Rayymon Beatz, a 23-year-old student at Clark Atlanta University, has gained over half a million TikTok followers through his ability to mashup beats on his turntables all in a 60-second video. He is not only a DJ but also a producer who has been influenced by music since childhood.
Beatz spoke with rolling out about his DJ career, and tips for others looking to get into the profession.
Where did your love for music come from?
I grew up in the church and was playing the drums. I was in marching and concert band throughout high school, so I could read music fluently. I started making beats around 2014, and that’s where my DJ name came from. I went to Clark Atlanta University, and I was trying to be a producer because we’re in Atlanta and there’s a lot of connections, so I felt like I could talk to somebody like, “Hey, I’m trying to be a producer,” and it would just click like that.
Where deejaying actually came from, I didn’t have any plan of being one at all. I never wanted to be a DJ, but I had a love for crowd control. I was so good at being on the AUX cord at kickbacks, and people told me I should start being a DJ. I talked to some more people and they told me I should do it. If they’re saying I should do it, then I should do it. I bought my equipment around December 2019, had one party, then the pandemic shut that down. I stayed in the house a lot, perfected my craft, and here we are now.
What’s the biggest misconception about DJs?
The biggest misconception is that everybody thinks they can do it. Everybody thinks that deejaying is just playing music. It is not just playing music, it is catching the right vibe, transitioning at the right time, making sure that the songs are not playing too long, and making sure songs don’t overstay their welcome. Reading a room is a very essential thing to do because if you play one wrong song, the whole party is off. If the DJ is on the mic, and he’s not saying the right thing, he’ll throw the whole party off. Everyone can’t be a DJ because there’s a lot more things to it than playing songs. I wish people [would get] that. Because they’re usually like “he’s just playing music, anybody can do that.” I promise you, I put you behind this pioneer, I just want you to show me what you can do.
