‘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 world pandemic — shifted his plans.

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

“It wasn’t even to play music. I didn’t also have a turntable arrange,” Jones, 54, advised 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 had 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 through the pandemic’s bleakest months, when colleges, eating places, gyms and nightclubs had 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 evening, Membership Quarantine drew over 250,000 listeners, together with common faces like Dwayne Johnson, Drake and Donnie Wahlberg. Ultimately, figures like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker additionally stopped by.

Realizing homebound audiences wanted greater than mere “social gathering songs,” Jones took a distinct musical strategy.

“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 bit Jay-Z, made folks smile.”

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

Throughout a 12 months 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 mentioned. “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 positively secondary to what was really taking place — that therapeutic, that digital connection, all of us wanted that.”

The fitting 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 12 months, “Name Me D-Good” soared to No. 1 on Billboard’s Sizzling Rap Songs chart.

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

“Ageism really exists,” he mentioned. “2020 was speculated to be my final 12 months of DJ’ing. I didn’t need to be the oldest individual within the membership. That’s simply not what I noticed for myself, and shifting right here was part of that. It was like this worry of turning 50. I didn’t need 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 finally found that the identical circumstances that had him considering retirement opened an surprising door.

“I used to be the one individual 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 by any means,” he mentioned. “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 together with his ardour for music.

“For folks like myself, who grew up in extraordinarily poor situations, music grew to become a lifestyle and a means out of these situations,” he mentioned. “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 reputation 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 mentioned.

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

In hindsight, he says, he was in the best 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 mentioned. “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 social gathering 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 vitality to the Apollo Theater in New York Metropolis for CQ: 5, that includes particular company Rakim, Shirley Jones, Deborah Cox, Lisa Lisa and extra.

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

He continued, “There’s a bit magic if you say ‘Membership Quarantine’ as a result of it reminds folks to have an excellent time and a sense of connection, the spirit of affection and the spirit of genuinely caring for your brothers and sisters.”

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

“You by no means know the place you’ll be in life,” he mentioned. “I all the time inform folks, particularly in my era, ‘Don’t be afraid. By no means surrender in your desires. By no means surrender on your self, since you simply by no means know when it could occur.’ And it all the time occurs when persons 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 need to proceed doing nice issues,” he mentioned. “I need to proceed to contribute to this world and to stay in a constructive means. I do know this sounds cliché, however that’s actually how I really feel.”