What Do DJs Actually Do?

Musicians tend to look down on DJs, but please keep an open mind here. Like everything in music there’s more to DJing than meets the eye.

This Insider video features DJ, producer, and founder of Fool’s Gold Records A-Trak, who has been DJing for over 20 years. In 1997 he was the world champion of DJing at age 15 before going on to become Kanye West’s touring DJ and founding his own record label. Beginning in 2017, he’s organized the Goldie Awards, a DJ competition and beat battle for DJs and producers to demonstrate their skills.

In this interview, A-Trak explains that the role of the DJ isn’t just to press a play button. It’s to control the crowd’s energy by selecting the perfect tracks to play at the right time (like designing a set list, only more dynamic).

On the other hand, check out the video below that which describes how tech is changing DJing.

I always approach music and songs that I don’t particularly like from the standpoint that millions of people have found something intriguing about it, so the creators have obviously caught lightning in a bottle. You can appreciate the craft and the production and learn from it even though it might not be your musical cup of tea.

Once again, please keep an open mind as you watch the video.