What makes the experience special when you spin?
So, for me, [it’s] coming up with remixes on the fly or making a beat live and playing those songs that people haven’t heard in a while. I think it also has to do with your personality, too, as far as being able to get on the mic and kind of just direct the people to do what you want them to do. If you want them to be sad, you can make them sad. If you want them to be happy and turned up and just sweating their hair out, you can also do that. I think that’s really cool to kind of control the crowd that way.
Tell us about your latest project with DJ Trauma.
DJ Trauma, Dave Chappelle’s DJ, we just did a mix together called “Electric Vibration.” The thought process behind that was what new R&B can we introduce to the world that people might not know, you know, that’s not top 40? That process was literally just us coming together, like, “What do you think about this song? Have you heard this song?” I literally came with a bunch of songs because he had just gotten off tour with Dave Chappelle and hadn’t had time. So, we just went and sat through them. We played them and, you know, we were finding cool parts of the songs.
What advice do you have for up and coming DJs?
Have a strong network because those are the people that are going to book you — your family, your friends — and try to build that support system. Definitely practice. There’s never a height you can’t reach. You got to keep practicing. Technology changes all the time, and that’s a big part of DJing now.
