DJ D-Nice has seemingly helped a lot of people deal with staying at home because of the current pandemic. He did it by throwing three virtual dance parties on his Instagram Live called “Homeschoolin’: Social Distancing Dance Party.”
He held the first one Wednesday, March 18, playing a mix of hip hop, soul and R&B for nine straight hours from his Los Angeles condominium.
He then threw another virtual dance party from the same location on Saturday, March 21, drawing other celebrities.
His second dance attracted more than 100,000 people, and even more celebs showed, including Will Smith, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey, Steph Curry, Lenny Kravitz, Queen Latifah and Michelle Obama.
“I don’t know why I’m nervous,” said Nice when he saw that Obama had arrived in his IG Live room.
The third party, also from his Los Angeles home, came Sunday, March 22, and it began with 100,000 people in attendance.
Then on Sunday night, March 22, Nice posted a message on Instagram and said he was touched by how people responded to his virtual gatherings.
“I had a tearful moment this morning after realizing that we all came together as a global community and danced while I played music in my living room,” he wrote.
“It was beautiful to experience and I’m truly humbled by the amount of love I’ve received. Thank you to everyone that supported me on this journey. Let’s continue to uplift each other as we get thru this dark time. #gratitude 🙏🏽🙏🏽,” added Nice.
Born Derrick Jones, D-Nice grew to fame as the youngest member of the legendary New York hip-hop group Boogie Down Productions, led by KRS-One and the late D.J. Scott La Rock.
He is also a producer, an accomplished photographer and was a rapper as well, dropping his debut album “Call Me D-Nice” in July 1990. The LP spawned the popular single of the same name and was a radio mainstay at the time.
In more recent years, Nice became a popular celebrity DJ and played many big events, including the White House when President Barack Obama was in office.
On Monday, March 23, Nice appeared in an interview on “CBS This Morning” and was asked how he came up with the idea for the dance parties.
“I was at home. I’m self-isolating,” he answered. “So just sitting here, I realized outside of just missing my family, the other most important thing to me was the crowd, like DJing for people, and I woke up at 4 o’clock in the morning and just decided I wanted to throw a party.”
