New York DJ

Maino's "Million Bucks" is a gem of a mainstream hip-hop tune that does just about everything: It's gritty enough to appeal to fans of edgy hip-hop; it's melodic enough and its rhymes are positive enough to make it not too harsh for more conservative listeners; and its sunny, laid-back beats are bouncy enough to likely appeal to most of those in between. This means the song not only can appeal to a wide spectrum of guests, but can also be used at many kinds of events, and during many parts of events.

A Brooklyn rapper who last year released his debut record If Tomorrow Comes…, Maino collaborated with hip-hop producer wunderkind and fellow rapper Swizz Beatz on "Million Bucks," one of the album's singles. Often Swizz's sound – he created the well-known anthemic siren-and-synth beats in DMX's classic hit "Party Up (Up in Here)" – is all about bigness and exuberance, and "Million Bucks" is no different, as Swizz gives the tune a feel-good foundation, with subtle background whooping and cheering under the vocals that makes you feel you're in the middle of a great party. It's over this vibe that Maino lays down not an ode to all the money he has and how superior it makes him, but instead a positive, deftly-rhymed rap about wanting to give away money because he feels so fortunate about his life and the time he lives in.

Overall, the song exudes an infectious, "hands-in-the-air" celebratory feel that makes it sound like the slightly grittier cousin of Kanye West’s hit from a couple years ago, "Good Life." (Go here for a post about the great versatility of that song.) Though it's unfortunate "Million Bucks" never reached the heights on the charts that "Good Life" did, this does mean that "Million Bucks" can most assuredly be pulled out at your event and still feel fresh to your guests.

As DJs in New York City, we find that there's no shortage of great sexy and fun hip-hop tunes to spin for dancing, or for use as models strut down a runway at a fashion show, but its harder to find hip-hop like songs "Million Bucks" that are "big" enough that they work for dancing but are also "chill" enough that the songs don't feel "in the way" if your crowd are sipping drinks near the bar. Also, when you're not DJ-ing for a crowd that knows its hip-hop well, to play a set of it at any time other than for dancing is sometimes tough, as often, unless there's a strong melody throughout, the rhymes are lost behind guests' conversation volume. And as DJs, we don’t want to have to turn things up too much if, in the moment, people want to talk and relax. However, with "Million Bucks," there's the prefect combination of a melodic chorus and a tight, crisply-delivered rap that makes it the rare song that's completely at home at the mellower parts of an event, as well as the more energetic parts. And to create a great song like that in any genre is worth quite a lot.

Have a listen…

Maino (ft. Swizz Beatz) – Million Bucks

When we meet to talk with clients about music for their event, often the first thing we notice is that they've already dejectedly decided the music they really like and want to hear won't be able to be played at their event.

It may be a designer in a fashion show thinking that the music she wants to use for her fashion line will be too ethereal a sound to keep the audience interested. Or a couple who loves moody acoustic indie pop but thinks it would be too much of a downer to play a little at their wedding Or an organizer of a corporate party who worries that the employees won’t dance because they tend to like raw Southern hip-hop and their bosses wouldn’t. Whatever the case, whatever the event, it seems this kind of unfortunate premature musical censorship is everywhere.

It often comes from a good place of common sense or consideration, like an organizer at a art opening knowing that prospective buyers might not want to hear his beloved deep cuts of ‘70s classic rock all night long. But some of our clients’ decisions that their favorite songs or genres won’t work comes not from a good place at all, but instead from having met with conventional, unimaginative DJs that tend to work for bigger, more cookie-cutter DJ companies. We’ve heard from these clients that some of these DJs have told them straight up that the only way to get a party movin’ is to play disco all night.

Whatever the reason for clients' doubts in the music they love, one of the first things we tell them – no matter what their event –  is to open up their mind, revisit their CD collection or iPod, and make their “dream list” of songs they want to hear, with no censoring allowed. Put anything in you would love to hear. Not only does it make the process of selecting music easier, but also more fun. It will get you excited about the possibilities of hearing this music, as opposed to nixing songs right away and feeling frustrated that the soundtrack to the event is already not what you would like.

Now, will all these "dream songs" end up making the cut when the event arrives? Sometimes many of them do, sometimes they don't. But what always happens is that when we see these “dream lists” and talk a bit with the client to see what music is most important to them, we can then use our experience in knowing what of these songs will work given the mood that is wanted at the event, as well as what kind of guests will be there, and what kind of structure the event will have. Then we can suggest which songs to keep, which to think about not using. For example, a pair of melancholy indie songs at the more sedate moments in a wedding can feel absolutely right and even moving. So can a set of obscure hardcore punk during the more boisterous moments of a corporate party. And even a little experimental progressive rock can enhance the feeling of an art opening, if played at the right time.

By far, many more of the songs you really want at your event then you ever think you can play are actually able to be fit in, but not only that, they can be made to add to the atmosphere of the event. But to do it, you have to begin by letting the DJ know what you really want to hear. And if that DJ looks at your list, smirks, and says something about how you can't have a party without having "the Y" on your list, well, you know the time has come to find a different DJ.

There’s certain songs that are commonly played at all kinds of events that get a wide range of guys onto the dance floor – especially after they’ve had a few drinks. These anthemic songs are ones that you probably know work well to get the dance-floor male bonding going – the jock jam staple “Jump Around” by House of Pain, Nirvana’s grunge masterpiece “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” or the fist-pumping, partying call-to-arms of “Rock and Roll All Nite” by Kiss.

But beyond these familiar “go-to” songs that DJs often pull out, we’ve found that on the internet there really isn’t a lot more original or fresh choices of music recommended to get guys a little charged up at events.

Sure, plenty of playlists will say you should crack out those songs that you’d think might work from seeing guys party to them in movies, like Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business” or Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” But in actual practice, we’ve found that these songs feel much too tired and predictable to work. Even when drunk, most guys still have some sort of judgment when it comes to being lame. They might become a bit stupid after 4.5 beers, but they usually won’t become lame.

However, there are songs that we’ve found work really well to get guys on the dance floor that you might know but haven’t heard a million times before, or might not even think would work to up the energy of an event.

Here’s a mix of ten songs in a range of genres that are “battle-tested” in that we’ve found guys love them when played at the right time. With some of these songs it’s easy to see what guys like about them: both the near-Gothic cry of “the world drags me down” from The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” and the confrontational declaration "fuck you I won't do what you told me" from Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" are quite cathartic for many guys to shout along with, and “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest is a more raw, more "street-cred" version of “Jump Around.” But with other tunes, like Rush’s “Limelight”  or Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” the appeal isn't as easy to pin down, other than it might be simply be that the song rocks.

Usually, our mixes are longer than only ten songs, but in this case, we tried to only include songs that, in our experience, tend to only be danced to by guys. Yes, there's plenty of songs that are nearly "guy-only," but that some girls like just as well, such as a lot of '80s heavy metal or '90s punk/ska like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Rancid. The songs on this mix are songs that pretty much exclusively produce a response from guys, just as "Dancing Queen" almost exclusively produces a response from girls. See? Now you get it – simply put, songs that usually strictly appeal to guys and get them dancing without any girls around, no less, are not that easy to find. But when you do find them, they're great to bring out when your event needs a little male bonding.

During events, we’ve found that for many guys, getting "into" songs such as these need not result in them being  inspired to form a mosh pit, or do an impromptu break dance cheered on by old college buddies. Sure, this amount of intensity is fun and often welcome, but also it’s just as cool to see a song allowing a bunch of male friends to have nice genuine, and even rather well-behaved moment of dancing together, or simply to inspire the nodding of some heads and maybe a little air guitar together while they have a drink at the bar or catch up while eating dinner.

Yes, despite what those new-ish punny, headline-catching books about “brocabulary” and “bromance” suggest, the act of guys having a good time together can indeed can be subtle now and then.

So go for it, guys (and girls, of course) – have a listen.

When guests arrive at an event and grab their first drinks, many years of DJ-ing have made me know that the music that goes best with most cocktail hours are songs that have a vibe that’s upbeat and fun, but not overpowering – regardless of the kind of music being played.

I’m not talking about “chill-out” music, though. Whether it’s vintage or new R & B, or the more recently popular genre of electronic lounge music such as those tunes featured on the seemingly endless editions of the Bhudda Bar CD compilation series, a chill-out vibe often has too much of an after-hours sexiness or a spacey ethereal feel to totally fit with cocktail hour. Usually, cocktail hour is the part of the event where guests only begin to interact, much less start to become a bit tipsy and become more prone to engaging in the kind of activities for which the chill-out vibe would be more appropriate. (You know what kind of activities I mean.)

I think that cocktail hour goes best with music that isn’t “all party,” but also isn’t “all chill,” either. Often at events I attend as a guest I find the DJ is playing one or the other – being too harsh with aggressive dance music, or too mellow with the electronic dreamy stuff. What people seem to really respond to at our events over the years had been the sweet spot in between – music with an easy groove, a pronounced melody, a catchy chorus, and, as a bonus, lyrics that are light, fun or positive. A song about celebrating some hard-earned good fortune that you can bounce to a bit as you head to the bar to refill your drink often works magic for the vibe during cocktail hour, be it in a ballroom or at a rooftop gathering. The goal of a great cocktail hour is, at most events, not to get people dancing, but to get them primed for it. Songs with this light, upbeat, melodic vibe put it in the heads of the guests that the party is rampin’ up, and dancing will soon follow. Basically, the music for cocktail hour should a bit of a tease.

The tricky thing is, while there’s long been a lot of great songs with a mellow, after-hours feel in both vintage and new R & B, as well as a growing number over the past 20 years in all kinds of electronic lounge music, the amount of songs that have this “rampin’ up” quality aren’t as easy to find in any genre. And to those not that familiar with hip-hop, you might think that there’s even less, as the media coverage of the genre seem to only focus on its most crude examples, like groups and songs with only booming beats and profane lyrics.

But if you look around a bit, hip-hop tunes with an airy, melodic touch are not that difficult to find. And it’s worth it, too, as often hip-hop songs of this type does the most to bring out the hip-shaking during cocktail hour – not just because these mellower hip-hop songs are usually fun and a bit sexy, but because older guests will many times recognize parts of the songs as well, as hip-hop artists will often use deftly-chosen samples of beats and melodies from familiar soul and funk songs from a generation or more ago.

I’ve put together an iTunes mix of bouncy, upbeat, but rather mellow hip-hop songs that we’ve found work for us during cocktail  hour and exactly fit the vibe of “rampin’ up.” Included is wide range of hip-hop styles, from the relatively newer genres of crunk (which tends to feature a lot of infectious call-and-response choruses and a lyrical obession with partying) and Southern rap (which tends to put a stylized lazy slurring on words and rhymes); California G-funk, which, with it’s slower tempo and spacey synth riffs, puts a laid-back, sun-drenched spin on ganstga life; old-school rap, with its disco samples, record-scratching DJs and freestylin’-on-the-streetcorner MCs; underground and alternative hip-hop with a less aggressive, often humorous and acoustic touch, from De La Soul to newer artists in this genre like Lyrics Born; a mellower side of the often sharper-tongued New York/East Coast-style hip-hop; and more radio friendly “pop” hip-hop, from Will Smith in the early ’90s to Jamie Foxx and T-Pain’s new hit single “Blame It.”

So get yourself some gin ‘n’ juice, and listen to the mix here.