Disagreement is a natural consequence of living in a world where people are different in their perceptios.Not trying to be a jerk about the whole dj thing, either. It's a sensitive subject to most of us, though. A lot of people think that there's nothing to it but it takes talent to do it right and make it sound good. It really is an art.
I see it more as a craft.
No 'jerkiness' assumed on your part Sam. My general disdain for those who crowd under the umbrella of DJ or tattoo themselves with the rubric of 'artist' or 'musician' is that most of them are convinced that the basic component of their craft namely, other's music, is somehow completely and magically of their own making after a few session tweaks and therefore original to the nth degree. Never mind that the morphed version of 'Walk This Way' lifted by Run-DMC is a hit predicated on the original work of another musician. In my view many DJs fit the same arrogant mold. Often their adoring fans conspire to buttress the idea as if saying it enough times makes it so.
I don't think it does.
The DJ schtick is very much like that it seems. Where they generally see themselves as original, I see them as someone who has taken a a pair of scissors and have pasted together a collage . On some levels it is original, pleasing and oft entertaining. The assemblages of El Lissitzky being a case in point. But suggesting that such pastings are contemporaneous with Matisse or Picasso in terms of style, scale and sheer genius is stretching the thread just a bit too taut for my personal tastes. I tend to poo-poo such praise with a helthy dose of skepticism. I think Oakenfold is a fine example of someone built more on hype and media than by talent and originality. I'll cede he's a craftsman albeit an over-paid one but artist? Nah. Not even.
BTW, 47 yo.
Then I can be cool.