Fifty years ago, Disco King Mario, Pete DJ Jones, Grandmaster Flowers, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Jazzy Jay, Grand Mixer D.ST and a handful of other DJs birthed and helped cultivate a DJ movement powerful enough to become the nucleus of a culture called HIP-HOP. When you chew on that for a second or two, nothing could be more tragic than to stop and consider the economic inequality which exists within the billion dollar industry that DJing has become. DJing, I’m referencing “quick mixing,” “needle dropping,” “scratching,” “beat juggling,” etc., are techniques that were stumbled upon and created out of struggle. That is to say, a certain set of socio-political conditions in 1970s New York City provoked what us DJs do and our fans see, on social media day in and day out in 2023. Today, according to an analysis by ZipRecruiter, a person who manages or books DJs can make an annual salary upwards of $70,000 minimum. When you compare that to the $48,000 average annual salary of the DJs d
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