HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Australia’s next supermodel dj hahahahahahahahah thats gold
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I reckon we get Sef and Pete (Rockstarr) as judges and maybe Havana as the shows host(we do want ratings afterall )
We can get the DJ wannabes doing shit like peforming nude in the Myers windows or maybe djing in a pit of snakes and shit. Instead of a photographic portfolio they have to produce a 20 min mixtape which is critiqued for originality, flow and commercial appeal - hahahaha
Personally, I know I’m not an adept technical DJ. My strengths lie in track selection and, previously, remixing; I can’t scratch but my beatmixing is fine. To me, to be a DJ you need to have “skills” to set you apart from the average person playing music. Contrary to what many people would believe, it does take some ability to just play music, even if you are beatmixing with intros and outros and not scratching. eg. You need to be able to read the crowd and control the dynamics of your set. These are the important bare minimum to be considered a DJ in my book. Scratching, production abilities etc, are great skills to have, when used appropriately, in combination with the other necessities, but to me aren’t essential.
Unfortunately, as time progresses, DJing has become less about these necessary skills and more about the DJ as a product. The DJ has always been, I guess you could say, at the forefront of the club scene, associated with the “cool” element, and it’s inevitable that that side of DJing will get exploited so “accessorised” DJs can have their 15 minutes. By “accessorised” DJs, I mean the ones who have the tools and bells and whistles that allow them to get away with being called DJs, but lack the actually core abilities.
I guess what will distinguish a real DJ with the passion for music and skills from the “accessorised” DJ is longevity, because the fad quickly passes, but the skills and music will not.
I should add that what is perceived as a necessary skill depends on what you aim to be. eg. for a hiphop DJ, scratching is an essential element, where as for current rnb, seamless mixing appears to be more valued.
On the technical side of things why not consider some of these points
In my day (geez I sound old - cause I am) there was only Vinyl. Most of the music in the early 80s was not electronically assisted. Drummers on real drums maintained the tempo of a song and despite their best intentions, song BPM would drift (try beatmixing ‘Street life’ if you think i’m kidding)). There was no auto cue, no BPM counters, no push button phasing and reverbing, no temp locks or auto loops.
All of these technology advances has made it easier for anyone to get basic mastery of some of the DJ techniques. Sure playlist and track selection is still something done manually but being a dj is far easier today than it was in years gone by. Now true there are djs and DJS but if the pre-requisites for entry are easier then its no wonder that marketing and image start to play a key differentiiating role.
Dont get me wrong I’m still in awe of the turntablists and trust me you haven’t lived till you’ve seen Mark John on the CDJs or Sef scratching CDS (dont even get me started about A-Style / Chango combined sets...I cried...) but in the days gone by, a basic beat mix or cue took skill - not so much today...(and i do love the technology assists)
yep i agree completely Bobby, and I think the fact that it’s easier to dj now than ever before, lessens the significance of those more technical skills. ie. when a promoter is faced with whether or not to add a dj to their lineup, the significance of their technical skills seem to come under consideration a lot less. This is definitely unfortunate as it takes the art form out of it, but it is a reality.... promoters and punters of more commercially viable nights are less concerned with the skills because the crowd is less concerned with the skills. DJs love hearing other DJs delivering their art, but punters are more concerned with hearing the songs they like, usually with minimum change. Thus giving the chop-and-drop DJs, the ones who play two hits consecutively, changing speed from 120-70bpm, their moment of glory.
yep like i said the djs who do go crazy with changin there bpm speeds every track will not last in this scene for much longer
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the crowd wont give a shit if a dj is average or not, as long as they hear the music they wanna hear then its all good for them which kinda sucks
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but the reason ur seeing so many djs come out and say something is bc we know who is great and who isnt and we dont wanna see ppl who aint that great be talked about like there god
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nick i think u would of had a ball if u where djing back in our days when it was nuthin but vinyl
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u are right tho, djs today have it so damn easy compared to wat had to do back then
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back then if u couldnt dj or didnt have a music collection then u wouldnt get anywhere in the scene, if u looked hot and couldnt dj then u would end up in the crowd watchin on bc i think back then promoters actually cared about wat there djs did on the decks and wat music was played
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bobby can u imagine walking into a billboards or warehouse with a laptop back then, im sure it will be a massive laptop but yeh lol
yep like i said the djs who do go crazy with changin there bpm speeds every track will not last in this scene for much longer
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the crowd wont give a shit if a dj is average or not, as long as they hear the music they wanna hear then its all good for them which kinda sucks
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i fucking hate that. when you hear a track thats playing .. like 10-15 higher than original tempo and ugh it fucks with the pitch and sounds like some hampster dance shit, i HATE that. Play that shit NORMAL tempo thats why they made the song at 96bpm and NOT at 115 sheesh
oh man, you’re not wrong. 12"s with 3 or 4 different remixes, awesome music with substance, and especially what bobby was talking about with mixing tracks without porgrammed beats. That’s the shit right there. I would’ve been broke though cos i would only be able to get music on vinyl
how come no promoters are saying anything on the issue?
Probably cause its not seen and an ‘issue’
If some hottie (boy or girl) with an ability to play to a crowd an use CDJS (but not a traditional DJ perse) could guarantee a full house (or at least large following) of good looking boys and girls waddaya reckon promoters will do.....
The crew I work for run a regular Havana Nights theme - - with Dancers etc...and I gotta say the them night goes off..
We did another launch of another female DJ (DJ A.K) same result. I know A.K has been booked extensively since that gig at venues including Watermark, 31 Flavas, Alumbra, BCM, Platform 1, Eden just to name a few..even rumours of an offer at Grooveons fave club (but thats just rumour and hearsay)
The reality is the scene has changed yet again - Simon Sez now plays alongside A.K, Havana plays along FMR, Mark John plays alongside DJFemme
i tottally agree with X.
People that dont have skills dont last that long…
Look at DJ Lenno for example .. He was able to became famous because of the whole SUPERCLUB thing not bcos of his djing skills. Now he doesnt appear at any RnB night unless he runs it himself…
bah promoters are to scared to speak simple as that, i have talked about this to a few and they know about this thread
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seriously a dj who jumps from 100 bpm to 128 bpm and back down to 90 bpm in 3 tracks isnt a dj and never will be, i really dont care if he or she djs here and there atm, djing like that will not get u anywhere in the long run, either learn how to dj or find a new job bc ur giving all the djs around here a bad name and i will stick by that forever
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i have yet to see a male or female rnb dj sell out a club down here and i really cant see that happening any time soon
Ok wow there is some strong opinions on this topic so since 99% of this thread is about female dj’s ability and image I thought I would put my 2 cents in from a famale dj’s p.o.v. Well firstly Id like to say there were some comments made earlier in thread about a “new” female dj and whether those comments were made about me or not are besides the point everyone is going to have an opinion and everyone is gonna hate on u in some way or another throughout ur career. I bought my cdj’s just over a year ago and have been djing the club scene for about 6 months now, so to have gotten the amount of gigs that I have gotten in those 6 months I think is a pretty big achievement for me, and dont think its come easily its taken alot of practice and I havnt really had much help.I dnt think im the best dj far from it and I still have ALOT to learn and would love to one day be playing on turntables scratching and doing all that shit cos i think its pretty amazing watching someone with skills do that. I think every Dj has there own style and every dj can own the decks no matter whether there beat mixing cutting or scratching or entertaining different dj’s get hired for different reasons..The man himself who actually started this thread once told me i dnt ever dj on bpm so that just go’s to show that u dnt need to be beat matching every track but in saying that i agree with the comments made about changing bpm 3 times in 3 tracks...Great props to Havana Brown for where she has gotten herself whether that be because of her skills, her looks her management it doesnt matter shes doing her thing and if shes happy and content with where she is then good on her, and I mean alot of the hate going her way is ppl wishing they were doing wat shes doing anyway so let her be. I also think that being a female in the industry isnt easy yes you have an advantage to get gigs but u dnt purly get gigs cos ur a chick there has to be some skill behind it, and knowledge of music BUT we get scrutinized so much more than if it were a guy behind the console, people are just waiting for u to make a mistake so that they can say she only got the gig cos shes a chick. I have heard some of the best dj’s (in my eyes) play and heard them fuck up a song or 2 so I dnt think people should be so critical. ALSO BOBBY u are in my opinion the best old skool dj ur set at watermark goes off and i dnt think ur to old to be doing wat you love!! At the end of the day if ur not in it for the love of music (which is the one and only reason i went and spent my savings on a set of cd’js, the rest is a bonus) then you wont last in the industry long so people can say wat they say cos the way i feel is the more ppl hate on u it makes u want to prove yourself even more. Just be urself play the music u wanna play and that will prove how much u want it more than anything u could ever say.
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