Staff Writer Chloe Yeo learns the art and history of DJ-ing at the workshop “On the Record: The Art & History of DJ”

If the only “DJ-ing” you’ve ever encountered is an experimental flame with Spotify’s new mixing feature, you’re just like me: absolutely oblivious to the mechanics of mashing two songs together on a controller. You’ve probably seen the Tiktok videos on your For You Page, the ones where a person is glued behind a black box with a bunch of buttons and eventually presses one of said buttons when the beat drops. Or perhaps you’ve experienced a live DJ, the quality of which probably depends on if you’re at a Welcome Week party or an actual nightclub.

As an appreciator and foreigner to the craft of DJing, I was more than thrilled when last Thursday, Columbia’s Multicultural Affairs Department brought New York City’s very own DJ, Kid Nick, to campus for a workshop. As for Kid Nick—well—they brought a controller and a sheer intuition for the art of DJ-ing.

I walk into the room, grab food, and awkwardly twirl a couple of fries on my plate as my ears tune out a classical violin instrumental playing from the speakers. Through the glass, I see darkness settling over the campus. I think to myself, Lerner has never felt so still before.

Suddenly, the person behind the black controller—a term which I learned during the workshop—opens Spotify. They change the classical violin track to a Lauryn Hill song, and that’s when I get excited about what’s coming next. I tap my feet. I feel the R&B track settle everywhere in my bones. Kid Nick begins, their voice coating the intimate room ever so smoothly.

Bronx-born but currently residing in Brooklyn, Kid Nick grew up around music and instruments. While they’ve been DJ-ing for the past three years, they also have six years of music production experience in their back pocket. They work for a Black poetry organization during the day. The art of DJ-ing, Kid Nick describes, is about “curating a sonic experience.” 

Before diving into the technicalities of DJ-ing, Kid Nick explains the history of the craft. The twin turntables, or the concept of playing songs with no gaps, began with the DJ Jimmy Savile in the 1950s. Subsequently, beatmatching, a crucial step in DJ-ing, was popularized in the Bronx (the birthplace of hip hop). In the Midwest, DJ and producer Frankie Knuckles popularized house and techno music. Around the 2000s, Pioneer developed the CDJ-1000, a digital DJ hardware, replacing analog turntables. On the next slide of their presentation, Kid Nick shows a highly simplified visual of a controller. I jot down some starter-DJ terms:

• Beat-Matching: the act of making sure two songs have similar BPM (Beats Per Minute). The easiest way to connect two songs is to make sure they’re within a range of 10 BPM from each other.
• EQ (Equalizer): What you’re using to blend the two songs.
• Cross Fader: Decides what song the audience hears. The two slides let you control the volume of each song.
• Serato: A recommended digital DJ production app.
• Hot Queue: Predetermines what part of the song you jump to.  

Before Kid Nick lets us have a spin on the controller, they give us aspiring DJs a couple of tips to improve our technique. Kid Nick shares that their first tip is to “record yourself, even if it’s only for thirty minutes.” You give yourself the best feedback when you train your ears, not your eyes. Their second piece of advice is to sign up for open decks. Be open to spinning for free your first few sets. However, when you eventually set a price for your service, as Kid Nick puts it, “Don’t let people play in your face.”

Kid Nick shares that they refresh their crate—a digital music inventory—at least once a month so they can attune each set to a crowd’s taste. As for equipment, they suggest getting a used controller since controllers can be expensive and most of the equipment at venues is a little beat up anyway. Kid Nick emphasizes that as a DJ, you have to learn to accommodate the equipment.

We spend the last twenty minutes hovering around their controller, mixing across genres such as hip hop, reggaeton, and rap. During their demonstration, Kid Nick mixes “Throw Some D’s” by Polow da Don and Rich Boy and “Upgrade U” by Beyoncé, using wordplay to create a call-and-response effect. 

In such an intimate space, making a mistake—especially a loud one—feels terrifying. Judging by the eight count of silence after Nick asks for their first volunteer, I’m not the only one who thinks that. As I observe each victim go up to the controller, I realize that while DJ-ing is a learned skill, beat-matching is more intuitive. Kid Nick has us count ourselves in. Some get it on the first try. Others never get it at all. Beat-matching can also depend on the artist’s music. Bad Bunny, for example, is notorious for adding pauses, which can throw off your counts. Playing a controller is like playing any instrument: the more you know the music, the more confident you’ll sound. 

Since DJ-ing is a performance, it’s easy to underestimate how much musical coordination, finesse, and organization goes into the art, but when you actually break down the steps, DJ-ing feels just as complicated as learning a language. If you’re looking for a side hustle or just a cool party trick, the Multicultural Affairs Department hopes to bring open decks to campus, and if you’re craving some Beyoncé or Lauryn Hill this Halloween, go see Kid Nick at The Bush!

Image via Bwarchives