NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 09: DJ D-Nice performs at The Apollo Theater on December 9, 2018 in New … [+]
WireImage
DJ D-Nice brought joy to a sad nation last week by pulling at least 104,000 people – and a ton of celebrities – into a series of Instagram Live house parties. As he told Jimmy Fallon On The Tonight Show this week, he “was able to play from my hearts.” Fast forward to today: Exactly seven days since the ground-breaking IG party made headlines this week D-Nice is suddenly is hosting sets for the NBA, Michelle Obama and can be seen on just about every TV screen talking to everyone from Fallon to Trevor Noah to MSNBC’s Ari Melber.
The original party, whose hashtag #ClubQuarantine, easily trended on Twitter, hosted everyone from Michelle Obama and Joe Biden to Kelley Rowland and Mark Zuckerberg. D-Nice told Fallon the moment was essentially organic. And as friend texted friend or DM’d a friend to join the party, D also found himself with an exponential increase in followers on Instagram. By today he was up to 1.7 million.
And though it was a livestream, he still was in his nerves as he saw the wide variety of people who dropped in to listen and dance. Especially Obama. As he told Fallon:
“I was nervous and even though I deejayed for them — I played, you know, the second-to-last party at the White House and did the inaugural ball — there was something about [being] in that setting, where I’m really at home. Like, this is my kitchen; I’m deejaying in my kitchen and something that I was doing in my kitchen was able to touch the world.”
The superstar DJ, who was a founding member of genre-creating hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, also introduced an exclusive Spotify playlist this week. Called “Dj D-Nice’s Homeschool Playlist,” these “essential jams for any party at home” features a mix of classic hits paced exactly how you need them to start slow, rev up to a frenzy and then slowly cool down.
The songs there are a classic R&B lover’s essential playlist in many ways. There’s Quincy Jones ‘and Dune’s “Ai No Corrida,” Stephanie Mills’ “Sweet Sensation,” Earth, Wind And Fire’s “Fantasy” and Linda Clifford’s “Runaway Love.” In essence the list is a grown folk’s party list with hits that are easy on the ears if you have little children at home and, for many, strike a nerve by recalling better times.
D-Nice also hosted a two-hour NBA Live Instagram party as well, and played for the league’s 47 million followers. The NBA, which is on hiatus due to the coronavirus, brought the deejay into its new NBA Together program to try and engage basketball fans from around the globe as everyone reels from the impact of the coronavirus.
According to the NBA: “The program is centered on four pillars—Know the Facts, Acts of Caring, Expand Your Community and NBA Together Live—that will amplify the latest global health and safety information, share guidelines and resources, and keep people and communities socially connected through digital tools and virtual events as everyone copes with the impact of the pandemic. As part of NBA Together, the NBA family is committed to contributing and helping raise more than $50 million to support people impacted by the coronavirus and community and healthcare organizations providing vital services around the world, which includes the more than $30 million financial commitment already made by NBA and WNBA teams and players to date.”
D-Nice then appeared on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah and explained how his friend and fellow Dj Clarke Kent encouraged hi to just go live and play what he loves.
“I didn’t think it was going to become more than it did, it was literally me sitting at home and feeling isolated and missing my friends. I just felt like I needed to do something and I was going stir crazy in there. I had never used IG live. … [Re Oprah and Obama] I’m used to being in their world and now I’m here in my world they came over to see what I’m up to. It was amazing they were coming to see what I was up to.”
The week only got better for D-Nice when Obama tapped him to deejay her “couch party” to encourage voter registration for her organization When We All Vote. By the end of the cough party, Outvote helped nearly 13,000 people start or complete the voter registration process.
D-Nice was happy to be on hand to help “drive that traffic” during a “big election year.”
And it all started with a little idea, 200 or so friends watching him on IG Live and some old-school Stevie Wonder and Stephanie Mills hits. As D-Nice told Fallon. “One hundred thousand people were in that Live to hear what I wanted to play, and I was able to play from my heart…so I was able to just do what I love and it was a beautiful experience.”