Cut Chemist is the performing name of Lucas MacFadden, a turntablist and solo artist from New York, United States. He is associated with hip hop, trip hop, underground hip hop and turntablism, and is known for work across DJ performance, remixing and production.

Career

He first becomes known through the Los Angeles-based group Unity Committee, where he makes his vinyl debut on the B-side of the 1993 single Unified Rebelution. On that release, he contributes the track “Lesson 4: The Radio”, which pays tribute to Double Dee and Steinski’s “Lessons 1-3”. After Unity Committee and another group, Rebels of Rhythm, form Jurassic 5, he contributes heavily to that project, including “Lesson 6: The Lecture” on Jurassic 5’s self-titled EP and production across the full record.

He is also a former member of Ozomatli and Jurassic 5. Outside those groups, he works on remixes with DJ Shadow and Liquid Liquid, and he performs session work for acts including Less Than Jake and Ozomatli.

Solo work

His first solo album, Live at Future Primitive Sound Session, is recorded between late 1996 and mid 1997 with Shortkut of Invisibl Skratch Piklz. His first full-length solo album, The Audience's Listening, is released in 2006. The album includes “The Garden”, which uses a bossa nova approach and incorporates Portuguese vocals from Astrud Gilberto’s “Berimbau” along with berimbau instrumentals.

Later developments

By 2006, he is no longer appearing with Jurassic 5, and he leaves the group that year.