It’s the D-Town Boogie: Crowd-moving, dance-motivating, party songs coming from the DFW area. From “My Dougie”, to “Check Out My Lean”, to “Do Tha Ricky Bobby”, Dallas artists have moved the dance floors across the nation. Emerging from the movement, local Dallas artists have landed on BET, MTV and on radio stations everywhere. But, with so much opposition to the dancing will the music ever be accepted?
WHY THE D-TOWN BOOGIE IS HERE TO STAY!
by Definition DJ Drop
• BOOGIE MUSIC IS A MOVEMENT
Ignorant people look at Boogie music as the “paint on our car”. They don’t understand that Boogie music a “vehicle of transportation”. It’s the biggest look that Dallas has ever had.
• EVERY REGION OR MARKET, THAT HAS BUBBLED, HAS HAD DANCING INVOLVED
Dancing is a part of Hip-Hop. It’s crazy to me when the industry tries to label a market, artists or DJ’s just because of people wanting to dance to the music. Is this the same industry that vouched for “gangsta” rappers wearing pink clothes? What’s the difference between doing the “Stankey Leg” and doing “The Butt”? What’s the difference between “Ricky Bobby” and “Humpty Dance”? The song “My Dougie” was not a dance song. People danced to it. If that’s the case, Lil Boosie, Webbie, and Gucci Mane are Boogie artists.
• THE ECONOMY IS MAKING THE MUSIC MORE YOUTHFUL
There’s power in the youth. From the Boogie to the “Jerk”, this is a youthful movement. It’s a recession and parents are worried about mortgages and jobs. The teenagers are on the internet all day. They’re able to make videos and post them online to music they like. They are doing the promotion for you. The youth wants to party.
• THEY’RE TRYING TO TALK YOU OUT OF YOUR MONEY
The dancing is the part of the movement that everyone is stuck on. The people doing the music are getting distracted by people telling them “it ain’t cool” or “it’s feminine” or “it’s for the ladies”. Artists need to realize, they are trying to talk you out of your money.
• IT’S TIME FOR PHASE 2 OF THE MOVEMENT
It’s not all about clubs and partying. It’s time to give you Boogie with substance. Dallas has always been a dance floor city. We got artists who are as “club friendly”. Friendly is not negative but we have to balance the music out. The majority of these artists are not dancing. “Mr. Hit That Hoe” is not a dance record. He talking about f**king. As long as I’m alive the Boogie movement will not die.
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Definition DJ Drop
Interview by Aaron Cortez
Cortez: How big of a role are mixtape DJ’s to the movement?
DJ Drop: The DJ’s mixtapes are the radio station for the Boogie movement. The movement is led by the DJ’s.
The only problem I have with the movement is the lack of the business side.
The reason its like that is because it’s a DJ led movement.
Is that good or bad?
It’s good.
But doesn’t that bring in artists of one-hit wonders with them not knowing the business?
We all come in the game not knowing. It’s up to you to realize that I’m here now. I need to know ‘what’s better for me and my people’. Now I will agree that we have a lack of managers and role players.
Everybody’s a star.
Right, nobody wants to be behind the scenes. What the DJ’s did was give that average street guy a voice. The Trap Starz, to me, was the beginning of the Boogie movement. They were regular people, then they were on BET, doing shows in Houston, and getting played on the radio. I’m not gonna stop the Boogie movement. Like the songs, these artists party, have fun, pop pills, and hang out with their friends. Some artists try to do Boogie music but have people saying to them that the music is friendly, then try to switch it up to “street” music. But that ain’t you. And I don’t like when street artists try to bash the Boogie music. It ain’t never been cool to bash another man’s hustle.
But how many times can we do this? Can we go another year of artists blowing up, getting a record deal and quickly losing their deal? You don’t think you have a responsibility to help?
Yeah I do. But, I can talk but there’s no need for me to waste my breath. If there was communication from the jump, they wouldn’t be one-hit wonders. That’s where the greed came in. Some artists felt their song was just so hot that everybody jumped on it. Don’t get me wrong, it takes a good song but the DJ’s really stood up for the city. It was certain artists that really didn’t come back and rock with the city like they should have. Personally, when the artist’s name got so big outside the city they felt like they didn’t need the DJ’s anymore.