DJING Then VS DJING Now
It’s obvious that DJs present music to the fans who love listening to it differently today than they did in the past eras of DJing.
Regardless of the environment, you most likely listen to your favorite jams by logging on to your social media accounts, and I can understand how that’s the preferable method. It’s fast and easy! But in doing so, you’re choosing to filter what’s intended as auditory information through your eyes first. This doesn’t mean you’re consuming the art of DJing the “wrong way”. It’s 2023 afterall and we experience life through our phones in these modern times. But people’s social media habits have influenced the main components that make a truly talented DJ. Zoom out of the social media matrix for a bit, and take a look at how much has really changed in how DJs have shared music over the years.
Go back in time a few decades, to the 70s, 80s and 90s. The DJs from these eras who are now iconic figures like Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Jazzy Jay, Jazzy Jeff, Cash Money, the X-ecutioners, Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, DJ Numark, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, etc., became famous because they shared special qualities that are not requisites for DJing in present times.
Albeit who has the loudest speakers is no longer a qualification considering we don’t live in the 1970s, when a generation of unmonitored Black and Latino teens would set up in neighborhood parks and plug their sound systems up to public light posts. That said, music knowledge and skill have stood the test of time with regards to how DJs judge each other.
The DJs from the past dug deep, figuratively and literally, to assemble a music collection that was unique to their tastes. This made hearing a DJ play out meaningful. Depending on the DJ, you were being introduced to a rare playlist of music that was exclusive to that particular person’s background, ethnicity and life experience. Assembling your crates with music another DJ was known for playing was considered an insult back in the day. Today, on impulse, DJs will ask in the comment section of another DJ’s post, “what was the third song you played?” and DJs do this with impunity so it’s not much of an indignity anymore. It’s more of the new regular, which makes it obvious that some TikTok DJs nowadays do it for the aesthetic of it, not because they value the sanctity of sharing their record collection with people. As a result, you’re left scrolling through videos of “DJs” posturing in front of ring lights looking the part but are inherently sounding unoriginal.
What’s even worse, is a lot of the DJ content you encounter is actually staged. The performances are prerecorded and then simulated to achieve the illusion that the DJ in front of their iPhone camera is as good as he or she seems. Synchronizing your hand movements along with mixing and scratching techniques you in reality captured while sitting at a work desk before hand masks a lack of talent, and it’s a form of dishonesty that robs your audience of what they think they’re witnessing, creativity.
To finish this, I’ll say that not all DJs today are bad at representing the art form and overall culture. There are many, like DJ Koco a.k.a. Shimokita maintained the actual depth and talent which historically defines an authentic DJ’s style.
I also get this is an opinionated essay, but I think it’s something for people who are DJs and support the greater culture of DJing, to discuss considering how trendy it is now.