DJ Insider: Keeping Dance Floors Alive with Javier from C-West Entertainment

Javier from C-West Entertainment shares his expert DJ strategies for reading crowds and selecting the perfect songs for any event situation. His insights reveal the complex art of managing dance floor energy throughout an event, from waking up a dead crowd to selecting the perfect last dance.

• Pitbull songs at 128 BPM are universally effective for reviving a dead dance floor
• Song selection should consider demographics, time of night, and energy level
• Classic songs like "September" and "Celebration" are reliable for getting dancing started
• Last dance options include "Give Me Everything Tonight" for modern crowds or "Sweet Caroline" for sing-along enthusiasts
• Professional DJs need to plan for both public finales and private couple last dances
• Personal preferences still matter – while some love "Closing Time," others find it "whack"

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Transcript

Welcome with DJ Javier

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey Queens, welcome back to another episode of the Daily Buzz. Today we are here with Javier from C-West Entertainment, a phenomenal DJ company here in the Valley. So, javier, we have a question for you what would you say the best track to drop when the crowd is lagging?

Speaker 2 0:17

Ooh, if the crowd is lagging.

Speaker 3 0:19

I'd say there's two schools.

Speaker 2 0:21

Everybody's sleeping.

Speaker 3 0:23

Yeah, we all are like dead asleep.

Waking Up a Dead Crowd

Speaker 1 0:25

Like what is going to get these people, what wakes them up and gets them moving? What's like dang Okay.

Speaker 2 0:30

So I think the easy way would be to throw a Pitbull song out there. You know 128 BPM. It's good, it's accessible to everybody, but it's not an artist or you know somebody that you can play. That's like hard for grandma to dance to or for the younger people to dance to. A song like Time of Our Lives could be good just because it does have a nice beat. It samples whatever that song is from Dirty Dancing. I've had the time of my life and people can recognize that and it's got a good beat. It's got a good drop. So you could drop a song like that. I always go back to the demographics because it depends on who I'm looking at, because if it's a bunch of I don't know a DJ Greek wedding, that probably is not going to work. No, no. If it's a bar mitzvah, that's not going to work. If you're talking about a wedding, though, you probably have grandma there maybe.

Speaker 2 1:15

Maybe, grandma already left. It can depend on the time of the night too. How buzzed are people? Do we have a line at the bar? It can really depend, and I hate that answer. But I'd say Pitbull is a safe one, no matter what Pitbull is good.

Favorite Songs to Start Dancing

Speaker 1 1:27

So what about, like, what is your favorite song or go-to for kicking off dancing?

Speaker 2 1:34

I think kicking off dancing. I mean, everybody expects September or Celebration. That's my favorite song.

Speaker 3 1:41

That's the song Wait. That's one that's like do you remember? Yes, yeah, oh, that's the song wait.

Speaker 2 1:44

That's one that's like do you remember yes, yeah when I got married on September 21st? What?

Speaker 1 1:48

well, I just sometimes if you have to start singing it to remember if it's your favorite song. How is it your favorite song?

Speaker 3 1:53

okay, I didn't mean it was actually my favorite song. It's sentimental to me because that's what we used after we like got married, like the what would you say? The recess, the recessional song, because we got married on September 21st yeah, I know when you got married too, I know it's by. Fire, Wind, whatever.

Speaker 2 2:07

Earth, Wind and Fire. That's what I said. I'm the DJ, don't worry, I'll sing every song. I'm like one of those people.

Speaker 3 2:11

I know every lyric to every song, what the song's called or who sings it. Don't ask me.

Speaker 2 2:16

Just one of those three things.

Speaker 3 2:18

I know the lyrics to like any song, but who sings it?

Speaker 1 2:24

or what the name is it? Don't ask me. Okay, so don't take you on a game show. Oh God, no, don't hire her, not our trivia team. Yeah, she does not get to be in our music.

Best Songs for Last Dance

Speaker 3 2:34

Yeah, see we'll just bring you on to play the trivia songs. What do you think is like the best song for like the last dance of the night?

Speaker 2 2:41

Ooh, great options here. You can either do a slow song. A lot of times people want to sing along. I've seen Sweet Caroline work for, like I'll just say it, super white crowds that love football games. If there's a crowd like that, you know that they're talking about the Eagles and the Toast Play that kind of song because they're going to love to sing that. If they're a more modern crowd, if they're there's a lot of 20 to 30 year olds, I like another pitbull song. Um, uh, I can't remember the name of the song.

Speaker 3 3:07

It's not same problem. This is exactly what happens every time I play.

Speaker 2 3:11

The song is I've typed in pitbull neo and I don't play. Time of our lives I pay we not working hard. That's right. Picture me with kodak. Uh, I don't remember the song. I've got a crate which is someone who's singing it.

Speaker 3 3:22

Everyone knows what it is like come on yeah, so there's that song.

Speaker 2 3:24

Okay, grab somebody sexy, tell them hey oh yeah, give me everything tonight.

Speaker 3 3:29

Oh my god that one I swear I know how to dj yeah, that's, that just makes anything a pitch perfect.

Speaker 2 3:35

Every time I hear it and it ends with like a tune and that's like ends with a nice piano at the end, so I like to use that song. Um, that's a good. A lot of couples choose to do a private last dance, so you have to keep in mind that it might end up just a few more minutes than the end, so you play a final song. I've seen some couples that really like rock music choose Closing Time. I hate that song. That song's whack, closing Time's stupid.

Speaker 3 3:57

I'm going to have a bowling alley. I only know that song because my husband, john, used to work at Wet n' Wild and he said every night they would just when everyone's gone and they have to clean up. He's like they would just blast it over and over again.

Speaker 1 4:13

I'm like that would drive me insane when it's like closing time.

Speaker 3 4:16

There's our drunk karaoke. Yeah, maybe I'll just sing that drunk karaoke I love the emo.

Speaker 1 4:24

I don't even know if it's like panic at the disco. The song is in my head but I don't know. I'm in with the hardest people I've ever heard of yes that song. I love it when people use that as like an end banger that one's like a good and that's like a classic.

Speaker 2 4:39

Everyone knows that song and everybody's like I had a wedding. They're like what Bridesmaid? 2 later.

Speaker 1 4:47

Yeah, that's when I see like I feel it through my veins. I absolutely loathe and hate Usher. Yeah, we fight about this all the time Because Usher is my favorite and yeah by Usher is my favorite song ever.

Speaker 3 4:59

That's my favorite song. Oh, yeah by Usher, Not Usher, I don by Usher. I was thinking.

Speaker 1 5:01

Peace up, not Usher. I don't hate Usher, I love Usher. No, she hates Usher. No Usher. Yeah, I just cringe, but it's not about me.

Speaker 3 5:10

Well, you guys heard it and that is your Daily Buzz.