These days every one wants to be a DJ because it looks cool etc., but there’s actually a lot that goes into becoming the best DJ.
And this week ‘s article will be focusing on some tips that will go along way into helping you succeed…
Be passionate
As Steve Jobs once said, “People say you got to have a lot of passion for what you doing, but the reason is, because it’s so hard that if you don’t, any rational person would give up, So if you don’t love it and don’t really have fun doing it, you’re going to give up .the ones that succeeded in the eyes of society are the ones that loved what they did so they persevered, it’s a lot of hard work and if you don’t love it , you’re going to fail”
Know your ultimate goal
Knowing your utmost goal will help you achieve long-term focus. This simple means that every action you take must get you one step closer to that goal. If you don’t have a goal and you don’t set targets for yourself, it’s easier to be distracted and lose focus. You need to keep reminding yourself everyday of your goal until it becomes part of you then go out and give it your all every single day until you reach your dreams.
Practice
Forget the saying ‘practice makes perfect’, because in this game its perfect practice that truly brings out perfection. With so many DJs in the country, the odds are that half of them know the basics of DJing, so go beyond normal practice, keep innovating and trying out new things. Be free to explore what all those knobs in a DJ mixer can do. DJ Shimza is a great inspiration that there are countless techniques you can do when you hit the decks. So do not stop learning, there are probably millions of ways to play music so you need to keep innovating and creatively spicing up your sets to stay ahead.
Forget the Type Of Equipment
Do not listen to other DJs opinions that you’re not a true DJ if you can’t play with vinyls etc, Do not let this put pressure on you. Djing is all about creatively playing music and making an audience dance and feel good. Gear is irrelevant; your skills as a DJ comes down to your ability to work with what you have, which songs you play, and how to read and interact with the crowd.
It does not matter whether or not you are using Usbs, CDs, and vinyl, Ableton, Traktor, MIDI controllers or whatever.
Every single day there’s new gear being introduced so do not become a victim of thinking that these latest DJ gadgets will make you a better DJ.
“The bottom line from all of this is, I don’t care if it’s Digital, I don’t care if it’s Vinyl, Deep Or Commercial …The goal of a DJ is to rock the crowd. Period! ”
Host Your Own Events
Most artists face a lot of challenges when it comes to getting gigs, especially as up and coming artists, it can be very hard and frustrating. Thus hosting your own events will ensure you can book yourself and start building street cred as a DJ.
As your events become popular a lot of the popular local DJs will want to become part of the events, hook them up and ask them to hook you up when they have events as well. In this way you’ll start becoming a popular DJ brand in your area and will slowly start getting bookings if your good.
DJ Mixes
A lot of DJs underestimate the power that recorded DJ mixes have, A lot of people are lazy to put together play lists that they are gonna play in their cars or phones on the way to and from work. A mix makes it easier because you just hit play and listen to good music. Thus DJs who distribute good mixes to people are more likely to grow their fan base a lot faster. You can record and upload on sound cloud / Mix cloud and share on social media, Burn CDs and give out to friends and relatives, having small voice over of your name at a few intervals of your mixes will also let your name sink in a lot of people ‘s minds. Set targets like recording one mix a week or a month and ensure you stick to that frequency. This is how a lot of DJs build fan bases
Radio DJ Slots
Radio is very very important in breaking you into the industry; a DJ slot on radio exposes you to thousands of people, some radio stations have a reach of up to 2 million listeners, If you play good mixes consistently for a few weeks, trust me the amount of people that follow you would have increased drastically as well as your bookings. Take Shimza for example, I can almost attribute majority of his success to the YTKO mix slot he had on YFM. Although it’s not easy to break into radio but you just gotta do what ever it takes, put in the work and hustle hard and network with key people.
Hard Work & Persistence
You can have all the planning and strategies you need but the difference between those who make it and those that don’t is the work they put in. Hard work is nothing but developing the necessary habits to achieve your goal. It means you have to be good at lots of small things.
Even though you may fail at first, and make mistakes, you need to remain persistent. It’s the person who never gives up – who never accepts “no” for an answer. It’s the heart to keep going after you been turned down by every gig, every promoter and every record label and radio station.
“Greatness is a lot of small things, done well”
Lastly, be a Good DJ, Entertain your crowd
Always look and smile at the crowd, observe what’s working; communicate with them. The key is to connect with the audience and have the ability to read them and respond appropriately with a song.
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