the ones that bring something new." Avoiding the familiar sounds of the radio, these DJs hacked a possible path for Thai dance music, focusing on the beats, the groove, and making people dance.

The Nation

JR de Lara