The DJ, as Bowie identifies him/her, is an active participant in knowledge construction. I am what I play. I am what I say. In other words, I am what I write, and out of my writing, my ideas take shape. Yet, the DJ remains an often ignored figure in the history of writing—and even more so in composition studies. In composition studies, the turntable and mixing skills DJs employ are considered irrelevant to an academic practice concerned with clear, concise, and linear dissemination of information, typically in a prescribed format that bears no resemblance to the DJ's methods of record collecting and, currently, sampling. Bowie's statement regarding DJs in 1979, however, offers a departure point for contemporary writing instruction. The DJ, as Tricia Rose writes in Black Noise (an examination of hip hop music and culture), reflects a specific moment in "post-literate composition." Cutting and pasting disparate sounds and music, the DJ forms intricate collages, fashioning new writing from a collection of past works. Often, and particularly in hip hop, DJ compositions are critical examinations of cultural practices: racism, misogyny, drug abuse, media influence and control—all topics that also dominate a considerable amount of writing courses and composition textbooks.