DJ’s are a very unique group of entertainers. Yes, DJ’s are entertainers. In short they entertain the crowd with the music they play. But in order to understand and appreciate what is involved with being a DJ you have to understand a little bit about the history of the DJ.

DJ’s as most people know them are the mysterious guys or gals in DJ booth in the far end of the club. Not really interacting with the crowd. Some people only know DJ’s as the people that play music on the radio. But now they have been taken over by radio personalities and automated systems that play music by themselves.

That is not how DJ’s are known in the traditional sense of their background. DJ’s are inter-linked with Hip hop and yes Hip hop is one word and not two for those of you that do not know. The DJ in the Hip hop culture is where it all began.

The DJ played the music and also entertained the crowed with his lyrical wizardry or with a call and response such as “Can I get Ho?!” and the crowed would respond in time saying “Ho!” Over time the DJ took a back seat to the emcee that emerged as the vocal representative of the DJ

But most traditional Hip hop groups have a DJ as an intricate part of their group and constantly keep them in the forefront so everyone knows who the person is behind the music.

A good example of this is the Hip hop group Gang Starr. Its DJ, DJ Premier, has produced hundreds of songs and played large venues in dozens of countries.

You can check his myspace site at myspace.com/DJpremierme.

Today you can find plenty of DJ’s who engage in local clubs, wedding, large venues and many more places.

Wherever there is a need for music you will be able to find a DJ and DJ’s do not just play music with records any more. They are now bringing their laptops with a special interface that talks to their turntables.

So now they have their entire record collection in MP3 format on their laptops and use a program like Serato Scratch Live that they can use with their existing turntables with a pair of special records that talk to the laptop program.

They do this via a special interface that takes the information from the records and translates it to the Serato computer program.

DJ’s have 4 major tasks when it comes to playing the music.

1. The DJ is responsible for making sure all of the equipment works properly and to make sure people are dancing. If no one is dancing then the DJ has a big problem.

2. Another responsibility of the DJ is to make sure he has all of the music that is requested for the venue and to make sure he has an itinerary of the event being played. There is nothing more embarrassing that not knowing what is going on.

3. There are responsibilities on the business side of being a DJ also such as showing up to the event on time, getting paid properly and delivering your services as promised.

4. Also you need to make sure the person that hired you is satisfied with your services and that they recommend you to others to help you build a client base.

This is just a mini profile of what a DJ does and how the DJ came to be in the Hip hop culture.

Playing with vinyl is slowly becoming a lost art with the advent of DJ software programs so to be a DJ is to truly be in a class all its own.

Sterling is an article marketer and SEO enthusiast. He has been marketing online since 2003 in many disciplines. Visit his latest website which helps people decide which brands are the best brake pads such as the Bendix brake pads.