Why Hobby DJs Are Driving the Bootleg Trend: A Focus on DJ Switch Ghana

If you play sets, use modern equipment, and want to go beyond just playing music, 2025 could very well be your year. Because now more than ever, reimagining other people’s music is not only the right way to create, but also an essential tool to master. 

Wondering how DJ Switch Ghana ble to clinch the 2018 annual DJ award in Ghana? The young prodigy has shown that the process is realistic.

Taking an eternal classic and remaking it in a modern way is not easy. The best part is that you, as an amateur DJ, have a huge advantage over everyone else who does this. Including professional DJs! Let's figure it out.

• Who Creates Bootlegs, Mashups and Re-edits?

There are 4 types of people who create this stuff. Let's look at them to see why you, as a hobby DJ, are in an advantageous position.

1) The pros:

We're talking DJs and producers. From DJ Shadow to DJ Switch Ghana, these are the people at the top, playing the biggest stages and festivals, incorporating their own excellent re-edits.

The young prodigy is very active on TikTok. Follow her here...

2) Bedroom producers:

Again, nothing new. Ever since production software appeared on laptops, talented people have been making music at home, some of which has always been good enough to be released and eventually played in sets. Among this music are a lot of remixes, re-edits, bootlegs, etc.

3) Kids:

Just scroll through TikTok, Instagram, etc. or just watch the antics of kids around you, and you will soon see that they are very talented at using amazing apps that allow them to remix anything and share their creations with the world. Yes, they often do it for fun, but they do it in a fun and heartfelt way that is worth learning from.

4) Hobby DJs:

(That's presumably you.) The ability for hobby DJs with no interest in production (or TikTok) to make bootlegs, re-edits, and mashups on their DJ platforms is something that's only recently emerged, and it's very exciting. And as we'll see below, you have some pretty big advantages over all the groups we've written about above.

• How Hobby DJs Make Them

The point is this, and it is worth emphasizing:

For the first time ever, your DJ software now has all the tools you need to create music like this.

Even professional DJ equipment can't boast such capabilities! But since you're using a laptop (with DJ software, of course), you not only have access to sync, keybinding, effects/loops/hotkeys, and quantization, but — very importantly — you also have access to stems.

Stems give you access to acapellas, instrumental parts and rhythms, all very easily accessible on decks 2, 3 and 4. Combined with other features, this means you can now make great-sounding instant mashups, re-edits and more from any music you like, right in your DJ software.

It's not just technology on your side.

There are three more reasons why you, as a hobby DJ, are in a unique position to take advantage of the demand for this type of music and the tools at your disposal to create it.

There's no need to polish the results. SoundCloud is filled to the brim with tracks that aren't perfect in terms of sound engineering, but they sound great and work in sets. There are entire underground subcultures based on playing this kind of music now, and no one cares if it's algorithmically polished or approved by a major label. It's just fun, fast, and creative. Professional DJs worry about quality, and you don't have to yet.

You can test ideas instantly. As a DJ playing small venues, private parties, etc., you have the ability to bring almost any unusual idea to life and test it on your small audience. Bedroom producers and TikTok kids don't have a real, offline audience like you do. 

You have taste. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You got into this business because you love music. You have an encyclopedic knowledge of music, which is something you can’t say about 12-year-olds using pre-approved songs in their mashup apps, and often something you can’t say about DJs/producers who can’t be so sure of what the audience wants. 

• How to do it

Here's the trick: you already have ideas because you're already moving from one track to another, and you've probably played with all the fancy features described above at least once. So try them out on your hardware. Learn all the features, especially things like stems, sync, key matching, quantize, and so on.

When you come up with a good idea or transition, think about breaking it down into a beginning, middle, and end, and hit record. Test the results on an audience. Realize that you can immediately implement the ideas you have in your head and test them on your audience just as quickly.

Listen to other people doing the same thing, on SoundCloud and so on. Get ideas, feedback and become part of this rough and ready culture that is currently thriving. And don’t strive for perfection – authenticity, fun and spontaneity are the main principles.

Listening to DJ Switch Ghana reeling out copious sounds is quite a fascinating experience and, with the tone of a poet, I am amazed at the way the prodigy embraces the art and teaching of music. ind a brief about DJ Switch Ghana on Wikipedia.