Okay so I had a gig last night in my local club and during the course of the four hours I was playing, I realised I can’t mix hip hop/rnb very well at all. I just go for simple crossfades or cuts from one track to another most of the time. It might have something to do with the fact that I don’t really like most chart hip hop and I’ve never heard half the tunes people ask for in the first place!
Anyone got any more creative or fun ways of mixing hip hop? Just feel I need to freshen things up a bit ya know!
It’s a tough call, the crowd in this place don’t really appreciate you messing up their favourite 50 cent/ G Unit song. They just want to get pissed and listen to music they know already. Play a tune that isn’t popular at the moment and you’ll clear the dancefloor!
Another Dj friend and myself talk have had long talks about this…
Backspins occasionally are alright in my opinion.
What i like to do is cue (or loop if im syncing) a beat from the song i plan to mix to and then manually mash it over occasionally and then finally make the hard cut. And if you really want to get crazy with it in cue mode set your cross fader to kill the bass of the opposite track when you bring in the other (same theory as that whole ableton smart mixxing thing)
I usually mix hip hop as if I were beat mixing house music 4/4. I know that it is tough but if you are using traktor I would recommend to beatgrid your hip hop off the 1st snare, it takes alot of time, but it will be worth in the long run if you are going to be play alot of Hip Hop. Good luck
But if you just use those techniques for the mixes themselves, not during the songs, you might get away with it. If they just want you to play the whole songs, no mixing or anything, then, well, I can’t help you
