(Building an Unparalleled Experience at Every Event One Song at the Time)

Play Something We Can Dance To!

    Both of my children, Rebecca and Robert, are very creative. The things that Robert can develop on his computer amaze me and Rebecca is an accomplished artist. Their creativity was first displayed, not with a computer or a paintbrush, but with Legos.  They both enjoyed building with these small colorful interlocking plastic blocks at an early age. The extent of my ability was to build four walls and call it a fort. Meanwhile, they would build an entire farm, complete with a house with windows and doors. My son soon graduated from putting a few blocks together to buying entire Lego kits, following the step-by-step instructions to create the toy pictured on the outside of the box. When I opened up the box of Legos, all I saw were hundreds of different colored blocks. Robert on the other hand, connected one block to the next in the right order to complete a finished product. A creation he would then proudly display on a shelf.  

The premise of a mobile disc jockey is that he plays music. Sounds simple enough – when one song is finished, play the next one. It would be like picking up any Lego block and then randomly picking up another brick to connect the two together. They would probably connect together, but to what effect? That is, just putting Lego blocks together without giving any thought to the finished product would be pointless.  Anyone could do it, but only someone with the imagination and creativity can use his skills to effectively connect the Legos together in such a way that a recognizable structure or toy is formed.  The talents needed as a mobile DJ include selecting the song and then selecting the right next song to play after it. This process continues throughout the event until the end of the show.

There were times when my son misread the instructions, or changed his mind, and had to unhook a few Lego bricks to place the right bricks in their place.  Likewise, a mobile DJ will often play a song that appears to be the right song to play next, but it clears the dance floor.  Mistakes happen – but the experienced DJ will realize the error and soon make the adjustment.

With many of the kits that my son bought, the majority of the bricks looked similar to the other bricks that we already had at our house. The key was putting them in the right order to make a unique item. This is the same challenge faced by a mobile DJ at every event.  We often use many of the same songs, but by changing the order of the songs to fit the mood of the event, actually create a unique experience that is tailored to bring excitement to a particular crowd. Hardly an event goes by that line dance songs like Cupid Shuffle or Wobble are not played – but are they played at the beginning of the event, or after a few slow songs? It depends, again, on the mood of the crowd. At every event, the DJ has the opportunity to take his musical “bricks,” arranging them one after the other, in order to create an unparalleled experience.  

One of the genres that seem to be a part of any mobile DJ’s mix, regardless of the event, is early rap music with songs like Ice Ice Baby or Bust a Move to raise the temperature of the dance floor a few degrees. Artists like LL Cool J, Run D.M.C. and Heavy D & the Boys are still requested even when people say they do not want rap music at the event, they often still write those favorites on their playlist. This issue’s list contains the 40 most requested “old school” raps songs from the 1980s and 1990s. As with all lists featured here, these songs represent the songs that still “work” to get people on the dance floor. It is the mobile DJ’s task to determine when best to place these songs in the mix, like a Lego Master with his bricks, to build the perfect string of tunes for the party.

There are many classic early rap songs omitted from the list like The Breaks (Kurtis Blow), The Message (Grand Master Flash) and Planet Rock (Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force) simply due to the fact that they typically are no longer requested at most events. Keep in mind that the lists created for each of this feature’s charts are not all-time best of list, but are the most requested songs that are still relevant to today’s party scene. These songs are still requested and more importantly still get people on the dance floor when someone shouts, “Play Something We Can Dance To!”