Do you remember the 1982 video game where the object was to have Q*bert hop onto blocks, changing them from yellow to blue? For Richard Quitevis, Q-bert would be more than a video game — it would become his identity.

"I'm 5-feet-3 — pretty short, and I was fat at the time, so I looked like this video character. I didn't want to be called that; I wanted a kick-ass DJ name, but after my first gig, everyone was like, 'that Q-bert guy was good,' and it just got stuck," says Q-bert.

He is one of the world's most respected scratch DJs, and he's turned his ability into an entire self-started empire — from designing equipment for other scratch DJs, including the QFO portable scratch turntable and mixer, Ortofon personalized scratch needles and Flying Carpets for scratching slip mats, to getting his sound heard by the widest possible audience, producing soundtracks for movies and collaborating with musicians worldwide.

When Q-bert comes to town, the event is highly anticipated.

ISLAND-INFLUENCED

Quitevis, a Filipino-American, was born in 1969 and raised in and around San Francisco, but Hawai'i's influence was strong.

"I grew up eating poke, 'opihi and sashimi," he said. "My dad, Larry Quitevis, lived in Hilo. He was one of the survivors of the Hilo tsunami. He hung onto a telephone pole. ... He was just a kid, though." At that, he gave a slight laugh.

Early on, Quitevis believed he was destined for great things.

"When I was a kid, my mom gave me a book ... like the book 'The Secret.' It explained how you can pretty much do whatever you want. You just think about it and believe in it. As a kid, I believed in it. I drew pictures, and manifested it in my brain. It makes your whole path in life connected to what you want."

As it turned out, what he wanted was to become a scratch DJ — one who is now commonly considered one of the best in the world.

"I thought that DJing was the only thing I could do. Everything else I did, I wasn't too good at. I even got voted 'most likely to not succeed' and 'class clown' in high school," he said.

GETTING PHYSICAL

Very few DJs choose to be scratch DJs. Most DJs are party rockers — looking to move the crowd and astound them with their selections and ability to mix well. Scratching is a physical pursuit, requiring flash reflexes and innate musical ability.

Lots of people heard Herbie Hancock's 1983 hit, "Rockit," which includes wild scratching from Grand mixer D.ST. Q-bert, just a kid, got motivated to make a life out of the sound, after he saw the DJ scratching on "Saturday Night Live."

"I thought, 'What the hell is that? Where do I find that stuff? I gotta do that," he said. "I like the strangeness of the sound. To hear those instruments making those weird sounds. You got two turntables and a mixer, you're making music.

"Scratching is from the roots of hip-hop. It's not hip-hop, it's the roots — funk from the '70s, organic drumbeats — it's moving the sound back and forth. Playing with the volume and the pitch. It's definitely music and performance. When I do scratching of drums, you can put lyrics over it, have a singer sing over it, I even have a bassist play with me sometimes," he said.

While Q-bert had taken top prize multiple times in worldwide DJ championships by the early '90s, he's most often name-checked as one of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, a '90s turntablist crew. These guys became known as the indisputable experts, and issued a video series called "Turntable TV."

Since the Piklz dissolved, he's in demand as a touring solo DJ.

ON THE MOVE

Spending part of the year in San Francisco, traveling to fulfill gigs, and part of the year in Hawai'i, Q-bert is constantly working.

He recently completed a limited vinyl version of a song with Hawai'i artist Emirc (pronounced "immerse").

He's putting heads together with a San Francisco MC named Roscoe Umali.

"Roscoe is like the Filipino version of Biggie Smalls, and he's blowing up in L.A.," Quitevis said.

And he's also pursuing an Island partnership that might surprise some hip-hop heads — one with Jake Shimabukuro.

"I'm going to record next month with Jake — he's my musical teacher, like my mentor," the DJ said. "I try to transfer what he does on the 'ukulele to the turntable."

As an expert, he keeps on sharing his knowledge.

"We also just made a DVD dictionary of all the scratches," he said. "If you go to youtube .com/thudrumble, there is a do-it-yourself instruction video, and there are also over 120 scratches with the definition of what each scratch is."

His time in Hawai'i is spent working, but he makes time for his love for nature.

"I like to take videos of little insects, I love ocean views, waterfalls. I want to get out into nature. I need that balance," he said with excitement. "I just can't wait to get back to Hawai'i."