Can we kick it? (Yes, we can!)

Highlights:

World Day of Music is June 21, 2022

Since early 2022, RingCentral has hosted bi-weekly House Party Fridays, featuring DJ sets curated by our colleagues.

A more musical world.

World Day of Music or Fête de la Musique, celebrated each June 21, began in France in 1982 as an invitation for music lovers around the world to enjoy and/or participate in live shows of all shapes, sizes and styles. The past few years, it’s been tougher to safely put on live shows, so the day’s emphasis has shifted to simple enjoyment of music, however and wherever you are.

Kicking it off

Elliot Broadnax

You may remember the brilliantly curated A Black Journey Through Music sets Technical Account Manager Elliott “DJ E-TRANE” Broadnax put together for Black History Month. From the history of Black music in America to the influence of Black music across other genres, these sets were so well received, we didn’t want to end the show. So…we didn’t.

“I had been streaming sets during COVID just for fun,” says Broadnax, “and I ended up doing something for a Juneteenth event, then a Hispanic heritage event, and then what really kicked it off was this past Black History Month.”

Turns out Elliott isn’t the only talented DJ among us. Other employees around the world were inspired to put together sets of their own, and, since the beginning of 2022, RingCentral has hosted bi-weekly House Party Fridays for all to enjoy.

Filling the room

The virtual audiences started at almost 100 listeners, and according to Broadnax, averages more than twice that now…and climbing. “We were doing these sets for the BE@R (Black Employees @ RingCentral) Employee Resource Group, and we got such good feedback that we turned it into a regular event and put a call out to see if there were other DJs in our workforce. There definitely were.”

Influencers everywhere

Jesse Nandra

“I was raised on a lot of electronic music,” says Leicester, UK-based Professional Services Engineer Jesse Nandra., “and I took a deep dive into it through my passion for music technology, and producing music on a PC. I’m not really stuck on a particular genre at the moment, but I do really appreciate anyone who personally produces music.”

For Broadnax, it all starts with soul. “Everything I play or research has some kind of soul element to it. That being said, there’s tons of cool remixes and edits and things that show off the soul influence without being explicit Motown or R&B. You hear it in rock and roll. In blues. In EDM – there’s tons of soul in there. So I like to find those funky soul things that are mashed up into something else.”

Pro tips

House Party Fridays are hosted on RingCentral Videos, and Nandra offers tips on how to get the most out of it. “Hosts definitely want to turn off the noise canceling functions to allow the sound to come through without any filtering. As for listeners, you’re able to connect from anywhere you have an internet connection, so pair a Bluetooth speaker up to your mobile or put your good headphones on, and of course…turn it up.”

As far as what to listen to, both Broadnax and Nandra currently recommend Silk Sonic, the R&B superduo of singer Bruno Mars and rapper/singer Anderson.Paak.