First off, happy Diamond Jubilee to the Queen of England, and to our boy Ali Z who is partying it up with the Royals and his boys in London, England. My understanding is that he is there to drink pints, scuffle with the West Ham United Set, and eat bangers and mash. Were those UK references too obvious? Should I have made a reference to Hogwarts and Potter? Speaking of which, did you know Radcliffe was an anti-monarchist?
In hip hop-related news, Nicki Minaj had a big blow up with Hot 97 DJs Peter Rosenberg and Funkmaster Flex. She cancelled her Summer Jam performance at MetLife Stadium, home to this year’s inaugural EDC NYC, on the orders of Weezy, after Rosenberg dissed her track Starships as being bullshit hip hop. Nicki then went on Hot 97 to have it out with Funkmaster Flex, and the ish just got cray.
Anyway, let’s get to the point…
There is no doubt that one cannot satisfy the music tastes of a wide array of people. Hell, sometimes, you can’t even get two people with similar music tastes to agree on a track. It’s natural. Everyone has their own unique upbringings and life experiences that contribute to their music preferences.
I started this Hot Six venture with the background of having gone to clubs for 16 years and hearing garbage track played after garbage track. I thought that if DJs would only play the best of the best you could have a consistent night of partying to epic music. So I made it my mission to bring you what I thought were the best tracks. I even got like-minded friends involved as contributors and even we don’t agree on every track. Again, it’s natural and expected.
When I started The Hot Six I got a lot of feedback about how the music choices were a little bit “softer.” Sort of more dance music meets pop or dance music meets Latin. But, as the blog has evolved, I’ve received more comments about how the music is “too hard” and that I should feature more of the pop-like tracks that are perhaps cheesy but fun to dance to.
It’s a common problem that anyone who has ever DJ’d is familiar with. You get countless people coming up to the table or booth requesting everything from A to Z. And you know the crowd is going crazy but there is still one person who is complaining that the music sucks. Like when I was DJ’ing, I just laugh it off. The proof is in the dancefloor, baby.
With all of this in mind, I just wanted to let you know that I don’t really care. I don’t really care if a song is too hard or too soft. I don’t care if it is what all the 18 year olds are listening to, or the 22 year olds, or the 26 year olds, or the 30 year olds. I don’t care if is hot and cool or somewhat old and passe. If it sounds good, if it makes me dance, and if it is a bangin’ track, I’m all over it.
Monday I featured a purely instrumental track and called it my track of the year so far. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge proponent of vocals in dance music. But, this track is an absolute killer and I love it. So, boom, I call it how I see it.
The fact of the matter is that The Hot Six’s brand isn’t the hardest dubstep instrumental tracks or the softest Europop jam sung by an Eastern European starlet. It’s not just hipster or hip hop, and it’s not just electro cool and ambient funk. It’s the dopest, banginest tracks that sound good, are fun to jam to, and have a cool vibe. It’s everything our contributors want it to be. But, whatever it is, we think it’s the best. There you have it.
Today’s tracks — too hard or too soft? I don’t care. They sound good and they jam.
Chasing the Sun – The Wanted
From the desk of Ali Z…
The Right Time – Tom Novy & VeraLovesMusic
And just to let you decide on Starships…
Starships – Nicki Minaj
