On March 10, 2025, I DJ’d the second set at Shades of Fusion. It would have been over 5 years since I last DJ’d for an audience. TBH, I didn’t listen to music or even think about dancing for much of those 5 years. Of course, the Fusion world changed, new people joined the local Fusion communities and indeed, new leaders emerged to create new dances!
So it was with some trepidation that I made my “comeback.”
As usual, I pick tracks according to what I saw on the dance floor – the energy, the laughter, and the enjoyment. It makes me happy to be a “third partner” for all the dancers in the room.
Alas, things didn’t go as planned and technical difficulties beset my work. I experienced the gamut of troubles, from audio issues to my software continuously crashing. (I’m writing another blog on that experience, which I will publish in the future)
What follows is what I used to call a “set deconstruction,” but what I am now calling a “set retrospective.” It’s an exercise I used to do to analyze music choices and my thoughts/feelings/observations about the experience.
I’ve never published one before, but I thought I’d share this one time in case it helps some new or aspiring DJs understand what kind of thinking goes into the craft of creating a picklist/setlist; to lay bare the highs, the lows and the “WTF were you thinking?”.
Note: I chose the first 5 tracks ahead of time. This buffer lets me attend to the sound system, adjust gain levels and watch the floor.
- “This Night” by Black Lab (A minor) – This track is deep, bassy and languid. In my software, I’ve notated it with a “++” which indicates that it’s tried and true and the dancers seem to like it. I wanted to start off with a set of tracks that would distinguish me from the previous DJ. I wanted to start slow and build up and I wanted to use an older track that symbolically bridges my DJ’ing of old with today. I tend to favor songs in minor keys. Extra points that Black Lab was founded in the Bay Area (Berkeley).
- “SOLD” by Lana Lubany (B minor [+2 fifths for energy boost]) – Palestinian-American, Lana Lubany was born and raised in Israel. My current predilection for Middle Eastern music aside, Lubany’s circumstance of birth and early childhood puts her at the heart of the current conflict in the M.E. Shades of Fusion is one of the more politically aware venues and I wanted to nod to that, while the song itself is not politically oriented. While I love the Arabic vocals and the unusual rhythms, the same attributes make it something of a challenging song for dancers.
- “Laalach” by TroyBoi. (F# minor [+1]) – Troy is a mix of Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and Nigerian. On later inspection, I noticed I played 3 different TroyBoi tracks. Part of what I try to do with my music choices is highlight (some) non-white-cis-male artists. Having eclectic tastes helps this, but I also spent a considerable amount of time seeking artists with different genders, different skin colors, and different sexual orientations. This song is completely instrumental, laid over languid gooey heavy beats. The Indian influence seems strong and incidentally, “laalach” means “greed” in Hindi.
- “Tom’s Diner” performed by AnnenMayKantereit (F# minor [same]) – After the two previous challenges, I wanted something familiar, but not too familiar and came up with this cover of Suzanne Vega’s Toms Diner by this German trio. The track is distinctive with its sometimes raspy vocal counterpoints and harmonization. Meanwhile the fairly standard rhythm structure makes it accessible to dancers. I had not yet taken the time to edit the track, so I had to manually fade the track before the final reprisal.
- “Acoustic” by Billy Raffoul (A major [flip]) – This track is distinguished by a single acoustic guitar (and bass) and Raffoul’s raspy lyrics, sung mostly in head voice with the occasional falsetto. At this point, I wanted something gentle and clean, with a distinguishable rhythm. I love the lyrics on this, with sexual underpinnings, but communicating something special about relationships and not projecting. Roseanna brought this track to me.
- “Despacito” by Madilyn Baily and Leroy Sanchez. (G major [-2 fourths]) . This popular cover song doesn’t need a lot of explaining. (original by Lois Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2017). It follows a well and proven way to my heart – increasing energy, duet, lyrical, latin rhythms. Fusion dancers often struggle with lyrical music (sad face), so this is a bit of a challenge but it comes in at less than 3 minutes, so it’s over quickly for those who struggle. The choice of going down 2 fourths signifies a clean break from the previous tracks and I particularly like that what could be a depressing energy shift is nullified by the building energy of the track. It accentuates the slow start.
- “Ta Vendo Ae” by MC Kekel, MC Kevin o Chris (G# minor [flip]). After 3 songs by ostensibly white people, I wanted to bring back the international spirit. I love this song by Brazilian Funk artist MC Kekel. It has a signature afro-latin rhythm. Kind of kiz-ish, but also totally not. One reason I picked this song was to build on the increasing energy. Somebody near the DJ booth was trying to stomp the challenging rhythm, but I couldn’t tell if they were mocking it or enjoying it. 🙂 Also … back to my beloved minors.
- “Best Gyal” by Blaiz Fayah – temp changes