If you’ve attended BlerDCon or Anime NYC in recent years then the name DJ Taylor Senpai should stir memories of raucous parties, lively atmospheres, and music mixes that stick in your head for days. DJ Taylor Senpai, American DJ, has made a name for himself in the nerd convention scene over his 10-year tenure headlining different conventions. Currently, he is the resident DJ for BlerDCon a black-owned convention in the DMV area, and is the DJ for organizations such as Sonic Boom Box. OFF BLXXK was fortunate enough to pick his brain about his decade-long career in the DJ game, his advice for newcomers to DJing, the struggles he’s worked through, and more. To hear the full audio and get extra commentary and questions, you can listen to the audio on our affiliate podcast, Blxxk Anime.   

Aran: This being your 10th year of DJing at anime conventions, what would you say has been your most memorable moment?

DJ Taylor: Oh man, I got to say, my most memorable moment was BlerDCon 2017 or 2019. I was the performer for the afterparty, and I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect. A lot of people came through, but what really stood out the most was the crowd. We engaged and had fun, some people would come on stage and dance with me, and I'd get out of my booth and rock it out like everybody else. All I see is these cameras, these videographers just surrounding me. I was like, “Yo, we got a special guest after me?” One of my boys said, “No, that's for you.” I was like, “What [did] I do to [deserve] all this?!” It just really amazed me.

It was a very special night because I paid tribute to the late Etika… We hate losing a great man like him. After the tribute, we celebrated in a very strong, passionate way… You can name any song I was playing; I was playing at all. Yu Yu Hakusho, Smile Bomb, Proud Family, Teen Titans… I was just playing everything under the sun and what stood out the most was people chanting, “Senpai! Senpai! Senpai! Senpai!” and I got so [emotional] I cried on stage.

I wasn't expecting the amount of love that I received from the community, it was just so powerful… It really amazes me how my gift can give people what they want… because people would go to cons for years, and it's always—no offense to all of our EDM brave people, but look, this is for the culture. We want to hear “Crank That,” we want to hear Juvenile, we want to hear more anime songs and stuff we grew up with… That night at BlerDCon was the phenomenal night that changed everything. That is one of the best memories ever.

Aran: I listened to one of your other interviews where you talked about playing with your uncle's records as a kid. Since you've been in this game for 10 years, well 14 years technically, do you think that the change in technology for DJing has improved the profession or made it worse?

DJ Taylor: I'm going to be honest, it's a little bit of a double-edged sword because, yes, the technology has improved rapidly to the point where now we go to a DJ set, and you just get a thumb drive containing all of your songs and plug it into the controller it’s that simple. You can even DJ off your iPhone or Android. That's the crazy thing…

It's just amazing how technology comes so rapidly, but the downfall is the tradition. So, it's like, yeah, people can make it. People can make great mash-ups. That's awesome and stuff, but we are losing the craft of DJing. The craft of DJing has always been scratching—where you can feel the motion, you can hear that the person has put their self and time and effort into making that craft. Now in clubs or lounges, they don't want to hear a lot of scratching. They just want to hear like an automatic Spotify… So it [has] kind of taken away the essence of DJing…

That’s one of the main things I love about DJing. It's just, you know, the feel of it, especially over the years of growing up in music…

Now I have a protege, DJ Novio, from last year’s BlerDCon. He opened up for me and [DJ] Scrape. It's like seeing myself when I was younger. It's all about passing the torch… because right now AI is on the rise. We have AI that can DJ, but the only problem is you don't have that feel of a human being… That shows that people do pay attention to how great and passionate you are about DJing.

Aran: You've been DJing for around 14 years now…10 years at conventions. What were those first four years like before you made your first convention?

DJ Taylor: Oh wow, the first four years… I was just attending MagFest around that time and that was my first time seeing cosplay, video games, nerds just being nerds—like just being who we are… At the time, I [was] going to raves and it was just that moment where people were dancing in circles… I would just stop in the middle of the circle and see that person DJing. Everybody was like, “Yo, what's wrong?” I would say, “I want to do that.”

I was DJing for small parties, baby showers, birthdays, and cookouts at the time… but fast-forward to the rave, I was just like, “I want to do this. I want to play the songs…” So my squad—I appreciate my con ninja squad—we decided, “Hey, let's put our own hotel room party together.” We cleared out the room, I brought my old DJRR at the time, we set up the speakers and everybody was just coming in… The security from the hotel said “Hey, y'all can't have all this party in the room now people have to go to sleep. But I tell you what though, if y'all can take it downstairs to the lobby, then y'all can go ahead and like, you know, let it all go forth.” And next thing you know, I was in the lobby. Everything just got crowded because I was playing all the songs we wanted to hear…

And next thing you know, I got asked to DJ for one of the after-parties with Sonic Boom Box. So, I told the squad, “Yo, I got my first gig at an official afterparty.” …I was nervous because this was at Hard Rock Cafe during Otakon of 2017. I was nervous—so nervous. And I was like, “OK, let's do this. Let's just crush it.”

My secret to DJing is prayer. Always touch the board first, touch the laptop, and touch my heart because this is where it's all coming from. I believe [that] whatever songs are going to play, the people are going to rock out. And when I tell you everybody had a great time. I was getting ready to transition to the next DJ and all you hear is chanting, “Senpai! Senpai! Senpai!” I was like “Yo what's…like? what y'all doing?” It went on from there until after Otakon it was BlerDCon Year 1.

Aran: What has been your biggest struggle in DJing?

DJ Taylor: Man, honestly, it's [basically] staying consistent… and depression. The pandemic has hit most of us; we lost friends and loved ones. I was slowly starting to get into more TikTok, but I didn't understand how to operate because there were a lot of corporations that were offering me clothes and items to promote their stuff. I didn't know how to create content and it put a lot of anxiety [and] pressure on me where I [was] like, “I don't know what to do.” That's what led me to DJ streaming online and I didn't know how to cope with that anxiety at the time because I didn't know what was going on. I was dealing with a lot of family personal issues, a lot with myself. One time I had a mental breakdown [during] one of my friend's streaming performances. I apologized to Maki—and shout out to Maki for giving me that encouragement to keep going…

I'm trying to make sure I keep up with the latest music, especially with TikTok… It's like, you know, “What's the latest song? What are the latest dances?” And you know, I try to keep up with it. What really hurts me the most is some of the people within the community were telling me… that I'm “DJ Repetitive” because they can tell my next transition was this song. “He's going to play this song, that song” and that, you know, kind of definitely hurts me because I want to make sure I keep [it] refreshing, rejuvenated. But it just took a big heavy hit on me, and I was struggling. In fact, I’m still continuing to struggle to this day…

I'm one of those people that’s not afraid to say, “Yes, I'm still human, I'm still going through anxiety, I'm still going through depression.” Thanks to being in therapy for a year and eight months now, it's been helping me a lot to learn… how to overcome depression, how to overcome anxiety, especially coming back after the pandemic…

It took me a lot of time to overcome social anxiety, especially when I had that one breakdown at BlerDCon 2021 where I feel like everybody hated me because I was performing and everybody noticed the same transition. So, they all started to walk away and I had to talk to [DJ] Scrape and he held it down; I was not in my right mind at all. People don't realize as DJs, [there’s a] heavy mental toll… We forget to take care of ourselves because right now we take care of people, make sure the dance floor is great, make sure everyone has a good time. But we have to take care of ourselves. If we didn't take care of ourselves, there wouldn’t be any DJs. And then next thing you know, everybody won't be having a good time.

I'm just glad to this day that I'm still recovering, I'm still improving, I'm healing this year. That's why y'all see me more enjoyable, more peaceful, more chill, because I'm understanding more about myself… I don't need yes men…

Adding on to the struggles of DJing is not getting booked because we have been overtaken… Now, everybody and their mama is a DJ… So that's the downfall of it, everybody's mama's a DJ. They're not setting the rates… You know, it's like, where is the scratching? Where is the fade?

Aran: In your 10 years of DJing, what is the biggest lesson that you've learned that has stuck with you through the years?

DJ Taylor: Have a business card, networking, be at your set on time, and have your equipment prepared because the last thing you want to do is forget your MacBook Pro battery charger at home…

You got to make sure you prepare… Have confidence too. You got to have confidence when it comes to [being a] DJ. Because it's not that easy. You can't be all quiet. If you're not giving out the energy to [the crowd], they're going to give you that same energy, which is they aren't going to walk with you…

And stay out of trouble because you know, as you're on the rise, you will get that attention, but you don't need that kind of attention. Your most important—[pay attention to] “What's my next booking? What's my next opportunity? What's the next meeting for the bookings?” Or “Who's going to be on my team that's going to help me get to [where I want to go]?”

To hear the full interview with more questions and candid discussions, head over to Blxxk Anime. You can follow DJ Taylor Senpai on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or check out his Linktree to learn more.