I’ve been seeing this image of DJ Skeme Richards (Hot Peas and Butta) floating around social media the past few days and aside from one simple grammatical error (your/you’re), It brings up a very good point. What is a “Real Hip-Hop” party?

Thinking back to my youth in the 90’s, It was as described on this image. You had artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and Ice Cube mixed heavily, but you also heard Chaka Demus & Pliers, The Gap Band, Nirvana, Armand Van Helden, and the late Prince. Nostalgia is an at all time high right now, and generations of music are being re-introduced every few years to the masses. The 90’s and 2000’s eras are huge right now, but there was a lot more than just Rap/Hip-Hop.

The take away from this posting is to have an open minded approach to DJing. With the Internet at our fingertips, There are so many ways to not only discover new music but also rediscover music and genres from the past. There is a musical balance that you can strike on the dance floor, and music programming is a skill that many DJ’s lack and/or ignore. As a previous post stated, Take risks. You can only learn from trial and error. Take them back in time. It works.