‘All I wanted to do was make people smile’

Derrick “D-Good” Jones was on the verge of retiring from DJ’ing for good when destiny — and a worldwide pandemic — shifted his plans.

​​On March 16, 2020, simply days after COVID-19 successfully took maintain in the US, Jones, quarantined alone in Los Angeles, hopped on Instagram Stay to share informal tales and updates along with his followers.

“It wasn’t even to play music. I didn’t also have a turntable arrange,” Jones, 54, informed Yahoo Leisure.

​​Roughly 250 folks watched the primary stream. Inside days, that quantity soared to 100,000. By March 21, greater than 150,000 viewers have been tuning in, together with Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Lopez and Mark Zuckerberg.

Membership Quarantine was born. Half DJ set, half social experiment, the marathon periods usually stretched to 9 hours and offered a beacon of hope in the course of the pandemic’s bleakest months, when faculties, eating places, gyms and nightclubs have been shuttered.

“By the fourth day, I knew it was one thing actually particular,” Jones recalled. “There was nothing else extra vital to me after that.”

As digital hearts flooded the display screen, phrase unfold simply as quick. On any given night time, Membership Quarantine drew over 250,000 listeners, together with common faces like Dwayne Johnson, Drake and Donnie Wahlberg. Finally, figures like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker additionally stopped by.

Realizing homebound audiences wanted greater than mere “celebration songs,” Jones took a special musical method.

“The music I chosen to play was all about what felt good,” he defined. “Does it really feel good? Is it gonna make folks smile? Taking part in David Bowie and mixing that in with, you already know, Madonna, after which dropping a little bit Jay-Z, made folks smile.”

Added Jones, “It was the primary time in my complete DJ profession the place I used to be capable of totally show my love of music, and there was nobody tapping me on the shoulders asking for a request.”

Throughout a yr formed by the pandemic and intensified by the summer time’s Black Lives Matter protests, Jones noticed his digital units turn out to be a spot for folks to heal from their loneliness and grief — even when just for a second.

“All I wished to do was make folks smile. That actually was it,” he stated. “It had nothing to do with the place my DJ profession was going to finish up, or something. I simply wished folks to really feel good throughout that darkish time as a result of I too was so unhappy. As a lot as I loved taking part in the music, it was undoubtedly secondary to what was actually taking place — that therapeutic, that digital connection, all of us wanted that.”

The proper place on the proper time

Properly earlier than Membership Quarantine, Jones had deep roots in hop-hop — first as a member of Boogie Down Productions and later as a solo artist. At 18, he produced “Self Destruction” (1989) by the Cease the Violence Motion, addressing violence in hip-hop and Black communities. The next yr, “Name Me D-Good” soared to No. 1 on Billboard’s Scorching Rap Songs chart.

However in 2019, confronted with the milestone of turning 50, Jones relocated from New York to Los Angeles, totally meaning to pivot into movie and tv manufacturing.

“Ageism actually exists,” he stated. “2020 was imagined to be my final yr of DJ’ing. I didn’t wish to be the oldest particular person within the membership. That’s simply not what I noticed for myself, and shifting right here was part of that. It was like this concern of turning 50. I didn’t wish to really feel rejected by music, so I wished to only take away myself from it and do one thing completely different.”

When quarantine started in March 2020, Jones was remoted from his household in New York. He ultimately found that the identical circumstances that had him considering retirement opened an sudden door.

“I used to be the one particular person right here in my household, so I began taking part in music as a result of I didn’t have that connection, no human connectivity in any respect,” he stated. “If I had by no means moved to Los Angeles, I might have been quarantined with my household, after which there wouldn’t have been Membership Quarantine.”

Having labored as a profitable web site developer, designing websites for Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox and corporations like AT&T and Microsoft, his tech know-how mixed seamlessly along with his ardour for music.

“For folks like myself, who grew up in extraordinarily poor circumstances, music grew to become a lifestyle and a approach out of these circumstances,” he stated. “Quick-forward to the quarantine, that’s why I performed the music that I did. I felt like there was a accountability to uplift folks with music.”

As Membership Quarantine’s recognition grew, Jones realized the platform he was constructing may very well be leveraged for good. On Election Day in 2020, he spun a 19-and-a-half-hour DJ set, from the time the polls opened on the East Coast till they closed on the West Coast, he stated.

“I performed that set to maintain folks impressed, to remind folks to face in line and ensure you keep there, to vote, to permit your voice to be heard,” he stated. “I felt prefer it was my accountability to inform folks to make use of your voice, but in addition be respectful of different folks for whoever they wished to assist.”

In hindsight, he says, he was in the fitting place on the proper time. “Now, I can stroll down the road and there’s an 8-year-old child that’s like, ‘Hey, that’s D-Good,’ and his grandmother will say the identical factor,” he stated. “To be on this journey the place I contact generations of individuals, man, what extra are you able to ask for?”

What’s subsequent for Membership Quarantine?

5 years after its digital debut, the spirit of Membership Quarantine stays as sturdy as ever. D-Good has since taken the celebration on the street, promoting out main venues just like the Kennedy Heart (thrice), Carnegie Corridor (twice) and even Walt Disney Live performance Corridor for a New 12 months’s Eve present in Los Angeles.

On March 22, he’s bringing that very same power to the Apollo Theater in New York Metropolis for CQ: 5, that includes particular friends Rakim, Shirley Jones, Deborah Cox, Lisa Lisa and extra.

“I exploit a 20-piece orchestra with me whereas I’m taking part in,” he stated of his stay reveals. “The entire level of it’s to deliver the DJ set to life. It’s a lovely feeling of affection and celebrating music and tradition.”

He continued, “There’s a little bit magic once you say ‘Membership Quarantine’ as a result of it reminds folks to have a very good time and a sense of connection, the spirit of affection and the spirit of genuinely taking good care of your brothers and sisters.”

Reflecting on how life led him right here, he can’t assist however be in awe of the sudden flip of occasions.

“You by no means know the place you’ll be in life,” he stated. “I at all times inform folks, particularly in my technology, ‘Don’t be afraid. By no means hand over in your desires. By no means hand over on your self, since you simply by no means know when it could occur.’ And it at all times occurs when individuals are being authentically themselves. I used to be being myself, and I discovered an viewers.”

As for what comes subsequent, his focus stays firmly on uplifting others.

“I simply wish to proceed doing nice issues,” he stated. “I wish to proceed to contribute to this world and to stay in a constructive approach. I do know this sounds cliché, however that’s actually how I really feel.”