What up grinders? As the chief MTM mentioned in the Fast Life intro blog. My name is DJ Nabs, welcome to my lab. This is the part of the ‘Fast Life’ where you’ll step inside the ever changing world of music, technology and overall DJ culture/lifestyle.
This week, I thought I would start with a subject that DJs all over the world discuss daily, the invasion of the non skilled laptop DJ…the poser..the Fake DJ.
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Now, before you read any further, I’d like to offer a disclaimer to all my friends in the business. This is not personal to anyone in particular. I apologize in advance if what I describe henceforth, sounds like you. I spent my entire career dedicated to the art of DJing and Hip Hop. I didn’t hustle drugs to make it and I didn’t kiss ass either. I just learned how to spin to the best of my ability. I’m not the most famous DJ you know but I’ve done everything in this business that a DJ can do and one of the things I’ve learned is that if you have a voice, try and use it for change. I’m writing this because these days all I see around me is blatant disrespect for the DJ culture and I’m compelled everyday to expose this fallacy. This is for me and every DJ who appreciates the craft and feels what I feel. I do this for Hip Hop!
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In every corner of the world, at every radio station and usually standing behind some of the biggest artists in music, there is a ‘real DJ’ who spent long hours learning the craft of beat matching (mixing), scratching (creating sounds by rubbing the record back & forth) and beat juggling (creating drum patterns between 2 records). Not too long ago, the idea was to actually be skilled in these areas so that hopefully, one would be respected enough to get work…maybe even get famous like Jazzy Jeff or Grandmaster Flash. Oh….wait….maybe that’s too far back. Maybe I should speak of DJ Drama or DJ Khaled? These popular DJs are well respected for mix tape compilations (Gangsta Grillz) and hit records (We The Best!!). The evolution continues I guess. Maybe actual DJ skills haven’t been necessary in a long time and maybe I’m just realizing what everyone else already knows.
When speaking of DJ skills, I should also mention that every proficient party DJ I know, like DJ Mars (ATL) and DJ Tee-Luv (Greensboro N.C.), understands the importance of ‘programming’ or playing the right record at the right time to keep the party going (or slow it down depending on what you need to do). Point is…being a crowd controller with the mic and the music is another example of what a ‘real DJ’ actually does.
Mixing live (or prerecorded) on the radio is actually a science as well. To create a seamless, creative mix while ‘sandwiching’ new records with current hits while keeping the listener engaged is not as easy as it seems. If I hear one more DJ ‘duck mix’ on the air (the practice of dropping sound effects and drops with the dj’s name over
