[OT] **Underground DJ's > Top 40 DJ's...**

Off-Topic / Lounge
1

[OT] Underground DJ’s > Top 40 DJ’s…

Hey guys, well as the thread says I think that being an Underground DJ is much better than being a Top 40 DJ. Here’s my reasoning…

I have to say that most of my gigs are Top 40 gigs where I spend most of the night playing all the top commercial shit. (R&B, Hip Hop, Commercial, Latino) Yeah ok it keeps the dance floors full and the women happy, but on the other end I find it extremely boring. I cue up the next track play it repeat etc. Theres not much mixing involved, and I stand there waiting for the current track to end so I can play the next one. zzzzzzz :roll_eyes: Ok yes it pays me $$$ but its not what I enjoy and want to do the most.

Now.. Being an Underground DJ is on the other end of the Dj spectrum and where it at. Every now and again I get to play what I want and like, and thats something different. When I play my choice of music I get the chance to really mix and feel like a “Real DJ” It feels so much better cos then I feel really involved in the mix and I get to choose my style and genre of music. Now thats what really makes me feel like a DJ not playing some Top 40 shit. The only problem is that that doesn’t happen all the time like I wish it did, well at least not yet.

Being a predominantly Top 40 DJ pays the most $$$ for me at the moment but hopefully one day that will change, and I can be a full time Underground DJ…

So IMO an Underground DJ is where its at and where you get the most gratification of being a DJ. So fellow DJTT peeps… What are your thoughts on this? Thanks for reading this rather long banter btw. :slight_smile:

Which is better in your OP?

Underground DJ or Top 40 Dj?

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I’d go with the term EDM DJ rather than underground. Tiësto plays whatever comes across his mind and he is basically the underground anti-christ.

Other than that I agree :slight_smile:

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i do alot of top 40 events (alot of them all ages – so they have to be clean YUCK)

id much rather spin music i like to listen to because i get more into it.

but its all about how you go about spinning it. if you can rock a crowd and have fun getting creative playing with the regular run of the mill cookie cutter Black Eyed Peas song of the moment… then youre doing yoru job right

if your bored – even at a top 40 event where youre a glorified jukebox, start dancing man..

traktor has 4 decks for a reason. so you can listen to your music while you play shitty ass rebecca black. :smiley:

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Yeah I suppose that is a better term, but you know what I mean padi. :wink:

I do on occasion dance and move around, I mean I don’t dislike all the music, some of it is good stuff. I do try and pull of some remixes on the fly to try and make it more interesting which works and sometimes actually sounds pretty great, lol.

5

I understand what yours saying here OP.

I DJ every weekend at the towns biggest club (800+) on a Saturday not bad for a small town. But its top 40, all night every night but i can play some EDM tracks to mix it up.

Twice a month i DJ at a ‘underground’ house/tech-house/techno night so i can be more freely and play what i want.

Both residencies require a very high level of mixing tracks and creativity, I enjoy playing the underground more as i don’t like top 40 but i have recently started to enjoy playing the top 40.

I have a friend that loves playing top 40 but hates underground. Its all down to preference.

But i do enjoy playing tracks to people that are willing to listen to stuff they haven’t heard before, such a great satisfaction.

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hah I spin underground music. Like, really underground music. Like, so underground that the people who come to clubs barely know what it is (that’s also cause they’re stupid :stuck_out_tongue:)

But yeah, I’d rather have fewer gigs and really get to go nuts when I spin then spin stuff I hate to make money. But I have a day job that sucks up a lot of my time.

Maybe I should spin hip hop.

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:stuck_out_tongue:

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try dancing? :smiley:

If I got bored I’d just start trying to make the top 40’s mix as interesting as possible, just dont kill the rhythm.

PM me and I’ll take the gig if you dont want it.

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So underground? Hmmm how far under? Level? :smiley:

Yeah I get you. I love it when you go to a club and you hear a Dj playing killer tracks that you’ve never heard before and probably never will anywhere else, now thats what I wish to do more often.

Lulz.. :stuck_out_tongue:

I do that, actually alot of the time, it looks better if the DJ is moving rite?

I would offer you my gigs, but it might be a long commute mate. :wink:)

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For those all ages top-40 gigs, I usually start with mainstream and end the gig playing some house and electro. You’d be surprised by the way the crowd reacts to genres they rarely hear on a day to day basis.

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As far as I’m concerned when you give a DJ the freedom to play whatever he/she wants thats when there true talents and creativity will start to show and thats where they’ll shine.

Find the crowds that love and or like the same music/genres you do and go with it. If there isn’t a crowd then make one.

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I do both types of music but at the end of the day, the DJ who is better is who is better. If you’re boring as a top 40 DJ, chances are you’re just as boring as an “underground” dj. On a level that isn’t so harsh, don’t let your likes or dislikes limit your creativity. When you get past that, you open ideas of what you can do with different music, learn to appreciate it differently, and in my case at least, I was opened up to a lot of different angles to go at the music I love. Before I started playing hip hop and some pop stuff, I never thought of playing House and Techno in some of the ways that I do now.