Top Songs of 2017

This year was a fantastic year and it was a blur. Something I noticed with each year time goes by faster. I do appreciate every minute. Also with time I appreciated the new music that came out this year.  I did notice that hip-hop songs became slower. Back in the 90s, the beats per minute were about 90 to 100 bpm but this year a lot of the hits were 65 to 75 bpms.

Feel it Still by Portugal the Man

It does have an old school feel and at times it is hard to tell if a man or woman is singing it. It is very catchy. Band is based from Alaska.

Despacito by  Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee

This song was always on. It crossed borders and made many folks dance to the Latin rhythm.

Humble By Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar can write bars and is a genius when it comes to writing meaningful lyrics. Throw in a dope hip-hop beat and you got a hit.

Bodak Yellow By Cardi B

Its great to see Female on the hip hop charts. She flows like a river on this song and its her break through hit that put her on the map.

Wild Thoughts by  DJ Khaled ft Rihanna and Bryson Tiller

Santana’s  Maria Maria was reincarnated into this 2017 hit. Brought to life by Rihannas catchy hook, made this a club favorite.

Mi Gente By J Balvin and Willy William

This song was made with  Willy William beat from another William song  Voodoo Song. There is a remix with Beyonce on the vocals that also was popular

Lemon By N.E.R.D ft Rihanna

NERD is reunited to produce this fresh dance hit.  In the video, Rihanna shaves dancers hair off. Song is such a it I would do the same too. 

How have I changed over the years of Djing.

When I first started I was part of a duo. With my Dj partner we would load up his truck and set all the dj equipment up. I would be in total ease while we were setting up since my dj partner was an engineer so he could fix any issue. He would be sort of stressed while we set up. But we always had everything up and ready. I would be the music man on the turntables and he would Emcee. I could easily stand behind the decks and play music nonstop. I would not want to speak on the microphone. I would be focused on the music and the smooth transitions.  Occasionally I would speak on the mic but I felt like it was not my bag of tea.  I would worry about feedback and how my voice would sound amplified.  Microphones have to be held a certain way to sound better. Also when you stand too close to the speakers it can cause feedback.

 Later my Dj partner moved away and I had to bring all the equipment myself in my own vehicle.  I had to load everything myself and unload and set up. I make sure I show up an hour or more before an event to set everything up. I still do not stress since I bring back ups to my back ups and never have to worry about something not working. I at first was reluctant to speak on the mic. But with practice, everything becomes easier. I never had issues in front of a crowd but there is something different with speaking on a microphone.  A few times I month I do monthly presentations for 45 minutes so speaking aloud is not an issue. I actually enjoy doing announcements for events.

Of course, there has been technology advances. Back in the day, I would make mix cds and hand them out. Now I can post mixes online and folks around the world can preview it.  Now, I can send a link in case someone wants to hear a mixing sample. 

The Importance of a Mentor (in Business or in Life)

It is the end of the year so folks start making their New Years Resolutions. Unfortunately most resolutions are not completed.  People are so gung ho with joining a gym and losing weight. Or the resolution maybe saving a percentage of the income to go on a trip somewhere. If one can only have one resolution s/he want to accomplish getting a mentor should be the only one that s/he needs. A mentor is someone who has been where you want to go. They have failed and succeeded.  Why make the same mistakes they have?

When I started to learn to dj, at the time I bought top of the line gear. I felt that I had to go all in.  I started off with some Technic 1200s with a mixer and an amp with one speaker. While spending hours learning how to match beats, I did not know how to throw the next song on the first beat. I did not know how to manipulate the record accurately. One day my business partner brought over his brother who was playing at nightclubs and really good at his craft. With a quick tutorial I was able to mix at the right time.  He showed me how to hold on to the first beat and throw it in at the beginning of the chorus. Back then there was no YouTube, so dj skills had to be taught or learned solo. Once I was able to do that, then I could play publicly. No more bedroom dj status.

Often at  times we are afraid to ask for help. Pride gets in the way and progress will not be made.

Find a skill that one wants to improve on and then find someone who has experience in it.  Mentors are out there but they have to be found and asked. No need for pride but the rewards outweighs any embarrassment of asking. Often times, mentors are honored that that are asked to help out. It shows that they are appreciated. Find someone that one looks up to in your field and ask for their assistance. If they say no, then ask another person who has experience. At the end, one becomes better with a mentor.

Best business tip (life tip) from Black and White Affair Dj Services (A Life Hack)

Life is about balance.   Well- balanced folks can not be all work and no play. Therefore one cannot be all play and no work. Some folks work to live while others live to work. There must be a balance to be truly happy. Goals that are written become the plan to follow.

Books provide oodles of useful information.  Learning is an ongoing process and does not stop with a degree or certificate. I read a book that mentioned going after goals in business.  The typical person sets yearly goals and tries to get them done. The goal is written and they have 365 days to get the goal accomplished.  It also mentioned when deadlines are due then the go getters finish their goal.  Why wait for 12 months when one can have quarterly goals that only go for 3 months.  More goals can be accomplished.

In business, everything is tracked from receipts of purchases to how many postcards were sent out. Some months end up being busier than others and that is recorded.  

One of my most prize possessions right now is a black notebook. In the back of the book, I write my quarterly goals (for example for October, November, and December). I just do not just write my business goals, but my work out goals, plus my big chores I want to do around the house. In the front of the book I do my weekly write out where I put down what I did toward my quarterly goals.

For example, one of my quarterly goals is to create content for my blog and in my weekly goal for Wednesday I  created a new post.  Also I want to run 30 to 40 miles a month, and I ran 2 miles in my weekly write out for that one day. True that it is nice to go after business goals, but at times the only one that holds us accountable is ourselves and it’s best to write it out. It is rewarding to actually see what we have done written out.

Every day I try to do a few activities for business and health. I may have created a new mix or made a funky playlist. Maybe I played basketball for a few hours. One can not live on bread alone. There must be a balance of other activities outside of work. 

1977 40 year Reunion Playlist

I love doing all sorts of events. Sometimes the events that are different make us grow as djs. I had the opportunity to do a 40 year reunion. I loved every minute of it. It was more a rock themed event. I spoke with a graduate that day and she said there were the rock kids and the disco kids. Apparently most of the rock kids were there.

Below is the playlist:

Eagles:  Hotel California,Take it Easy, Heartache Tonight

America:  Ventura Highway, Tinman, Sister Golden Hair

Bad Company:  Can't Get Enough, Feel like Makin' Love

Earth, Wind, and Fire:  September, Boogie Wonderland

Boston:  More than a Feeling

Pablo Cruise: Love Will Find a Way, Whatcha Gonna Do

Marshall Tucker Band:  Fire on the Mountain, Desert Skies, Heard it in a Love Song

Frankie Valli: Grease is the Word

Star Wars Theme

Elvis:  Burnin' Love

Chicago:  Colour My World

Pointer Sisters:  We are Family, I'm so Excited

Rolling Stones:  Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women, Start Me Up

Linda Ronstadt:  You're No Good, It's So Easy

Lynyard Skynyrd:  Free Bird (short version), Sweet Home Alabama

Loggins and Messina:  We May Never Pass This Way Again, (Loggins) Danger Zone, Foot Loose

Willie and Waylon:  Don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys

Doobie Brothers:  Takin it to the Streets, China Grove 

Cool and the Gang:  Celebrate, Ladies Night

Commadores: Brick House

Bee Gees:  You Should be Dancing, Stayin' Alive

James Taylor:  Carolina, How Sweet it is, Fire and Rain, Mexico

Gordon Lightfoot:  Sundown

The Who:  Summertime Blues, My Generation

Elton John:  Crocodile Rock, Philadelphia Freedom

Fleetwood Mac:  Rhiannon, Go your own way, Don't Stop

Led Zeplin:  Stairway to Heaven (short version) Whole Lotta Love (short version)

Donna Summer:  Last Dance

Jimmy Buffett: Margaritaville

Peter Frampton:  Baby I love your Way

Steve Miller Band:  Jet Airliner

Supertramp:  Give a Little Bit

Crosby, Stills and Nash:  Just a song before I go, Southern Cross

Heart:  Barracuda

Jefferson Starship:  Miracles

Wild Cherry:  Play that Funky Music

Paul McCartney:  Live and Let Die

Bellamy Brothers:  Let Your love Flow

Thin Lizzy:  The Boys are Back in Town

BTO:  Takin' Care of Business

Rod Stewart:  Tonight's the Night

KC and the Sunshine Band:  Shake your Booty

ABBA:  Dancing Queen

David Bowie:  Golden Years

Beach Boys:  California Girls, Little Deuce Coop, Surfin' Safari

Hamilton, Joe, Frank, & Reynolds:  Fallin' in Love

10cc:  I'm not in Love

Gerry Raferty: Baker Street, Right Down the Line

Foreigner:  Hot Blooded

Jerry Reed:  East Bound and Down

Kenny Rogers:  The Gambler

Deep Purple:  Smoke on the Water

Three Dog Night:  Shambala

Cool and the Gang: Celebration, Ladies Night, Jungle Boogie

Stevie Wonder:  Superstition

Aretha Frankin:  Respect

The Brothers Johnson: Strawberry Letter 23

LTD:  Everytime I turn around Back in Love Again

Rose Royce: Carwash

Aerosmith:  Walk this Way

Daryl Hall and John Oates:  Rich Girl

Barry Manilow:  Looks Like we Made it

The Emotions: Best of My Love

Firefall:  Just Remember I Love, You are the Woman

The Evolution of DJ Wingman to BWADJ:

Changing with the times

When I was 21 I had my first taste of spinning records. Of course I did not know what I was doing but I enjoyed having the power of selecting the songs at a social gathering.  I did not know what it meant to beat match or anything about playing the same genre together. All I knew what how to put a record on a technic turntable and use the mixer to pick which record would be heard aloud. That is when I started collecting vinyl. Just In case, vinyl maybe a foreign word, it was what djs would play on their turntables. For one record, it would cost 6 dollars to 12 for one song. So it was quite an expensive hobby.

Half the fun was scouring record crates to find a hidden gem.  Eventually with the accumulation of these gems I felt confident enough to play in public again. No longer did I not know what to do but I had the skill and confidence to play in public.

With a high school buddy, we formed Dj Wingman. It had a nice ring to it.  A buddy of mine created a Wingman shirt and the name stuck. Our philosophy is “We are Wingman because we always have your back.” We designed Wingman T-shirts and people would love them.  The first few years we played the mobile circuit playing private parties and weddings. We carried  heavy records in cases to our events. In 2008, we started playing at night clubs in downtown San Jose.  Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were playing the top hits of the day. At Midnight, we would play the midnight mix which would be the heavy hitters of the day such asBlow the Whistle, Goodies, and Yeah.  One song would feed into another song to keep the vibe up. At 1:25 we would go with a song like Lets Stay Together

At that time there were two of us so we could do multiple events at one time. Then my dj partner moved to Florida so I had to do all the events solo.

I was not marketing DJ Wingman as before. I did like the brand but realized brides do not want a Wingman to do a wedding so I had rebranded the name to Black and White Affair. Now its Bwadj for short. I still believe in the Wingman mentality that we have your back but now incorporated the Black and White aspect.  

Before while playing at a night spot people would ask for our cards and want us to do their weddings and birthday events. But now since I do not play at the night scene I had to include other types of marketing.  I revamped the website.  Once started paying different companies to do my site but opted to go with a professional template and incorporated Social Media, so I can keep everything current.

Today’s age everything has to be current since the times are changing.The Evolution of DJ Wingman to BWADJ:

Changing with the times

When I was 21 I had my first taste of spinning records. Of course I did not know what I was doing but I enjoyed having the power of selecting the songs at a social gathering.  I did not know what it meant to beat match or anything about playing the same genre together. All I knew what how to put a record on a technic turntable and use the mixer to pick which record would be heard aloud. That is when I started collecting vinyl. Just In case, vinyl maybe a foreign word, it was what djs would play on their turntables. For one record, it would cost 6 dollars to 12 for one song. So it was quite an expensive hobby.

Half the fun was scouring record crates to find a hidden gem.  Eventually with the accumulation of these gems I felt confident enough to play in public again. No longer did I not know what to do but I had the skill and confidence to play in public.

With a high school buddy, we formed Dj Wingman. It had a nice ring to it.  A buddy of mine created a Wingman shirt and the name stuck. Our philosophy is “We are Wingman because we always have your back.” We designed Wingman T-shirts and people would love them.  The first few years we played the mobile circuit playing private parties and weddings. We carried  heavy records in cases to our events. In 2008, we started playing at night clubs in downtown San Jose.  Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were playing the top hits of the day. At Midnight, we would play the midnight mix which would be the heavy hitters of the day such asBlow the Whistle, Goodies, and Yeah.  One song would feed into another song to keep the vibe up. At 1:25 we would go with a song like Lets Stay Together

At that time there were two of us so we could do multiple events at one time. Then my dj partner moved to Florida so I had to do all the events solo.

I was not marketing DJ Wingman as before. I did like the brand but realized brides do not want a Wingman to do a wedding so I had rebranded the name to Black and White Affair. Now its Bwadj for short. I still believe in the Wingman mentality that we have your back but now incorporated the Black and White aspect.  

Before while playing at a night spot people would ask for our cards and want us to do their weddings and birthday events. But now since I do not play at the night scene I had to include other types of marketing.  I revamped the website.  Once started paying different companies to do my site but opted to go with a professional template and incorporated Social Media, so I can keep everything current.

Today’s age everything has to be current since the times are changing.