Author: Michael Darling
The Winter Formal this past weekend was awesome. DJ Dreamweaverz (aka Thomas Carroll) blew the lid off the joint and spun the hottest tracks ever played at an Oxy dance. However, there was at least one person who disagreed with my take on the music. During the dance, one ingrate came up to the DJ deck and booed Thomas. Apparently this classy fellow wasn’t happy because Thomas refused to play the same old worn out hip-hop and pop hits that are played at every other Oxy dance.
Heaven forbid we have a dance without hearing the epic poetry of Souljah Boy. Seriously, this was perhaps only the second Oxy dance I’ve been to where I was surprised by the music the DJ spun. A friend and I have a joke about how at most dances you can expect to be told to “Make it Rain, Crank Dat, Gimme More and Throw Some D’s on That Bitch.” The formal was different. Every song and mix was a new left turn, bouncing between hip-hop, electronica, rock, r&b and works that defy genre restrictions.
Perhaps the boos were because this guy had become so used to the bump and grind that he didn’t know how to react to real dance music. If I had more space I’d go on for a bit about the rise of mediocrity in music and the world in general. Instead, I’ll say this: The guy was afraid of change. He didn’t want to leave his comfortable middle ground and actually try to cut a rug. Instead, he blamed the DJ for not playing music he could “freak” to, while others around him were enjoying themselves or letting loose with their best fancy footwork. Oxy is an institution built on diversity and we should let our music reflect this. We want more than just the same top 40 crap-we want to dance to the entire music spectrum. Finally, I’d like to remind this small minded booer that, as Madonna once said, “Beauty’s where you find it, not just where you bump and grind it.” So, come on Oxy let’s make our dances a thing of beauty!
Michael Darling is a sophomore History major. He can be reached at mdarling@oxy.edu.
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