I got fired for playing Hip-Hop in Oakland, CA!
Gnat
1,183 Posts
So I was playing a long 4 hour "lounge" gig @ Kingman's Lucky Lounge, 3332 Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94610 and this girl named Shiela came up and said "play some hip-hop, it's my boy's B-Day"...so I played an anthem, "Hypnotize", and they all got juiced...dancing and ordering more drinks...the vibe is hot, which is hard to do @ 12am on a Sunday......just then, Kingman, the owner, comes through, and hears me playing the song. Now, we've already had previous discussions about not playing hip-hop, but I was tired of his bullshit and, once I was called into his office for a 'meeting' (immediately following the playing of the song) I said, "I understand your clientelle and I understand what you want in a business: make money and no violence. I can do that for you, but playing hip-hop is what I do." He said, "I expected you to apologize, not justify your actions."I said, "Look, I'm a high school teacher that works with kids from Hunter's Point, Richmond, and East Oakland...you don't have anything to worry about."He said, "You're assuming things."I said, "Yeah, but why else would you not want hip-hop? I get your customers and you'll have at least 10 customers leave right now if they find out that I got fired for playing hip-hop."Needless to say, the conversation went nowhere...he told me that things were getting "ugly" between us, yet I never cursed or raised my voice...that's when he informed I was no longer welcome to have my residency on Sunday nights.Fuck it...10 customers did leave and I've never been so happy to be fired in my whole life...gNAT
Comments
You don't go to work at Wal-Mart, mark up all their products 10%, and justify your actions by saying, "Well, you guys were putting all the Main St. stores out of business. I've just made the town happy," and expect to still have a job.
If you want to be in the business of decided what music is played, open your own club or start a radio station or something.
Seriously, compare it to any other job. Few people get to tell their employer what they are and aren't going to do and what rules they think are stupid.
That sucks, especially if the clientele was enjoying it but grafwriter speaks the truth. His club, his rules. Sometimes DJing for bars/clubs is the most wack.
Well fuck that job then. Anyways he said hes a high school teacher, dj'ing is obviously not paying the majority of the rent. So fuck it.
I would have told him that he can fucking dj if hes gonna be such a whiner about it and left.
I guess im not really a working dj or anything. ANd I understand clubs security paranoia a little bit, but personally If people are asking for hip hop, and you gotta sit there and say that you cant play it cause your boss will get pissy, you got
Alright no, that's not what I'm saying...I'm saying of all motherfucking places, Oakland,CA a bastion (sp?) of liberal, progressive and expressive thought, should not have to deal with bullshit censorship of this nature...
Grafwritah you're a wimp...I told my boss what the people wanted, gave it to them, and you have no cajones...
Really though, I was doing the lounge thing for three hours! Someone asked for a song...they'd been at the bar all night and having a good time with their folks...they wanted hip-hop so that's what I gave 'em...an unhappy coincedence when the boss came in, I'll say, but a satisfying one once I told the boss what was up...Grafwritah, you obviously work at WalMart and will alwasy don a Red Vest...
OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!
ummm, I really don't get your point...WalMart takes up Mainstreet's business by buying shit in volume such that they can underprice all mom and pop places...WalMart Sucks...
Good to hear about the Supreme Clientelle that jetted, though.
Sorry, I can't remember if you said already. Did you at least tell him that?
My very first night I played in a bar was in '93 at an acid jazz night. The promoters (other 2 DJ's for the night) said no hip-hop, wanted to start the night mellow. They also looked through my crates to make sure I wasn't gonna play what they were. I'm like, OK, fine, whatever you say. Third song in I drop Brand Nubian's "Love Me or Leave Me Alone" You know that beat drops and the sexy sounds, I don't know what they are, keys and whatnot, come in. All the sudden all the honeys get up on the floor. Yeah.
I look over and the promoters giving me this look like, what the fuck did I just tell you, but what's he gonna do? Stop the music and tell the honeys to sit down? I wasn't trying to disrespect them but c'mon. Just c'mon.
Of course I came back weekly for the next few months till I moved. Each week he'd say chill with the hip hop and each week I played it anyway. i wasn't getting paid or anything, just payin dues.
That has nothing to do with this situation really, here's a more relevant story. Sometimes you gotta stand up and tell the club owner what's what. After many minor infraction like smoking blunts in the club, openly with clients, as I play, or hustling 20 heads into a Rap Concert there, I really pissed off my boss by playing across the street in the same night. They had major rivalry going on and when he found out he was upset, acting like he was gonna fire me. Before he had a chance I gave him the opportunity. I said first, you want to fire, I understand, go ahead, but you know why I do this? it's all about the Benjamins, man. You don't pay me enough. I'm gonna do what I have to do to get paid. He didn't fire me and he didn't say shit for the next two weeks while I fulfilled my obligation with the other club. I had to demand payment at the other club but that's another story. I got it, though.
Point is, don't let these fucks think they can intimidate you. Let them know how it is. If they're smart or reasonable, they'll work with you. They'll have more respect. If not, step.
Hey, it was the early nineties and the ladies loved it. It was all a front for me to play hip-hop anyway. :P
Fuck that place.
That's it...people were having a good time and I'm a people's DJ...if you wanna hear something and it ain't gonna just KILL the night...you get to hear it because maybe I stoked you, or maybe the vibe was just so that you just broke your dry spell and got laid...whatever...
Of course, it probably didn't help matters that RIGHT before I played the song, I brought the levels down and yelled (no mike) "This song is for our boy ________, on his birthday, let's give him a BIG Bay Area welcome....(dude was from Canada)"
The owner didn't like that...that's when he called me into his office...and yes, I did explain that it was a request and he straight up told me that I had to deny such requests....weak sauce....
gNAT
-e
What is a 'loung' gig?
Do youl play Burt Bacharach?
What is a Piano Bar?
Is it the obvious.
A piano bar is a bar with a piano and a singer in it (as opposed to a DJ, ipod, jukebox, or other prerecorded musical device).
dude told yo u what you were aloud to play on this night.. why did you have the track in you're cratei nthe first place??
and what is the chances that you'd have htat ONE song on you... leads me to believe you had loads of hip hop on you.
which leads to the question why would you bring a grip of hip hop to a gig where you've been told not to play it??
maybe you're running things off serato in which case my question is moot.
additionally why immediatly assume owner is racist?? maybe dud doesnt like HIP HOP???? its his fucking club if he says no Socca only intimate club will be tolerated .. then you abide by the rules or step to another gig.
I don't know the owner in this case but most clubs in Oakland have ridiculous dress codes, search policies, etc to discourage "that element".
I find it odd that a guy would run a club primarily for Black folks and outlaw hip-hop - especially since many of the folks I used to see at the bar are wannabe rappers/producers/industry dudes themselves.
It was never a tough crowd, so clearly dude is worried about something that's not there.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Kingman is black.
What that sentence should say is:
Micro-managing/stingy-ass club owners aren't worth working for anyway.
I've played there a few times. Just not my vibe. For one, there's no dance floor (hence the "lounge"). I like playing stuff other than hip-hop, but I don't like not being able to play hip-hop. And every time I've played there, someone's requested hip-hop. It's just embarrassing to tell them, "Well, um...we're not allowed to play that."
Just trust the DJs to please the people that are there/come to hear them.
alot of times bosses will fire you for the fact that what you did went against what they told you to do.. it doenst matter if you were right or wrong what matters is you violated the bosses rules... and well that hits bosses in that one spot where they have total control, which is the ability to fire your ass for whatever reason they please.
Dang, if you don't like the club pay, you must really be pissed about the college radio dividends.
They weren't feelin' the Anti Pop Consortium and Lootpack, eh?
I disagree, a bar/club owner should hire you to play, based on your style. Its not your fault if he gets it wrong.
It's no good hiring a carpenter if you need a plumber.
Yeah very funny. But through your radio buzz you start to get real gigs opening for shows and events and still get to play the records you want. Can't beat that.
Say if you opened a club, but had to get the money from a bank. Could the bank say, hey, we will give you the money, we just don't want any hip hop being played there. And if they find out you did, can they get rid of you and take over operations?
Now, I totally believe the owner or manager is the boss, but this shit about telling an artist or DJ what to play is kinda suspect.
IMO it falls under censorship and borders on racist attitudes.
He could have just said, I only want you to play jazz & lounge type stuff and nothing else. But he picked out hip hop solely.
For some reason I just thought about a certain Toronto radio station back in the day. 2 owners, 1 didn't want any "black" (But I'm positive he meant hip hop, because other types of music was fine) music, the other one did... They parted ways and next thing you know, two stations are going. I always felt like finding that one dude and slapping him across the face. Attitudes like this were one of the reasons people were fighting for an urban music station in this city for 15+ years. And in a city as diverse as Toronto, it should have never happened.
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Regular comedians in here this morning
I understand about playing what the owner wants cos they're the boss, but 95% of clubowners have no idea how to run a club, and their pay for DJs is crap anyway. So I have no problem with DJs giving 'em a piece of their mind and just doing what they wanna do, ESPECIALLY IF IT'S IN THE CLUB'S BEST INTEREST.