There are no longer any grey areas for calling yourself a dj. You understand the art or you don't. You already know what a dj is capable of, having accumulated instincts to hear the common thread between two tracks. That is the art of mixing, creating the "third song." Rather than having a thumb drive with 10,000 songs or trolling for the weekly top 10 on beatport the dj has the golden ear selecting "the ones" and when they first drop the needle they know. Start out with a simple 3-channel mixer with eq an no effects and learn it like an instrument. Have a small collection of music and really listen to each track. Too many "dj's" buy the best digital gear and prepared digital tracks that do most of the thinking for them so they never have to accumulate any skill or instincts. For me the best dj is Dj Bone, so listen to his wisdom... Are you funky with the machines, or do the machines make you funky? These mixes were nothing special, just the tapes I had in my car when I left the D.