... When playing for a Hip Hop/Breakin' Jam

Picture of me by Scott Akoz

Let me start by saying that I truly do not know anything for sure, nor do I make the assumption that my knowledge is absolute. What I’m about to share are just simple things that I keep in mind when I’m deejaying for competitions and jams and have found they have a significant impact. There’s 5 points I’m going to discuss and would love to hear your thoughts on them, whether you’re a competitor, judge, fellow deejay, organiser or spectator. So let’s get down to it…

#1 Music Volume

There’s times at the jam you need to have the music blasting. Best example to highlight this is when the battles are taking place (prelims or finals). You want to “feel” the music. That is to, connect to the music you are dancing to. That becomes difficult if you can’t hear it. An easy way to ensure this is to do thorough sound checks before doors open and make sure you have enough room on your mixer’s master ouput to increase the volume later in the day. Most parties or events in general tend to have music at a comfortable and mellow level at the start and as the room gets busier and louder, so does the music. If you can hear the dancer from the other side of the room talking about how they’re injured yet are still entering the comp (I guess they are planning to have an excuse ready in case they lose), then turn the music up….like way up.

There are also times when the music needs to dip in volume, like when the host or emcee is making an important announcement. Let me emphasise the word ‘important’. The host talking or commentating during a battle is not vital or a priority, so don’t have the talk over function enabled during the battles. Similarly if the host is casually chatting during the cypher breaks then that isn’t of up most importance either. Important annoucements are generally done before the competition begins and for introductions of judges and other staff. Emergency announcements like someone who needs medical attention or has lost their car keys or to stop the battle cause a fight broke out…turn your music down. This is all simple stuff but you’d be surprised how many times the deejay isn’t paying attention to what’s happening in front of them, because they have their headphones on or they are exhibiting symptoms of Serato Stare and their eyes are glued to their laptops.

BONUS TIP: if you suffer from Serato stare, set up your laptop to the side of the decks as to not obstruct your view.

I also like to dip the volume of the music after a battle is finished but before the decision is announced. This leads me to my next point…

#2 “Judges…. 3,2,1!”

After the battle, but before the decision, just dip the level of the music. It is the deejay’s job to provide an atmosphere. The more electric the better. A simple thing like that will go a long way, specially when you turn the volume back up on the
decision. If you can bring the break or ‘1’ back in as decision is announced, then that creates a climax and somewhat of a celebration.

I hate watching footage or being at a jam and watch the deejay completely miss this moment. Makes me want to jump up and throw their records across the room like a pro frisbee player.

BONUS TIP: If you dip the volume again after the decision, this gives you room to do 2 other things. The first being to create another exciting moment for the song that is going to be played for the next battle (atmosphere). The second is to allow for a different kind of song or sub genre to come in and have it’s maximum potential impact. I’ve seen deejays play a hype Hip Hop song for 1 battle, not dip the level, then drop a Soul or Funk track for the next battle. While there is nothing wrong with those song choices, you’re not helping the atmosphere because to an extent, you’re trying reset but it comes across a shutdown. This is probably my most important point to share in this blog post, and it’s only point #2.

I’ll finish this point by also adding that you should play a victory song (anything other than a Break) when the ultimate winner is announced after a battle. Again, I’ve almost… almost become a pro frisbee player when deejays don’t let the dancers celebrate on the decision and just have the same break playing throughout….almost.

#3 Working as a team with the host/emcee

I’ve briefly mentioned the emcee earlier, but this is the important bit. ALWAYS communicate clearly with the host. This goes both ways. I tell anyone who is responsible for the mic that they need to tell me what is going to happen before they announce it on the mic. This includes: last battle of the round, important announcements, if you’re going straight into the next round with no break, how long the upcoming break is, judge’s showcase, performances, shout outs and so on and so on.

Deejays – if you need a quick break, a drink, to use the toilet, need the sound engineer to run to the booth, need food – all this needs to be communicated to the emcee before that particular battle or cypher break is finishing.

There is nothing worse than being surprised in a change of schedule when you had a song ready for a different purpose. Or when you are caught off guard and all of a sudden it is time for the judge’s showcase. So now you’re frantically trying to find a good enough song for them or not having the music ready for a performance. Even when you think you’re finally getting the chance to go have a shit, butt (pun intended) now you’re ass is on fire cause some choreo crew or rappers are about to perform and you know none of these bboys/bgirls are interested in that (no disrespect to the performers but they always happen later in the schedule when everyone is tired or absent).

BONUS TIP: ask for the schedule from the organisers ahead of time and occasionally inquire if you’re still on track.

Something I like to do is also shout (really loudly mind you) to give the judges 5 minutes to warm up for the showcase. People get surprised by me shouting but you’re not going to have the best possible showcase from them if they’ve been sat down for hours on end then expected to jump straight into a set. Personally, I couldn’t care less about the judges’ showcase but I know others do. So the 5 minutes also lets you ask them what kind of music they prefer for the showcase (genre and BPM wise). That’s a 2-4-1 special bonus tip. Enjoy.

#4 Cypher breaks and energy meter

The energy is at it’s highest at the start of the day and lowest when the event finishes. This is definitely true when you have deejays that only play breaks,breaks,breaks all f*cking day because to them…break is life.

With this in mind, cyphers at the start of the jam are always the hypest and least energetic before the final. You do get those super strong bboys that can throw sets non stop all day, because again, break is life. But you’ll find energy generally dips and almost depletes by the end.

A simple way around this is to play other genres of music later in the day. Let everyone’s ears take a rest from the fast Funk and Breaks. Tickle the senses with other kinds of music. There is loads, so this point is really easy to implement.
Remember the job is building and creating atmosphere. Doing this helps the start of the next round of battles have more energy and my personal favourite, allows for social dancing. The amount of times I’ve seen bboys/bgirls enjoy some House, Salsa, Grime, Garage, R&B is really enjoyable. Make some musical space for soul trains or to let the people who don’t Break have a chance to dance. Atmosphere!

Bonus tip: fast music doesn’t equal hype. Plenty of times I’ll play some Hip Hop classics (that are slow) before the final. It lets people’s energy bar refill so they can then give it their all during the final. Being a deejay is like playing a console game.

#5 Show up on time.

This is pretty straight forward. Show up on time and then set up ahead of time. Once you do that, you can do whatever else you need to before doors open. Whether that’s getting some food for the day, going toilet, posting selfies on social media, going for a smoke or catching up with the homies. It also shows you’re a professional and you can safely say that the jam wasn’t late because of the deejay.

BONUS TIP: plan ahead! I’ve been over an hour late, sometimes even two. Most of the time it’s because of travel delays on the day, occasionally because the organiser didn’t keep in mind the time to travel to the venue within the city once you arrive. And once, only ONCE, because my driver had no sense of urgency and picked me up 2 hours late so he can look fresh to impress the girls. Let me tell you, the male:female ratio is not healthy in the UK Breakin’ scene. I don’t know what jams he’s been going to, but clearly not the typical Breakin’ jams we all go. Maybe I should ask him and try a change of scenery…

If you enjoyed the read, learned something, agree or disagree with anything, then go ahead and leave a comment. This is SOCIAL media after all. I’ll just finish by saying that every event and scene is different, so there is no ‘one size fits all’ way of playing at such events. But hopefully this has been insightful none the less.

Peace n Peanuts
KhanFu (MDK, Boom Bap And Breaks)

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