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Originally posted by teufel-man You gotta look at who is releasing the list. ie. the magazine might be called DJ Mag but in reality its not a magazine for all DJs, it is focused on the EDM crowd. No one in the EDM world cares that Mix Master Mike falls between John Digweed and Richie Hawtin in the most popular DJ list. Its like comparing apples and oranges; its not really relevant to compare the two in my opinion. Seriously, if someone asked you who is a better DJ, John Digweed or Mix Master Mike, how would you decide?? I would even go as far as saying that its not relevant to compare DnB DJs to trance/techno/house DJs. If The Source (hip hop mag) released a 'best dj' list, I dont think anyone would be asking 'why isnt Tiesto on here?'

how would i decide? track selection, mixing, creativity, and party vibe.
in short, same as any other dj.

here's the thing tho - jazzy jeff plays ALL kinds of music, has done mix comps for house, hip hop, and mixes everything you could imainge, and does it with class and attitude. digweed? pffft, it ain't exactly hard to do what he's doing, from a technical point of view, now is it?

i think its a reflection of the pollsters themselves and a very narrow minded point of view, musically speaking, when not even a single hip hop dj is in the list, or for that matter that such a narrow range of music is on display. sad actually.

to take your analogy of apples to oranges a little bit farther, well hell yes its different fruit, that's entirely the point. the real question is this - are you satisfied with a serving of apples or oranges alone? or is it possible that there can be a more satifysing meal put forth when the chef has the skill and werewithall to do some genuine mixing? puns intended entirely within this paragraph btw.

before you answer this, please take the time to go see jazzy jeff live. i take him as an example because he's SO good and probably the best dj who reps a multi-range sound on the whole.

stop getting so hung up on the term "dj"... the poll is obviously for "dance music dj's" haha fuck

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Define What A Dance Music DJ Is

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Originally posted by -g- how would i decide? track selection, mixing, creativity, and party vibe. in short, same as any other dj. here's the thing tho - jazzy jeff plays ALL kinds of music, has done mix comps for house, hip hop, and mixes everything you could imainge, and does it with class and attitude. digweed? pffft, it ain't exactly hard to do what he's doing, from a technical point of view, now is it? i think its a reflection of the pollsters themselves and a very narrow minded point of view, musically speaking, when not even a single hip hop dj is in the list, or for that matter that such a narrow range of music is on display. sad actually. to take your analogy of apples to oranges a little bit farther, well hell yes its different fruit, that's entirely the point. the real question is this - are you satisfied with a serving of apples or oranges alone? or is it possible that there can be a more satifysing meal put forth when the chef has the skill and werewithall to do some genuine mixing? puns intended entirely within this paragraph btw. before you answer this, please take the time to go see jazzy jeff live. i take him as an example because he's SO good and probably the best dj who reps a multi-range sound on the whole.

Alright, so I just got back from seeing jazzy jeff live...

Obviously you have a point... but I still think its meaningless to stick hip hop DJs and EDM DJs into the same poll and try to rank them against each other. How do you compare the track selection of a rap vs EDM DJ.... can you really say its better that jazzy jeff playing gangsters paradise and then in dad club is better than when Digweed plays Heaven Scent and then Warung Beach.... (stupid example but you get what I'm saying)

Its like having a 'Best athlete' poll. Can you really say that Tiger Woods is better or worse than Lebron James? yeah you probably could construct a best athlete list that is reasonably correct but it losses credibility when you try to say this football player is a better athlete than that hockey player.

I am not trying to say Hip Hop DJs arent as good or better than EDM DJs, it just doesn't make sense to try to compare them to each other.

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Originally posted by teufel-man Alright, so I just got back from seeing jazzy jeff live... Obviously you have a point... but I still think its meaningless to stick hip hop DJs and EDM DJs into the same poll and try to rank them against each other. How do you compare the track selection of a rap vs EDM DJ.... can you really say its better that jazzy jeff playing gangsters paradise and then in dad club is better than when Digweed plays Heaven Scent and then Warung Beach.... (stupid example but you get what I'm saying) Its like having a 'Best athlete' poll. Can you really say that Tiger Woods is better or worse than Lebron James? yeah you probably could construct a best athlete list that is reasonably correct but it losses credibility when you try to say this football player is a better athlete than that hockey player. I am not trying to say Hip Hop DJs arent as good or better than EDM DJs, it just doesn't make sense to try to compare them to each other.

well first you have to understand that jazzy jeff plays music of the highest quality. gangsters paradise. ha ha! just go look at any of his mix discographies for reference. hell he'd play heaven scent if the mood was right.

but u know, speaking of athletic comparisons, there actually IS such a thing as the 'world's best athlete'. its given to the gold medalist in the Decathlon. interestingly enough, the decathlon is an event in which the athlete must show consistent superior athletic ability in ALL genres - ahem - sport areas, to win the overall title.

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Originally posted by jon jon stop getting so hung up on the term "dj"... the poll is obviously for "dance music dj's" haha fuck

bwhahaha. tut tut!

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Originally posted by ***** Define What A Dance Music DJ Is

that is it exactly. dance djs? hell its any dj that makes you dance. and that's really the point here - i think it says so much more about the listener and their musical palette when they deliberately exclude djs of a diff genre simply because they don't make a habit of dancing to that kind of music, or would even CONSIDER it to be dance music at all!

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Originally posted by -g- well first you have to understand that jazzy jeff plays music of the highest quality. gangsters paradise. ha ha! just go look at any of his mix discographies for reference. hell he'd play heaven scent if the mood was right. but u know, speaking of athletic comparisons, there actually IS such a thing as the 'world's best athlete'. its given to the gold medalist in the Decathlon. interestingly enough, the decathlon is an event in which the athlete must show consistent superior athletic ability in ALL genres - ahem - sport areas, to win the overall title.

No one is saying that the winner of the RA best DJ poll is the 'best DJ in the entire world', just the best EDM DJ according to RA readers

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Originally posted by teufel-man Alright, so I just got back from seeing jazzy jeff live... Obviously you have a point... but I still think its meaningless to stick hip hop DJs and EDM DJs into the same poll and try to rank them against each other. How do you compare the track selection of a rap vs EDM DJ.... can you really say its better that jazzy jeff playing gangsters paradise and then in dad club is better than when Digweed plays Heaven Scent and then Warung Beach.... (stupid example but you get what I'm saying) Its like having a 'Best athlete' poll. Can you really say that Tiger Woods is better or worse than Lebron James? yeah you probably could construct a best athlete list that is reasonably correct but it losses credibility when you try to say this football player is a better athlete than that hockey player. I am not trying to say Hip Hop DJs arent as good or better than EDM DJs, it just doesn't make sense to try to compare them to each other.

and i have to add, i DO know what you're saying regarding track selection. in that regard, as in most things musical, its subjective. is one tune 'better' than another? well shit i don't know, but for a top dj, i'd expect them to be playing amazing tunes, whatever the genre at all. i should be impressed with the music, period. does the genre matter here? nope, not at all.

and the thing of the jj example is that he's not a hip hop dj really. he's a dj of music, period. he plays everything. but i do think that the stratification of music scenes, esp here in north america, doesn't help to promote a healthier cross pollination of music in the dance realm of things.

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Originally posted by teufel-man No one is saying that the winner of the RA best DJ poll is the 'best DJ in the entire world', just the best EDM DJ according to RA readers

i understand that. and i guess maybe i'm not making myself clear about what this means.

to me its saying that RA readers don't care at all about anything other than a really narrow band of music. and that's to their detriment, but its also very revealing about just how unfortunate they are to have not had an experience that would allow them to open their ears to a dj that incorporates a little more creativity than even those top djs in their list would put on display.

i got no bones with the list itself. it is what it is. but what it is says so much.

imo its like voting for the best track ever made, its impossible to narrow down..

there are so many good dj's out there in every genre.. depending on the time slot, venue, vibe and your state of mind at the time many djs could be potentially epic

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Originally posted by -g- to me its saying that RA readers don't care at all about anything other than a really narrow band of music. and that's to their detriment, but its also very revealing about just how unfortunate they are to have not had an experience that would allow them to open their ears to a dj that incorporates a little more creativity than even those top djs in their list would put on display.

RA readers listen to EDM, you listen to EDM as well as Hip Hop, congratulations...

actually i'll amend that slightly. laurent garnier does a terrific job of mixing in a much wider variety of music than anyone else on that list by far. i'll give them props for recognizing that at least.