DJING

DECKS

If you’re starting out as a DJ, the choice of equipment available can be a bit dazzling - so it can be hard to pick gear that will help you on your way to stardom. How much you want to spend on your equipment is up to you, but it’s worth investing in kit that will be reliable and transportable.
It may upset the purists but these days many DJs prefer to work off a hard-drive and a laptop. Programs like Ableton, Serato or Traktor are used by the biggest names and allow you to beat match and play around with tracks live. They don't come cheap so it may be worth downloading a free demo from the manufacturers' websites to see which you like most. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives around too so have a good look around and chat to people you know to see what they use. Whatever you end up with just make sure you've got a computer with enough processing power to let things run smoothly.
If you want to keep it old-school there are two types of turntables: belt drive and direct drive. In a belt drive turntable, the motor is attached to a small spindle and belt that turns your vinyl. After a while, the tension on that belt can slacken, so you might find it harder to scratch on it and the speed of your track might vary.
The motor in direct drive turntables is attached to the main spindle in the middle of the platter, so there’s no need for a belt. This means that vinyl is brought up to speed quicker and more accurately than on belt-driven turntables, which may need a bit of a push and be harder to mix with. All considered, if you can get hold of a direct drive turntable, then do.
The key to being able to DJ is learning how to beat match. No matter what road you've gone down when it comes to kit understanding the the basic rules will help you. Even if you're using computer programs, which can make the whole affair easier, it'll help you build a good set and pick the right records if you know your stuff. It's all about manipulating two (or if you're really fancy more than two) tracks to that they play together to the same beat. You can find good guides to get you started online at DJ Guide, Online DJ Tips or at TruGroovez.

Twerk

Twerk music is based loosely on a particularly spicy flavor of southern hip-hop known as ‘bounce’ music.

Bounce music has been around for over two decades and is characterized by call-and-response chants, hypersexual lyrics and two specific drum loops: the “brown beat” and the “triggerman beat.” These beats (much like the “amen” break in DnB) provide a basis for the “bounce” sound with inherent bouncy grooves at mid-range dance tempos; a perfect combination of hip-hop and dance music.

Example: 

Shrivel:

https://db.tt/WLmraCzq

Trap Music

Trap music is a genre that is starting to gain quite a bit of momentum through the ever growing sub-genres of dance music culture. Although this new found hype towards trap music, or EDM Trap Music as some may call it, has recently emerged, there is a history behind the origin of the Trap genre that is all but new.

Trap music fist emerged coming primarily from the south, a genre filled with a hard attitude that you can feel in the sound of the brass, triangle, triplet hi hats, loud kicks, snappy snares and low end 808 bass samples that are used when composing tracks. The percussion samples of choice when making trap music are usually originate from the Roland TR-808 Drum Machine.  When speaking of the “originators” in the trap music game, southern rappers like Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Three 6 Mafia,and Manny Fresh come to mind. As well as some of the iconic trap music producers like Lex Luger, Zaytoven, and up and comer Young Chop.

However, the new “trap music movement” or “EDM Trap” genre that is evolving has seen the use of techno, dub, and dutch house like sounds incorporated with the inclusion of the original Roland TR-808 drum samples and vocal samples used by the originators. A number of stylistic offshoots of trap developed, which in the latter half of 2012 gained a rise in viral popularity and made a noticeable impact on dance music.

To simply break it down, Trap music would be best described as a combination of:

• 1/3 hip hop (tempo and song structure are similar, most tracks are usually between 70 -110 bpm) – with vocals sometimes pitched down
• 1/3 Dance Music  – High pitched Dutch synth work, Hardstyle sampling, as well as a plethora of trap remixed of popular EDM songs
• 1/3 dub (Low frequency focus and strong emphasis on repetitiveness throughout a song)

 Modern producers of the new trap music genre that have been emerging above the rest include artists RL Grime, TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke x Lunice), Flosstradamus, Baauer, DJ Sliink, Heroes x Villians, UZ, LOUDPVCK, gLAdiator, and Luminox. And the Trap Music genre continues to evolve as it progresses