Top 5 New York College DJ’s
College parties have been around for years. Even Dr. King himself attended a few Ice Cold jams back in his college day. It’s one thing to go to a party; it’s another to host it. To have that pressure on your shoulders of keeping the crowd rockin’, jammin’ to what’s pumping through those speakers is a hell of a task.
Hip Hop stems from two main components: The Emcee and the Disc Jockey. As our nation—Hip Hop Nation—grows, the party aspect has become more important than it has ever been. People use parties for promotion, marketing, ability showcase, etc. Promoters have made livings off key DJ’s and themes. Every theme you can think of has been thought of already: Foam parties, costume parties, grown and sexy parties, color-coordinated parties, toga parties, you name it—it’s been thrown.
History virtually repeats itself. One thing that does change, however, is the actual DJ. There are still some DJ’s that still do it however like Red Alert, DJ Mister Cee, Funk Master Flex and DJ Hollywood. Huh? Yes, I said it—DJ Hollywood! (Do your research young fella…) Now that Hip Hop is evolving, new waves of Disc Jockeys are upon us. The props’ prerequisites remain the same: “If your whack- stay off the tables.”
The equipment has been upgraded but if you don’t know the fundamentals of DJ’ing, you won’t understand its’ evolution. Hip Hop is still number one in any genre’s competitive nature. The best spinner will spin. The best player will play. Simple as that. Just like there are sucka emcees out there, there are sucka DJ’s. DJ’s aren’t just born, they’re made. Time and effort is put into spinning and scratching, keeping the crowd involved, updating your library, marketing yourself, etc. It doesn’t come over night. Hip Hop wasn’t built in a day.
The bottom line is: Can you cold rock a party?!
Here’s our top five college DJ’s in the New York area. If you’re not on this list, either drop us a line or tighten up your shit!
Judging criteria: Ratings 1 though 5.
Range of Music: We love the old school. Without it, we would be nothing. But understand artists don’t keep making music so we can still bump old shit. How updated is your library?
Music Exclusives: Mix tapes and new songs are leaked everyday. Are you a true music fiend? Do you live on allhiphop.com for the latest news and features? Can we come to your party and hear something we’ve never heard before? Were you bumping the Aunt Jackie in ’01?
Crowd Participation: Can you go through an old school segment of the party and cut the music when everybody’s favorite part of the song comes on and the whole crowd sings it acapella? Did you try it before and nobody knew it?
Crowd Motivation: Mixing and scratching is still strong in Hip Hop. Do you play one song and give a hint of your next joint and hear the crowd go “AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW” because they’ve been waiting for it the whole night and you tease them with a bit of the hook?
Marketability: Are you everywhere? Are you booked for the next six months? Gigs for at least every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night in different schools or night spots? Do you have a portfolio online and on hand? Does your demo and business cards have specific spots in every single pair of pants you have?
1. DJ Spider, The Godfather
Many of the other DJ’s across NYC refer to DJ Spider as the Godfather, their uncle. He’s the most experienced of all and it shows. Keep spinning.
Range of Music 5
Music Exclusives 4.5
Crowd Participation 5
Crowd Motivation 5
Marketability 4.5
Total 4.8
2. DJ Spynfo, The Next in Line
This man is everywhere. Four-out-of-five college parties, DJ Spynfo is usually on the ones and twos.
Range of Music 4
Music Exclusives 4
Crowd Participation 5
Crowd Motivation 5
Marketability 5
Total 4.6
3. DJ Self, The Prince of New York
The name isn’t as popular among the college ranks as the others but he’s been doing this since ’96. Yeah, he gets his Reasonable Doubt on…
Range of Music 4.5
Music Exclusives 4.5
Crowd Participation 4.5
Crowd Motivation 4
Marketability 5
Total 4.5
4. DJ Nasty, The Tri-State Great (New Jersey)
Not too major in New York, but is the King of Jersey. He even dubbed himself, “The Tri-State Great.” With confidence comes great power and with great power comes great responsibility. We’ll see over time how he steps up.
Range of Music 4
Music Exclusives 3
Crowd Participation 4
Crowd Motivation 3.5
Marketability 5
Total 4.3
5. DJ Lennox, The Hustler
As hood as they come but that’s where Hip Hop came from. The streets. This DJ promotes himself by wearing his own clothes with his name on them.
Range of Music 4.5
Music Exclusives 4
Crowd Participation 4
Crowd Motivation 4
Marketability 4
Total 4.1
Honorable Mentions
DJ Sho, DJ Scoota, DJ Zeke, DJ Monumental, DJ G$Money
