Student DJs from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign showcased their work at an event at Gallery Art Bar Thursday night.
Oscillating lights projected on the walls and ceiling as 11 student DJs took turns performing on stage in front of a crowd that had gathered to show support and enjoy the ambiance.
The DJ 101 showcase was held in tandem with the U of I’s Hip Hop Innovation Center, said Janaea Modest, the adjunct professor of the Art of DJing class. Modest, who’s also known as DJ Silkee, said the initiative’s goal is to teach everything there is to know about hip-hop.
“You got beat-making, you got MC-ing, you got writing and you got my class,” she said.
The course requires students to learn mixing and transitioning techniques, practice them on their DJ boards and perform in class for critiques. The live showcase at Gallery Art Bar serves as their final.
Modest said it’s been exciting to see her students grow from the ground up.
“Seeing them open the [DJ] boards, they were excited,” she said. “It looked like Christmas when they was opening the boards!”
Alisha Babu, also known as DJ Aleeba, is a pre-med student at the U of I. She said the class has been a great distraction from the stress of schoolwork. She said perfecting a set requires a lot of trial and error.
“Since the beginning of the semester, we’ve learned new techniques and we get to tap into our own music taste, incorporating those skills into making our own sets,” Babu said.
Nisha Janamanchi, also known as DJ Janasha, is a bioengineering student at the U of I. She said her set is a mix of pop and house genres with a focus on Charli XCX.
“I incorporate a transition that uses wordplay where you loop a certain word over and over again and then transition into another song,” she said.
The DJ 101 performers brought a wide expanse of genres, from pop to EDM to house to hip hop.
More information about the Hip Hop Innovation Center can be found at the group’s website.