Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

By now I’m sure we’re all feeling the effects of this quarantine/shelter in place/ lockdown. No matter if your state is on complete restriction or medium level with some general limitations, the one thing that’s clear is that we have a long way to go before this Coronavirus pandemic is over.

It’s in the air.

Fear. Panic. Confusion. All week there’s been nothing but doom and despair. No one knows what COVID-19 is. We have a general idea on how you catch it, and how you prevent the spread, but how to obliterate it completely and whether a vaccine will be available to the general public, better yet, should we even trust the vaccine is still out for debate.

Rumors of martial law, conspiracy theories of a New World Order – go into any grocery store and the shelves are empty. No beans, no rice, and toilet paper of all things is like gold in these streets. People are getting robbed of their most basic necessities prompting ridiculously long lines in front of the gun stores. It’s like everyone lost their minds.

Then just as most had binge watched all they could on Netflix, Hulu and whatever other streaming device; as most began to sink down an endless black hole of negative news stories, presidential briefings that left you more confused that the last one, and at the point when the world was in need of mental healing, a break from reality, some semblance of normalcy, a savior of sorts – out of the social media heavens DJs from all over descended down on us like the Avengers.

Last night a DJ saved my life with a song. Actually it was more like 9 hours worth. And it was literally worth every moment.

Although he wasn’t necessarily the first to do it as many local DJs started spinning earlier in the week when the clubs and bars were being shut down, DJ D-Nice went live on his Instagram (#ClubQuarantine) over the weekend and what started out as a few hundred people tuning in turned into the the biggest internet block party the world has ever seen. Everyone and they mama was up in the place. Oprah, Michelle Obama, Will Smith, Diddy, Kelly Rowland, Bruno Mars, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Halle Berry, musical legends Lionel Richie and Melba Moore – every hip-hop icon you can think of from Doug E Fresh to Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, and Flavor Flav. I know I’m missing some names…. it was literally one of the most amazing experiences that will take place in our lifetime. For a moment in time, there was no race, no political differences, no agenda, no conspiracies, no classism – it was simply one nation, under a groove.

After Club Quarantine shut down a series of after parties took place. The most notable promoted being Kid Capri, QuestLove and Biz Markie. DJs from all over the country went live on their Facebook & Instagram pages to keep the party rocking. A personal favorite, DJ Larose Royce had been going live for 4 nights prior spinning everything from R&B, Soul and Hip Hop. We red cupped it and wine sipped it for I can’t tell you how many hours. Music was and is magic. It’s a universal language and the cure none of us knew we needed.

Throughout the weekend people from all over were going live on their own pages dancing with their quarantine baes and family members, commenting on how this or that song took them back down memory lane. It didn’t matter that we were locked in our separate homes as long as you let the music play we’re reminded that we’re in this together.

One fly tune
That have black and white vibe in one room
No confrontation, parlay all night
It’s just the sensation.

Eric Sermon

And as the work week began and people settled in to life working from home or the unfortunate realization that at least for the moment they were out of work more DJs mixed and scratched melodies over breakfast, for a midday mood lifter and on the late night wind down. Though not on the front lines of this global pandemic like the healthcare industry, grocery store employees, sanitation, and restaurateurs etc… add to the list of unsung heroes and heroines, the DJ.

Make sure you add a tip to their CashApp jar next time you hear the tables spinning.