Few can read a Vegas club crowd like DJ Hollywood, who has been spinning in clubs and programming for local radio for decades.
“Everything I play is club explosive,” he says. “I don’t do anything that veers away from what people like. So how do you know what people like? I’ve been doing this for 25 years. Being involved in very high-revenue megaclubs and nightlife venues in Vegas for so many years, I’m able to gauge crowds and program for them in real time.”
Hollywood carries 4,000-5,000 songs in his computer—far fewer than the average DJ, he says—because he has become so comfortable, he knows which tracks he’ll go through during a set.
One of his current go-to songs is a remix of A$AP Ferg’s “The Work,” featuring A$AP Rocky, French Montana, Schoolboy Q and Trinidad James. “You can use it any time, anywhere with any crowd. Even EDM crowds go crazy for it,” Hollywood says. “It’s the energy of the song ... a lot of songs don’t translate—they sound fantastic in your car but don’t translate to the club. This one, the way it’s produced and the low end, it fills the room. Everything about it maintains perfect delivery.”
Hollywood made a perfect delivery of his own in the second half of 2016, charting his own track, “Love Me” featuring vocalist Abri. It peaked at No. 9 on Billboard’s Dance Club list, and the recently released accompanying video has more than 100,000 views on YouTube. “I couldn’t be happier,” he says of his first big release. “It was overwhelmingly exciting. I’m overconfident, so of course I believed we were gonna get on the charts, but it was exciting and surreal, like, wow, I’m here.”
