I'm a dj. My job is to entertain people.That's what I get payed for. But I only bring records to my gigs that I like. Some of those records I don't enjoy playing because they are played but when I'm in a club that I never played before and the crowd doesn't consist of trainspostting hipsters (like at 9 out of 10 gigs) , I drop it like it's hot (even though it was only four months ago). For example two weeks ago I played at club in Muenster. Half of the crowd was old hippies and the other half younger hip-hop kids. So i got the older hippie chicks open with "Super Duper Love" from Sugar Billy (the original of Joss Stone's hit) and kept the young rap chicks happy with Faith Evans. That didn't stop me from playing the Dap-Kings, some crazy Soul Makossa versions and the new Smif 'n Wessun 12" with Kweli. The biggest track of the night was still "1 Thing" but I had the dope Danny Krivit Edit with the mad organ with me which kept the nerd in me happy. It's a dirty job but I still love doing it...
The most 'hittiest' things I played in my last set were
Busta Rhymes - Woo Hah Beastie Boys - Alive Marlena Shaw - California Soul Jimi Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic Colcut - The Payback Mix Diana Ross - No One Gets The Prize
Oh this is even more fun.
The biggest hits I played last time were: I???m a Man ??? Spencer Davis Good Times Bad Times ??? Led Zeppelin Message from a Black Man ??? S.O.U.L and The Temptations back-to back
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
What is so problematic about "hits" with you? Why is it a cop-out?
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
What is so problematic about "hits" with you? Why is it a cop-out?
I don't understand it either. You say you "don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to" and yet you start this discussion. Something is obviously fascinating to you.
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
I started dj-ing because I wanted to share these great and sometimes raer records with people. Some 15 years later this is still a big part of what is driving me (I even stopped dj-ing for two years when I wasn't feeling the scene I was part of at that time no more). But how many clubs/parties do exist where you can really rock the raers and set the roof of fire? Keb Darge can do this in London and Tokyo but when he plays in Wuppertal or Utrecht it can be a different story.
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
I started dj-ing because I wanted to share these great and sometimes raer records with people. Some 15 years later this is still a big part of what is driving me (I even stopped dj-ing for two years when I wasn't feeling the scene I was part of at that time no more). But how many clubs/parties do exist where you can really rock the raers and set the roof of fire? Keb Darge can do this in London and Tokyo but when he plays in Wuppertal or Utrecht it can be a different story.
I am assuming that we are not talking about cultivating specific parties like the Rub, Marco's Bhangra or Soul nights or Frank's Vampyros Lesbos/Funk nights in NYC or Berlin(or wherever-just an example). These events and DJs are examples of music meeting head on with marketing and crossing into a territory where a scene is cultivated and attendees are a crucial part of the chemistry and arguably as responsible for the 'Vibe' as any DJ spinning. These folks would by Lotus' definition be the valiant Nerds, educating poor, unwashed, but cool enough patrons as to what is 'correct' party music.
By contrast, there are the unwittingly sad 'hit-slinging' Whores, not bad(some of my best friends, mind you)people, just ignorant of how superior 'doing your own thing' is and how much more fullfilling it is for the soul. We Nerds all like to slum it occasionally, though, so a Whore is a good thing to keep around in case you by chance have to entertain some lunkhead frat boys or sorority chicks, or (ew!) maybe some Black folks who actually like to listen to the radio(hasn't anyone told them that stuff is for the birds?).
Ugh, if this is the mental space people reside in, PLEASE never come to any event I might be spinning at, and honestly, don't even bother speaking to me. I am sure I would dissapoint you on every conceivable level, and sure that most of my friend's tastes(or lack thereof) would leave you aghast.
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
I started dj-ing because I wanted to share these great and sometimes raer records with people. Some 15 years later this is still a big part of what is driving me (I even stopped dj-ing for two years when I wasn't feeling the scene I was part of at that time no more). But how many clubs/parties do exist where you can really rock the raers and set the roof of fire? Keb Darge can do this in London and Tokyo but when he plays in Wuppertal or Utrecht it can be a different story.
I am assuming that we are not talking about cultivating specific parties like the Rub, Marco's Bhangra or Soul nights or Frank's Vampyros Lesbos/Funk nights in NYC or Berlin(or wherever-just an example). These events and DJs are examples of music meeting head on with marketing and crossing into a territory where a scene is cultivated and attendees are a crucial part of the chemistry and arguably as responsible for the 'Vibe' as any DJ spinning. These folks would by Lotus' definition be the valiant Nerds, educating poor, unwashed, but cool enough patrons as to what is 'correct' party music.
No, that's what we are talking about. That's the thing I've done for more than a decade and that's the best thing you can do as a dj. But since I've stopped promoting my own parties because of my other music-related job, I mostly play the guest-dj spot and keeps me in touch with the real world. But I still doubt that the nred (as I define him) is a good dj. A good dj lovesmusic and he loves the nightlife, he loves to dance (or at least used to be a heavy dancer) and loves to socialize. The nerd first and formost loves his records.
i think a collector first and foremost loves his records.
i think a nerd loves music and happens to also love the liner notes, biographies, recording equipment, back-story, drugs involved, lovers at the time of recording, discography of everyone who was in the studio and where the band was staying at the time of the recording.
i think a collector first and foremost loves his records.
i think a nerd loves music and happens to also love the liner notes, biographies, recording equipment, back-story, drugs involved, lovers at the time of recording, discography of everyone who was in the studio and where the band was staying at the time of the recording.
I'm a record whore. I'd do anybody here for an OG copy of billy martin & the soul jets.
the inherent problem being...........people love categories, everything has to be pigeonholed. Either you're this or that........God forbid you try to incorporate multiple things.
Why must dj's be whores or nerds? I think most out there are a happy medium. The rule I always stick by w/ dj'ing is, play something girls will dance to, that I also enjoy. I don't know if that makes me a whore or nerd, it's inconsequential. Most important is having a good time, and feeding off others who feel likewise.
since I have usually only gotten $50-$100 and free drinks for DJing, my attitude is "fuck a compromise", I am not getting paid enough to have to play stuff I dont like..so no radio hits, nor tunes to satisfy the frat dude and drunk girl...I know it seems selfish to be playing for just myself and the few other folks who wanna hear raers, but I am not a resident at a big club, the flyers always clearly state what is going to be played so I have no patience and or concern for the person who wandered in off the street and wants to hear R Kelly or "Super Freak"...
i respect people like chairman mao & the bumpshop family who play at hot nyc clubs and keep it real as steel. sheer magic in chicago for keeping shit on lockdown. big crowds usually make dj's cop out and go for the hits, these folks have locked it down ruthlessly, and it gets results. andy williams-scott c- in montreal bring it rare and have nuff audience at the goods. keb darge at venues worldwide (who mainly plays modern soul disco 45's possibly the nerdiest genre ever) fryer and gino in scotland have a 500 plus night and only play rare 45's. this is the kind of thing that gets me going, in a way gives me a reason to keep buying these rare records. of course it doesn't really matter if people like the stuff you play, but it makes the world feel like a better place when it happens, so i encourage it to the fullest.
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
What is so problematic about "hits" with you? Why is it a cop-out?
as I see "whorish" djing is catering strictly to the crowd and not putting your own touch on the music whatsoever. "nerdish" djing is catering strictly to yourself and not taking what other people want to hear into account. but it's a gradient. nobody is entirely a nerd and nobody's entirely a whore.
there's nothing problematic about playing "hits" and it's not a cop-out to play them. I don't spin shit I don't like. luckily I like alot of hits, but if I hate a song, I hate a song and I won't buy it. I don't know what that makes me. wherd up?
Presently, I don't get paid enough to play anything but what I want. If I gots me mo' $$$$ I might be willing to play some better known toons. Until then, I be playin what I want. But if someone comes up with the $$$$ I may be willing to pimp myself out. Tough call. I only play because I want to. If I had someone telling me what to play, it would be a totally dif'rent situation. Everyone has their price.
i don't think it's DJ Whores, it's more like "DJ Johns"... playing nothing buts hits is like paying for sex... you throw on hits, you know what the response will be, just like if you flash a few bills in front of prostitute you know what will happen... also, a hooker will fuck anyone for money, just as crowd will respond to anyone playing them hits... and just as a hooker won't remember you two weeks later, either will a crowd if all you did was just run down a top 40 playlist...
but, if you play to a room and really move the crowd and you don't rely on hits, you know they love you for you... not just b/c you recreated what they heard on the radio all week...
I think the question is faulty and thats why the confusion has come in.
You can't apply one set of guidelines to very different aspects of Dj-ing. If you're DJ-ing a dance party, I don't care who you are or how good you're mixes are, you can't play more than two songs in row that the audience has never heard or is totally unfamiliar with. I think the key with dance things is to play stuff that the audience is slightly familiar with and slip in some obscurer things. For a slightly familiar track, take for example, Mardi Gras. Every Dj knows about Mardi Gras, but most in the crowd don't. When they hear it they're like "Oh its that old school beat with those bells. hell yeah." They're not like, "oh that's a great track off of Bob James' 2. Thats Idris on the Drums, who used to be called Leo Morris. Apparently Biz has one without the bells etc." I know when Im dancing, I want to hear some shit that's slightly familiar so I can be "in the know." I'm drunk, I'm feeling good about myself, I want to feel even better so I can take this girl home etc.... If its some shit I don't know then I want to stop and listen to it....But the key is to slip it in. Like when you give Benji his parasitic medicine, you gotta roll it in some american cheese.
But if you're plaiyng a bar/lounge, people who are there want to hear cool mood music. Then play whatever. This is a totally different circumstance and skill altogether. Mixtapes -- I don't know how to answer that one.
I'm sorry, keep tasting all this sweat that's rolling off my brow and its making me salty.
The good one manage to please the crowd (girls first, no doubt!), no matter is the condition, even if he had only obscure stuff or hip hop only stack and a rock'n'roll crowd, he'll succeed to make people happy, maybe not immediatly, but at a point people will follow him because he can bring'em wherever he wants.
The bad one need to have drunk happy people in front of him, only hits people are waiting for if he wanna succeed. And even with that he'll manage to ruin the mood at a moment with some bad mix choice.
Bad DJs always find some excuses: close minded crowd, bad sound system, not working good turntables.. Good DJs don't find excuses because they don't need it. They always rock because they know (they feel) NOT WHAT PEOPLE WANT, BUT WHAT THEY NEED.
If you're only play what YOU want, don't look at the crowd and don't give a f*** about audience, you're not a nerd, you're a bad DJ. And you stay in your bedroom.
Comments
GESS.THAAT.MAKS.ME..A.REGGLA.JEZZEBELL..
I.PLA.ANNY.DAMET.HANG.FER.ANNY.DAME.HUSSEY.
I guess this makes me a nerd.
The whores all ways come out on top though.
Shit, Me and the Hook-Up are playing with Blowfly tonight and I think were some of the only ones in town who know who he is. This makes us nerds.
Whores get paid.
Oh this is even more fun.
The biggest hits I played last time were:
I???m a Man ??? Spencer Davis
Good Times Bad Times ??? Led Zeppelin
Message from a Black Man ??? S.O.U.L and The Temptations back-to back
i also got mad respect for the friday/saturday dj's who have to play hits, but i don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to. dudes like dee rock who have insane collections and play current hits must have alot on their minds when they rock, but they are making cheddar so who cares right?
as nerdy as i get, i would rather hear some hits at a spot than see some poor soulstrutter (type) playing rares to a crowd that isn't feeling it. kind of ruins it for me.
Stay out of Memphis!
What is so problematic about "hits" with you? Why is it a cop-out?
I don't understand it either. You say you "don't really find it fascinating enough to talk about or give shouts to" and yet you start this discussion. Something is obviously fascinating to you.
I started dj-ing because I wanted to share these great and sometimes raer records with people. Some 15 years later this is still a big part of what is driving me (I even stopped dj-ing for two years when I wasn't feeling the scene I was part of at that time no more). But how many clubs/parties do exist where you can really rock the raers and set the roof of fire? Keb Darge can do this in London and Tokyo but when he plays in Wuppertal or Utrecht it can be a different story.
I am assuming that we are not talking about cultivating specific parties like the Rub, Marco's Bhangra or Soul nights or Frank's Vampyros Lesbos/Funk nights in NYC or Berlin(or wherever-just an example). These events and DJs are examples of music meeting head on with marketing and crossing into a territory where a scene is cultivated and attendees are a crucial part of the chemistry and arguably as responsible for the 'Vibe' as any DJ spinning. These folks would by Lotus' definition be the valiant Nerds, educating poor, unwashed, but cool enough patrons as to what is 'correct' party music.
By contrast, there are the unwittingly sad 'hit-slinging' Whores, not bad(some of my best friends, mind you)people, just ignorant of how superior 'doing your own thing' is and how much more fullfilling it is for the soul. We Nerds all like to slum it occasionally, though, so a Whore is a good thing to keep around in case you by chance have to entertain some lunkhead frat boys or sorority chicks, or (ew!) maybe some Black folks who actually like to listen to the radio(hasn't anyone told them that stuff is for the birds?).
Ugh, if this is the mental space people reside in, PLEASE never come to any event I might be spinning at, and honestly, don't even bother speaking to me. I am sure I would dissapoint you on every conceivable level, and sure that most of my friend's tastes(or lack thereof) would leave you aghast.
No, that's what we are talking about. That's the thing I've done for more than a decade and that's the best thing you can do as a dj. But since I've stopped promoting my own parties because of my other music-related job, I mostly play the guest-dj spot and keeps me in touch with the real world. But I still doubt that the nred (as I define him) is a good dj. A good dj lovesmusic and he loves the nightlife, he loves to dance (or at least used to be a heavy dancer) and loves to socialize. The nerd first and formost loves his records.
i think a collector first and foremost loves his records.
i think a nerd loves music and happens to also love the liner notes, biographies, recording equipment, back-story, drugs involved, lovers at the time of recording, discography of everyone who was in the studio and where the band was staying at the time of the recording.
I'm a record whore. I'd do anybody here for an OG copy of billy martin & the soul jets.
kisses.
h
Why must dj's be whores or nerds? I think most out there are a happy medium. The rule I always stick by w/ dj'ing is, play something girls will dance to, that I also enjoy. I don't know if that makes me a whore or nerd, it's inconsequential. Most important is having a good time, and feeding off others who feel likewise.
as I see "whorish" djing is catering strictly to the crowd and not putting your own touch on the music whatsoever. "nerdish" djing is catering strictly to yourself and not taking what other people want to hear into account. but it's a gradient. nobody is entirely a nerd and nobody's entirely a whore.
there's nothing problematic about playing "hits" and it's not a cop-out to play them. I don't spin shit I don't like. luckily I like alot of hits, but if I hate a song, I hate a song and I won't buy it. I don't know what that makes me. wherd up?
If I gots me mo' $$$$ I might be willing to play some better known toons.
Until then, I be playin what I want.
But if someone comes up with the $$$$ I may be willing to pimp myself out.
Tough call. I only play because I want to. If I had someone telling me what to play, it would be a totally dif'rent situation.
Everyone has their price.
My first post. You don't know me, so ......
I guess Im a nerd too. Mabye just a slutty one or something.
but, if you play to a room and really move the crowd and you don't rely on hits, you know they love you for you... not just b/c you recreated what they heard on the radio all week...
ok, i've beat this metaphor to death...
You can't apply one set of guidelines to very different aspects of Dj-ing. If you're DJ-ing a dance party, I don't care who you are or how good you're mixes are, you can't play more than two songs in row that the audience has never heard or is totally unfamiliar with. I think the key with dance things is to play stuff that the audience is slightly familiar with and slip in some obscurer things. For a slightly familiar track, take for example, Mardi Gras. Every Dj knows about Mardi Gras, but most in the crowd don't. When they hear it they're like "Oh its that old school beat with those bells. hell yeah." They're not like, "oh that's a great track off of Bob James' 2. Thats Idris on the Drums, who used to be called Leo Morris. Apparently Biz has one without the bells etc." I know when Im dancing, I want to hear some shit that's slightly familiar so I can be "in the know." I'm drunk, I'm feeling good about myself, I want to feel even better so I can take this girl home etc.... If its some shit I don't know then I want to stop and listen to it....But the key is to slip it in. Like when you give Benji his parasitic medicine, you gotta roll it in some american cheese.
But if you're plaiyng a bar/lounge, people who are there want to hear cool mood music. Then play whatever. This is a totally different circumstance and skill altogether.
Mixtapes -- I don't know how to answer that one.
I'm sorry, keep tasting all this sweat that's rolling off my brow and its making me salty.
good DJ
Bad DJ
The good one manage to please the crowd (girls first, no doubt!), no matter is the condition, even if he had only obscure stuff or hip hop only stack and a rock'n'roll crowd, he'll succeed to make people happy, maybe not immediatly, but at a point people will follow him because he can bring'em wherever he wants.
The bad one need to have drunk happy people in front of him, only hits people are waiting for if he wanna succeed. And even with that he'll manage to ruin the mood at a moment with some bad mix choice.
Bad DJs always find some excuses: close minded crowd, bad sound system, not working good turntables..
Good DJs don't find excuses because they don't need it. They always rock because they know (they feel) NOT WHAT PEOPLE WANT, BUT WHAT THEY NEED.
If you're only play what YOU want, don't look at the crowd and don't give a f*** about audience, you're not a nerd, you're a bad DJ. And you stay in your bedroom.