DJ ERIKA HAMILTON
It’s 8:02pm, I’m walking into the grand and beautiful entrance of Salon Millesime as my phone starts to ring (I have an oldschool Jay-Z track as my ringer btw). I pick it up and it’s the manager at Millesime and he is wondering where I am. Hmm, I told him I was walking in as we speak. I’m a pretty punctual person and I was quite surprised that he was concerned about two minutes. It’s all good, however, because this manager happens to be very hot, and he can scold me for as long as he wants.
Spinning at Carnival is always a blast and getting the dance floor up and running is not hard to do. Last Friday however, I got an extra push from a super sweet and sexy surprise. A bunch of ‘Lady Gaga look a likes‘, dressed in stilettos, boy shorts, and knee highs started to perform a little show on the dance floor. I guess they were ‘go go dancers’ but much sexier, and the crowd went crazy. At this point, I realized that my only objective was to keep these girls moving and performing for as long as possible. Between Salt n Peppa’s push it, to Fergie’s Fergalicious, to Enrique’s Like it, this crowd was not just having fun, but they were hot and heavy and SUPER SEXY.
Carnival always stays true to its name: Fun, Festive and Freaky. It was the usual Friday night: a packed house and a hot-n-sweaty dance floor. There was a point however when I thought I lost my 'mojo'
Once the room was full, I scanned the area and observed the crowd. Early to mid 20s, 50/50 male female, an ethnically mixed group, but it appeared that there was a large birthday party with a predominantly Latin American crowd. I mapped out the next hour in my head with Hip-hop, Pop back to Hip-Hop and then I was going to hit them with a few super hot and sexy Reggaeton tracks. A deadly, combo with a booty shaking guarantee!
SO….everything was building just how I had planned it. They were predictably goo goo for GaGa, Jay 'kept them real', the peas got them giddy and then I thought I was going to hit the ‘G-spot’ with Daddy Yankee, but I when I dropped "Gasolina" I did not get the screams and cheers that I had highly anticipated. It wasn't like the song killed the dance floor, people were into it, but they seemed to be indifferent.
There was no time to sweat it, but I did think it was strange. It wasn't until about 20mins later when I realized where I went wrong. I started to play Punjabi MC's 'Boys and Girls' feat Jay-z and the crowd went BALLISTIC. I was surprised bc it's a re-current track that I don't play often. I squinted my eyes and watched as the bday party group went absolutely NUTS . It finally dawned on me that the 'Latin American' group was NOT Latin American, they were Middle Eastern. Oops, but hey it was really dark inside.
I followed Punjabi MC with MIA's Paper Planes and then shifted to T.I. into Kanye into Shakira and I before I knew it, I was rocking one hot ass party. Everything and everyone was Gucci!
I didn't know that the Saturday’s party at Hudson Terrace was a Single's mixer. Fortunately for me there were a LOT of good and tasty options for a single lady, but of course my priorities were in check. Play the songs first, then play (with) the boys later.
For some reason, I was in the mood to play Eminem's “Love The Way You Lie.” Sonically its beautiful, emotionally its truly intense but unfortunately it's very slow and not 'dance floor friendly'. Eminem is an amazing artist but instead of making us want to shake our booties he just makes us want to sit and listen. I figured, however I could sneak in 1 verse and 1 hook, during the first 20mins, before people were warmed up and ready to dance.
Oddly enough there was one girl that got really into it and she wasn’t exactly ‘subtle’ as to how much she was FEELING this song. She was probably a little tipsy, and I don't think she fully understood the impression she was giving to her potential suitors. If you don't understand what I'm talking about let me just ask. Would YOU want to ask out someone who was emotionally drawn to lyrics like “ I like the way it hurts” or “You push, pull each other's hair scratch, claw, bit 'em throw 'em down” ? (and please note that Eminem is NOT referring to kinky sex here, he is talking about the love of his life).
Kind of seems like a red flag doesn’t it?
Sometimes I wonder if Carrie Bradshaw was a DJ would her schedule look a lot like mine. I do, however (in the name of comfort) have to trade in my Jimmy Choos for a pair of Pumas every now and then. Not that I mind, I LOVE my job and I'm good at what I do. I have the ability to stimulate a large crowd of boys and girls at the drop of a needle. I can magically turn a sweet little party into a luscious and carnal experience on the dance floor.
Friday 10pm, It's all about getting the crowd all worked up at Carnival.
Saturday 7pm Getting the people 'in the mood' at an early shindig at Hudson Terrace. (note to self: don't forget to call ahead of time to make sure sound system is ready).
Sunday 2pm Late brunch with the girls.
Sunday 6pm it's off to work a private lingerie event at Marquee (must bring mary jane girls 'all night long' and esthero 'wickid lil girls').
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