DJ Dada

Michael Grosse is DJ Dada. He will play whatever to whoever, whenever. For a price, that is. For a good time, e-mail michaelgrosse@yahoo.com.

What kind of music do you play?

Whatever I am paid to play, I play.

A sellout?

I would like to think of it as “where art meets commerce.”

Where can we see you deejay?

Thursday nights, I’ll be at Bodean’s [6441 Power Inn Road] doing R&B.

How do they like you out there?

“White boy can play” is one of the complements I got. I don’t like the words “grown ’n’ sexy,” but it’s like adult R&B.

So it is grown ‘n’ sexy.

Yeah, it’s D’Angelo, Maxwell, Mary J. Blige, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding …

By your huge red face, I assume you’re a white person. How’s that going for you?

Umm, it’s been 40 years …

You’re 40? You’re looking good for 40!

Yeah, it’s the cigarettes.

It’s bad for you, you know.

It’s horrible for you!

It’s better than the alternative, I guess.

Yeah.

Wait, what is the alternative?

Drugs. Unfortunately, drugs are the alternative.

You talk more than any other person on the planet.

I’ve always been like that. I can pull out report cards and show that “Mike talked out of turn.”

So you got in trouble for talking a lot?

Yeah, I got a little, uh … trouble with the secret service.

Really?

I’ll talk about anything, but not that.

I think you just did. So what are you trying to do with turntables?

To play music that’s good; that has some redeeming value … I have a goal, I just don’t know how to articulate it.

Is Christina Aguilera part of that goal?

You know, [“Ain’t No Other Man”] is a great song. DJ Premier is an amazing producer. As a matter of fact, I think people should give Christina a chance. For a pop musician, she is one of the better ones. But I play it and it falls flat. Wrong crowd maybe. I have to find the right crowd for [“Ain’t No Other Man”]. … Justin [Timberlake] is a good singer.