DJ Interviews: Reggaeton House Show by Dylan Jiron
Earlier this month, WXTJ put on our first DJ house show of the school year! DJs 4dat, DJ Heartthrob, Paulardis, and &Piette each put their own spin on our reggaeton theme. Reggaeton’s prototypical form has its roots in mid-1980s Panama and Puerto Rico, influenced by hip-hop, Jamaican dancehall, and reggae. Now, reggaeton is a global phenomenon, with Bad Bunny poised to perform at the next Super Bowl halftime show. For a great read on the sociopolitical origins, whitewashing, and commercialization of the genre, check out this article.
I interviewed the first three DJs of the night during our soundcheck. Read on to learn more about them and the inspiration behind their sets!
4DAT
DYLAN: So what got you into DJing?
4DAT: I would say the Bogotá alt scene and people like Funk Tribu, who are Colombians that are making it big in Germany, all of these big shows, like all that, yeah, pretty much.
DYLAN: Awesome. And do you have a song that you can’t go a set without playing?
4DAT: I would say KLK by Arca. You can play it on like reggaeton sets, alt sets, fucking like everything, every single thing, literally.
DYLAN: That’s a really good pull. That’s a good song. What’s the craziest mix or transition you’ve ever done?
4DAT: I would say Air War by Crystal Castles and Air Head by fakemink. They sample each other. I tried it once and I was like, okay, this is sort of interesting.
DYLAN: That’s cool, that’s a good fakemink pull. And then what was your inspiration for the reggaeton set tonight?
4DAT: I would say just the stuff that I grew up hearing, that my neighbors would blast at like 3:00 a.m., stuff like Plan B, Ozuna, you know, Don Omar, all of them, all of the OGs making it, like everything that your neighbors would play that we hear along the streets, like when walking in the streets, all that pretty much, yeah.
DYLAN: Awesome! So excited for your set!
DJ HEARTTHROB
DYLAN: What got you into DJing?
DJ HEARTTHROB: So the thing that got me into DJing is I was actually at a Halloween party last year with a few of my friends and they passed me the board and they literally just told me to make something happen, and so that’s how I got started with DJing. It just was a spontaneous thing.
DYLAN: That’s really cool. What’s like one song that you play at every set?
DJ HEARTTHROB: One song that I play at every set is Ric Flair Drip.
And it’s just because a lot of people know that song. And the bass hits so heavy on that song that it’s like, hearing it on speakers, it’s just like electric. So I always include that one.
DYLAN: Awesome. And then what’s like the craziest mix or transition you’ve ever done?
DJ HEARTTHROB: I’ll say that the craziest mix or transition that I’ve ever done is You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift with Faneto by Chief Keef.
DYLAN: Wait, that’s really good. That’s really good. And then what’s your inspiration for the show tonight?
DJ HEARTTHROB: My inspiration for the show is, I did some research on the history of reggaeton. So especially like some dancehall music, because that’s kind of like just like a prerequisite to reggaeton music. And then I just asked some of my friends that are like really big reggaeton fans. So it should be exciting tonight, getting inspiration from those two things.
DYLAN: Yeah, super excited for your set!
PAULARDIS
DYLAN: Paul, what got you into being a DJ?
PAULARDIS: Honestly, I was at my boy Ethan’s place like about a year ago, and he had a DJ deck, and I was like, shit can’t be that hard. So I went on Udemy, I got like a DJing course, but also I just think like going to venues and especially Echostage and seeing Marshmello, Porter Robinson especially, and I don’t know, seeing like Skrillex and Fred again.. and shit, it’s like, all those, you know, shows and stuff they have, it’s like, It was just like crazy. And I think what got me into that was like, well, I listen to a bunch of genres. So it’d be pretty sick if like, you know, what if I started DJing? I just play a bunch of random shit that I like and it turns out other people like it. And I think it’s like really cool to go ahead and create that community. And like, I don’t know, I just really love it.
DYLAN: That’s so awesome. I love Porter Robinson. Do you have, like, a song that you have to play every set?
PAULARDIS: Usually I think like the sing along songs work really well. Outside of like frat music, I guess, would probably be like the NewJeans ETA Foxela remix which is like a Jersey club one and that’s like one that like obviously everybody knows the words to, and then there’s parts, like you know when you play the chorus, you turn the volume knob down and then everybody sings it and it’s, i don’t know, it’s really cool to see, oh everybody’s really into, it so i usually tend to play that like at every set.
DYLAN: Okay awesome, so will we hear it tonight?
PAULARDIS: Probably not, unless i find like a reggae version in like the next like 30 minutes.
DYLAN: Ha, fair! What’s been your craziest mix or craziest transition between songs?
PAULARDIS: Easy. I’m going to do that tonight. The EoO Bad Bunny to Daddy Yankee Gasolina transition. That one’s crazy. I’m excited.
DYLAN: I’m excited! That’s good. And then, yeah, what’s your inspiration for your set tonight?
PAULARDIS: I guess I think I went more towards like the newer stuff rather than like the old school. Also, you know, some throwbacks in there. But I also went to like, baile funk, Brazilian funk. And just, I don’t know. I think, like, one thing I did a lot for this set was a lot of, like, funk remixes of popular songs from other genres and stuff. So I think it’s cool to go ahead and kind of throw that, all these other songs in and be like, hey, one of my favorite things about remixes is that, like, it’s people’s own interpretation on a song. So they could just go ahead and say, oh, I didn’t know the song could be like, a reggae, baile funk version. So I’m hyped for that.
DYLAN: Yeah, that sounds super hype. Super excited to see your set!
