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Life Lessons from the DJ Booth | ELEW | TED

Welcome to Club Reality, where no matter what life throws at you, the music never stops. In this talk and performance, musician ELEW shares his path from jazz pianist to DJ — and the unexpected philosophy he finds in both. (Recorded at TEDNext 2025 on November 11, 2025) Join us in person at a TED…

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Welcome to Club Reality, where no matter what life throws at you, the music never stops. In this talk and performance, musician ELEW shares his path from jazz pianist to DJ — and the unexpected philosophy he finds in both. (Recorded at TEDNext 2025 on November 11, 2025)

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13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. @fairytale143

    July 18, 2026 at 11:12 am

    This gave me the boost I needed when I felt down. And can we applaud his piano skills? Crowd was too quiet!

    • @MariaAsuncionAbigailPacheco

      July 18, 2026 at 11:52 am

      @fairytale143 beautiful word. I hope he also considers praying to God and reading the Word, it will set him free from his struggles. The Lord Jesus loves us all so much. He has his Passion of his Cross to save, heal and bless us. God bless. I love your piano skills! Great God given talent.😘

    • @MariaAsuncionAbigailPacheco

      July 18, 2026 at 11:54 am

      Hi! I appreciate his piano skills. It is God’s given talent. I hope he also considers praying. The Lord Jesus will set him free from his struggles. The Spirit of the Lord is not of fear, but power, love and sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 God bless you DJ

  2. @mpusch88

    July 18, 2026 at 11:20 am

    That’s a LOT of AI

  3. @rajeshsahoo-c7h

    July 18, 2026 at 11:28 am

    Hi sir

  4. @ExistentialWolf

    July 18, 2026 at 11:57 am

    Up in it is a blast with the DJ … just give ’em a chance to blow down when you suggest a track 😉 Closing time is always good – gives them a ticket to ride too.

  5. @saeedseify2131

    July 18, 2026 at 4:15 pm

    Hi I’m Iranian and here is war please help me 😢😢😢

  6. @JKwak01

    July 18, 2026 at 5:05 pm

    This is disappointing… we’re trying to allow and permit these “avant garde” persons to bring in “fresh” perspective and understanding using colloquial terms to paint a picture or help us connect the dots. Well, this is stupid. Allow me to explain.

    First, the guy (ELEW) does not even know what a DJ is. Modern “DJs” are not even DJs and should be recognized by a newer term to better fit the role. But a DJ is quintessentially first and foremost a “Disc Jockey.” Back in the day, DJs were armed with a library of… *DRUM ROLL PLEASE*… DISCS! Yes, their trade and craft was playing a disc on one of the turntables and when it came time to change tracks/performer, the DJ uses the secondary turntable for the transition. A DJ was essentially performing a disc gymnastics of a sort. Today’s DJs: where are the discs?

    The turntable devices modern “DJs” use are really just glorified to still display and emphasize the visual aspect with spinning turntables that are non-essential to the craft. With the utility of connecting their phone, laptop, and PC to a turntable system, everything is governed by digital power from presets and playlists. They are still in a sense “changing tracks” through some level of manual labor input, but it no longer involves discs. It no longer involves the arduous task of jockeying one disc on and one disc off.

    Today, they should just be called something else: Music Maestro, Playlist Pope, Digital Coordinator…

    Secondly, a DJ’s role is on purpose. The decisions are on purpose. The choices and plan are all on purpose. There is no hiccups, there are no surprises, and there are no unforeseen outcomes. This is my second point in that the analogy of saying we are all DJs is incorrect. If we are all DJs, then that means every bad decision you make and that others make for you are intentional and on plan. Just as we will say all good decisions and outcomes are on plan, such as the poor mother with her kid getting out of line from ahead of you due to an impromptu circumstance. You win/gain by position advancement and not having to wait in line as long. Is this the picture we want to paint? That we are all DJs and that these are the ways we rationalize to make sense of our day to day tidings?

    We live in a modern world full of right and wrong, fair and unfair, evil and good. We are constantly at wit’s end with each passing moment, hour, morning to evening, period, phase, era, year, and so forth… all the while constantly judging and re-evaluating circumstances as they unfold before us.

    We are not DJs. We are passerbys, passengers, victims, lucky on-goers, wrong-doers, and vigilantes. We live our lives under constant threat, supervision, and multitudes of variables we cannot control.

    If we are “DJs” in any sense, then it is in the simplest manner of whether you chose to leave your home, or stay in instead.

  7. @danielnguyenmusic

    July 18, 2026 at 10:58 pm

    I came for the music, but stayed for the message. Thank you for sharing your experience so honestly.

  8. @CenturyWisdom-q5w

    July 19, 2026 at 12:31 am

    This talk deeply resonates by reframing life’s chaos as a set we control. Viewing ourselves as DJs in “Club Reality” empowers us to navigate adversity with intention, turning panic and pressure into a rhythmic flow. It is a profound reminder that we always hold the power to change the track.

  9. @ImaginativeFlow

    July 19, 2026 at 10:34 am

    WIth Ai we all DJ now…

  10. @abdelhalim3412

    July 19, 2026 at 11:43 am

    Damn what happened to Jay-Z

  11. @ivandansigmun3891

    July 20, 2026 at 1:49 pm

    God is a DJ

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