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DJ Tips
The BEST Way to Organize Music for DJ’ing
Jul 2023

I’ve seen and read about many ways that DJs organize their music, and am convinced that my way is the best way. I’ve written about it once before, but after having been asked many times for more details, I’ve recorded a tutorial video to teach you how to do this.

I use Apple Music to organize all my music, and to sort it into virtual DJ crates that are then imported into Serato. If you know a better way to do it, I’m all ears. Comment below!


Interviews
Meet the Overturned Big Rig and the Derailed Freight Train
Jun 2023

Perhaps you have heard of Overturned Big Rig or Derailed Freight Train, but probably not. Both are stage names of a California DJ. He plays records, and mixes and scratches them. This sounds like every DJ out there, but once you listen I’m sure you’ll agree this California DJ is doing something… different. Very different. Imagine if Ted Kaczynski had learned how to mix records rather than make bombs, and then performed a Vulcan mind meld with DJ Shadow. Now you’re starting to get it.

I sat down with this California DJ, for I had questions. Many questions. Here are the answers.

Be patient.


Interviews
Bring on the Sample Spotters
Jun 2023

How many times have you listened to a song, usually a hip hop song, and wondered what song or songs were sampled to create it? Or heard a song for the first time that sounded very familiar, despite having never heard it before, because it was built around another song that you just can’t place? Shazam is of no help in those circumstances. It’s only going to tell you the name of the song being played, not the pieces of other songs that were used to create it. There’s only one thing to do in those circumstances– Call the Sample Spotters!

Okay, you can’t actually call them. But you can visit them on Facebook. You can even join them if you have a talent and passion for unearthing the arcane samples that are used to create hip hop tracks.

The Sample Spotters group was created in 2016 by Omar Lopez, initially as an a way to replicate the chat about samples, and the identification of samples, he’d enjoyed on a site called The Breaks. That site had sort of died down, so he put together a Facebook group to take its place. He had no idea it would blow up as it did, and after minimal promotion the site grew to its present-day size of nearly 20,000 users.

Group members post links to songs containing samples they hope others can help them identify, as well as songs whose samples they have cracked themselves. They are extremely good at what they do. You may be familiar with the site Who Sampled, but you may not know that a large number of the samples identified there were originally discovered by the Sample Spotters group.

It’s rare that the artists whose work is being dissected take notice, or if they do they don’t let it be known, but there have been two notable exceptions. In one case, a producer (who will remain nameless) reached out to the group and asked them to take down a post identifying a record he’d sampled. It seems he hadn’t cleared the sample, and didn’t want to face the legal repercussions if the sampled artist found out. The Sample Spotters aren’t out to get anyone in trouble, and the post was quietly deleted.

On another occasion, the famous hip hop producer Easy Mo Bee contacted the group and told them they had misidentified the sample he’d used. It wasn’t what they thought it was! Needless to say, that post was also removed, and cubhats were worn all around the group that day.

When asked about some of the more difficult samples the group has spotted, Omar told me, “Agallah – Man of the House was a search which ended up with us finding an incredibly obscure soul 45 from an either unreleased or lost blaxploitation film that there was almost no information for online.” It turned out to be a song originally written for Michael Jackson, but one he never sang. Instead, Motown turned it over to an unknown label, to be sung by an unknown kid. The record only recently surface, long after the sample had been spotted. The fruits of that labor can be seen in this old post from the group.

Another great search involved KMD, MF Doom, and Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. That quest was so epic that it ended up being the topic of an online article!

The group keeps an ever-changing Most Wanted list of 20 samples they are most keen to unearth. When a user cracks a song on the list, he’s allowed to choose its replacement. The current list of 20 songs can be found here. Perhaps YOU can ID one?? You’ll have to join the group to see it, but if you are crate-digger, sample head, producer, or even just a hip hop fan, you will probably find it quite interesting. Be sure to say hi to Omar if you join. Tell him Heavy Hits sent you!


The State of Hip Hop Vinyl
May 2023

Last year I wrote about my experience selling hip hop albums at the Austin Record Convention. Vinyl heads know, but for those that don’t the ARC is the largest vinyl show in the U.S., and second-largest in the world. Collectors and vendors come to Austin from all over the world each May to buy and sell vinyl records and music memorabilia.

Last year, I sold a handful of records– enough to justify returning in 2023– but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I did, however, write an article for Heavy Hits about it, and received a lot of feedback from readers. Surprisingly, to me at least, was that the most frequent statement was along the lines of “thanks for sharing the prices!”

Vinyl dealers know that one of the hardest things to do is to price your inventory. There are various methods for doing so, but none is an exact science. You can see what other vendors are charging on Discogs or eBay, but there is often a wide range of asking prices. You can also look for completed sales, but those tend to be an inaccurate representation of what is being paid for a given record. I’ve been in the industry for a long time, and can say with certainty that the highest prices paid for records seldom happens on a site, so if you are pricing inexpensive records, then the log of recently completed sales may be fairly accurate, but for rare and pricey records, it’s not.

Whenever I list a sought after or expensive record, I receive many version of the same email. “Can I pay you directly off-site?” Buyers want to avoid fees. And so do sellers. Many times I’ve inquired about the condition of a record and am told by the seller that I can get a lower price if I send funds directly, and bypass Discogs, eBay, etc. The ethics of this are up to you to decide, but the upshot is that while a record may have never sold for more than, say, $200 on Discogs, it’s very likely to have sold for far more in a private transaction, so price accordingly.

In any event, at this year’s show, hip hop vinyl was selling like hotcakes. It seems everyone wants old rap albums. Rap 12″ singles, not so much, but the original press of a classic rap album is in high demand in 2023. Case in point: at last year’s show I sold 15 records for a total of $721.00. Not bad, but not great. This year? I sold 108 albums for a total of $6,100.00. That’s a huge difference, and it had nothing to do with my inventory. I brought the exact same crates this year as last year, minus a few of the 15 albums I sold last year that I wasn’t able to restock. Why is hip hop so hot right now? Who knows? Ask Jacobim Mugatu, but don’t ask me. All I know is that it is.

Finally, like last year, here is a list of what I sold, including my asking price and the actual selling price. This is some priceless, real-world data for anyone else who sells records, because this represents what an actual human paid in actual money for a record.

Every record sold was an original press unless otherwise noted. All were VG+ or better unless noted.

3rd Bass The Cactus Al/bum 40.00
Afrika Bambaataa & SoulSonic Force Planet Rock – The Album 95.00
Audio Two What More Can I Say? 35.00
Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique 240.00
Beastie Boys Check Your Head 225.00
Beastie Boys To the 5 Boroughs [reissue] 35.00
Beastie Boys The Mix-Up 85.00
Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill 50.00
Biz Markie The Biz Never Sleeps 80.00
Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded 65.00
Boogie Down Productions Man and His Music 25.00
Boogie Down Productions By All Means Necessary 25.00
Boogie Down Productions Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop 25.00
Brand Nubian One for All 80.00
Cypress Hill Cypress Hill 225.00
D.O.C., The No One Can Do It Better 75.00
Dana Dane Dana Dane With Fame 20.00
Davy D Davy’s Ride 5.00
De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising 200.00
De La Soul De La Soul is Dead 200.00
De La Soul Buhloone Mindstate 200.00
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince Rock the House 15.00
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper 15.00
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince And in This Corner… 17.00
DJ Shadow Preemptive Strike 50.00
Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew Oh, My God! 18.00
Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew The World’s Greatest Entertainer 15.00
Downtown Science Downtown Science 95.00
Dr. Dre The Chronic 250.00
Eazy-E Eazy-Duz-It 100.00
Egyptian Lover, The On the Nile 50.00
EPMD Strictly Business 50.00
Eric B. & Rakim Follow the Leader 45.00
Eric B. & Rakim Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em 60.00
Fat Boys Fat Boys 10.00
Fat Boys The Fat Boys are Back 10.00
Fugees The Score 65.00
Gang Starr Step in the Arena 70.00
Gang Starr Hard to Earn 250.00
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five Greatest Messages 10.00
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five On the Strength 5.00
Guru Jazzmatazz Volume 1 100.00
Handsome Boy Modeling School So… How’s Your Girl? 110.00
Ice T Rhyme Pays 35.00
Ice T Power 30.00
Jonzun Crew Lost in Space 9.00
Kanye West The College Dropout 30.00
Kanye West Late Registration 30.00
King Tech – M.C. Sway Flynamic Force 115.00
King Tee Act a Fool 50.00
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo Road to the Riches 50.00
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo Wanted Dead or Alive 50.00
Kool Moe Dee Kool Moe Dee 35.00
Kool Moe Dee How Ya Like Me Now 15.00
Kurtis Blow Kurtis Blow 10.00
Kurtis Blow Kingdom Blow 5.00
L.L. Cool J Radio 50.00
L.L. Cool J Bigger and Deffer 25.00
L.L. Cool J Walking With a Panther 60.00
L.L. Cool J Mama Said Knock You Out 75.00
L’Trimm Grab It! 10.00
Lakim Shabazz Pure Righteousness 25.00
Low Profile We’re In This Together 75.00
Marley Marl In Control, Volume 1 35.00
Masters of Ceremony Dynamite 15.00
MC Hammer Let’s Get It Started 10.00
MC Hammer Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em 20.00
MC Shy-D Got to Be Tough 20.00
MC Shy-D Comin’ Correct in ’88 20.00
Notorious B.I.G., The Born Again 20.00
Public Enemy Yo! Bum Rush the Show 45.00
Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet 80.00
Public Enemy Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Back 75.00
Public Enemy Greatest Misses 40.00
Redman Whut? Thee Album 90.00
Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock It Takes Two 10.00
Rodney O Joe Cooley Me and Joe [VG-] 50.00
Run-D.M.C. Run-D.M.C. 30.00
Run-D.M.C. King of Rock 27.00
Run-D.M.C. Raising Hell 22.00
Run-D.M.C. Together Forever 30.00
Run-D.M.C. Down with the King 65.00
Salt-N-Pepa Hot Cool and Vicious [G+] 10.00
Sir Mix-a-Lot Swass 42.00
Slick Rick The Great Adventures of Slick Rick 50.00
Spoonie Gee The Godfather of Rap 10.00
Stetsasonic On Fire 25.00
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud Girls I Got ‘Em Locked 20.00
Tone Loc Loc’ed After Dark 25.00
Too Short Born to Mack 65.00
Tribe Called Quest, A People’s Instinctive Travels & the Paths of Rhythm 180.00
Tribe Called Quest, A Midnight Marauders 125.00
Tribe Called Quest, A Beats, Rhymes, and Life 112.00
Ultramagnetic MC’s Critical Beatdown 150.00
Ultramagnetic MC’s The Basement Tapes 10.00
UTFO UTFO 15.00
Various Artists Wild Style Soundtrack 30.00
Various Artists Rap 1 9.00
Various Artists Rap 2 9.00
Various Artists Krush Groove Soundtrack 5.00
Various Artists Mr. Magic’s Rap Attack 10.00
Various Artists The Rap Pack 10.00
Various Artists Rhyme Syndicate Comin’ Through 10.00
Various Artists Battle of the DJ’s 5.00
Whodini Escape 45.00
Wu-Tang Clan, The Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) 125.00
X-Clan To the East Blackwards 65.00
Young M.C. Stone Cold Rhymin’ [G] 10.00


DJ Tips
You Are How You Look
Apr 2023

As DJs, we’re often so concerned with how we sound, that we forget how important looks are, too. I don’t mean your physical appearance. You don’t have to be Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone to win at the DJ’ing game. I mean your gear. Obviously, if you play in a venue where everything is set and ready for you, this is less important, so today I’m mostly speaking to the DJs who bring their own gear.

Your mixing can be flawless, and your song selection perfect. You may have 100,000 songs at your fingertips, and know the BPM and phrasing of every one of them. You may sound like Michael Buffer on the microphone. That’s all great, but if your setup is sloppy, people will remember you as the sloppy DJ. So how do you go about cleaning up and looking good?

For starters, keep your cables out of sight, at least as much as possible. You’ll need to have a couple cables running to speakers, and one running to a power source, but do your best to cover up everything else. I use a Bunn Gear Command Center, and swear by it, but there are many other options. That’s a good thing, as I’ve heard the Command Centers are sold out, at least for the moment, and may never come back into stock. If so, that’s a shame. I’d buy three more if I could! Another good option is a facade. You can make a simple one yourself, or buy a nice pre-made one. At its most basic, a DJ facade is three pieces of wood or plastic, painted or carpeted, and connected with hinges to create a movable wall. Set that in front of your table and you’ll hide a lot of mess.

You can also build a simple DJ table. A nice one has a recessed area for your controller or turntables, which not only looks great, but also keeps all the connecting cables out of sight.

Another option is a traditional DJ coffin, resting upon a heavy-duty keyboard stand. I used one for years with my turntables, and despite putting on scratch-heavy turntablist performances, never had any issues with skipping. Those things are rock solid and steady. The drawback is, of course, visible wires, so any keyboard stand setup almost certainly requires a facade or similar.

Once you’ve got your setup in place, and everything looks good, make sure to tape down the speaker cables and power cable, and any other exposed wiring. Not only will it look better, and more professional, but it will prevent guests, and you, from tripping on wires and getting hurt or yanking a plug from a socket. Buy gaffer’s tape, not duct tape. It’s more expensive, but it is easier to remove at the end of the night, and won’t damage floors or walls.

And finally, make sure you are dressed appropriately. Gone are the days when DJs were universally expected to show up in a tuxedo, but often a suit is still a good choice. Find out ahead of time how the person paying you expects you to dress, and follow those guidelines. My experience in life is that it’s always better to be overdressed than underdressed, and it’s nearly never inappropriate to wear a suit, but you do you, you sexy DJ, you!