What the fuck do DJs actually do?

Origin

"What the fuck do DJs actually do?" comes from TikTok creator Madeline Argy, known as Madz. In a video posted to @madelineargy on July 20, 2023, she admitted, close to tears, that she simply could not work out what a DJ does.

Her reasoning went roughly: "I don't think they're remixing the song on the spot, I think they make it ahead of time, so what dials are they pressing?" Anyone who has watched a DJ in a booth turning knobs and nodding along with one headphone cup pressed to an ear could relate. The video passed 29.4 million views in two weeks.

Spread

The response started the next day. On July 21, Twitter user @impreshn reposted the clip, collecting 5,600 likes and 600,000 views over ten days. On July 22, DJ @qnoematata chopped her voice into a remix (291,000 views in ten days), and DJ @hedexuk answered with a video of an actual set showing what was being adjusted, which reached 2.1 million views in just over a week.

Big-name DJs pushed it further. On July 25, the duo Loud Luxury posted footage of her video on a giant venue screen while they played a remix built from her voice, passing 15 million views in six days. On July 29, Glass Petals, the duo of Felix Cartal and Johnny Jover, released a remix that looped and transposed her voice into the melody of Benny Benassi's "Satisfaction," hitting 51 million views in two days. Benassi himself shared it.

Variations and Spin-offs

Because the question was so blunt, answering it became its own genre. On July 28, YouTube DJ Phil Harris posted an educational explainer on what DJs really do. Singer UPSAHL and musician @tazimusic used duets to show their remixing process and gear. The clip reached DJs as big as Swedish House Mafia, and EDM.com rounded up the funniest remixes of what it called the naive question that riled the EDM community.

Usage

As a template, "What the fuck do ___ actually do?", for any job that looks like it involves doing nothing
As the opening sound for DJs and producers showing how they work
As a vocal sample to chop up in remixes

Sources

TikTok @madelineargy, original video — Madeline Argy's first post, July 20, 2023
Know Your Meme, "What the Fuck Do DJs Actually Do?" — original date and quote, view counts, dated responses and figures from @impreshn, @qnoematata, @hedexuk, Loud Luxury, Phil Harris and Glass Petals, response videos from UPSAHL and @tazimusic
EDM.com, "'WTF Do DJs Actually Do?': Funniest Remixes of the Naive Question That Riled the EDM Community" — Glass Petals' lineup and the "Satisfaction" transformation, Benny Benassi's share, the clip reaching DJs such as Swedish House Mafia