Haters Gonna Hate ║ Who Said I Wanted to be Popular?
Do you ever start a new endeavor and face surprising challenges and unexpected adversity? Even if you prepare yourself for all the doubts from both yourself and your peers, you can almost never expect all that will come along with new pursuits. You might even acquire “haters,” those people that seem to want to bring you down for reasons unknown. Have you ever had an experience with one of those? I did this week!
This past Sunday, I had a strange little encounter that has left me thinking pretty deeply about how people perceive what motivates their peers. Without going into too many damning details, I can say that a rather intoxicated acquaintance told me that I am only “doing this [DJing] to be popular.” He reiterated the thought when I expressed confusion. Because I don’t get into fights with ignorant, drunk people, I picked up my drink and walked away. I stayed up until 4am on the phone with my mother – bless her soul – talking about how absolutely ridiculous that accusation was. Because if you know me at all, you know I do not give a rat’s tush about being popular. In fact, I’m not quite sure how to be popular.
Photo courtesy of Justin Barr Photography
Do you recall my very first post for WTD!? called “Chronicles of an Uncool-Cool Kid?” I detail my thoughts about how I have never felt very “cool.” I’ve never fit in with the “cool” crowd. You know who they are, and I’m not one of them. I smile too much, laugh too loudly, and am generally too much of a goofball. I do not seek out opportunities because they’ll make me seem cool to others. I do what I love, and I try to do it well. I’m not perfect by any means, and I do make some pretty lame mistakes here and there, but I’m always looking to make sure I put my best self forward in all that I do. Which of course includes DJing!
I mean, look at that. Total dweeb. Photo courtesy of Ashley Kuenstler Photography
As with blogging, DJing involves a certain sense of community. And in the DJ community in my city, I am an infant. I recognize this. I also recognize that I have to work hard to show that I am serious about my newfound love for this aspect of music. I am not doing this for the money or the popularity. I became interested in the idea because I love music and it plays an integral part in my life, and also because at the time the interest arose, I spent a large chunk of my time hanging out with DJs in the St. Louis community.
I became familiar with techniques, equipment, terms, and the late nights. I downloaded a program called Virtual DJ that allows you to play with your music without needing hardware hooked into your laptop. I spent months practicing until the late hours of the night with that program, learning which songs in my library sounded nice together, when it was appropriate to start mixing into a new song, and how to incorporate loops into transitions. When the opportunity arose for me to borrow a DJ controller, I jumped on it, and started having fun at home. A friend offered to let me DJ a house/basement party for his birthday, and there you have it. I was hooked.
I have never truly understood the concept of “haters.” Do you? Maybe this is what they mean. You put your heart into learning and teaching yourself something that excites, intrigues, stimulates, and fulfills you, and someone makes an assumptions about your character. I joked to a friend I’ve been “sippin’ on that haterade” this week because it’s full of all of the fuel that makes me want to just be a better person. A better me, a better friend, a better blogger, a better DJ. I want to be a positive newbie in this community. I want to learn and grow and support others in any way that I can. I want other people, including someone who might also just be starting out with DJing, to feel accepted. Yes, you can sit with us.
