DJ Lucky Lou on Touring with Lil Jon and the CrossFit Games
There’s not much that can help you get a PR more than the right song at the right time. Gym owners and athletes alike spend hours cultivating the playlist specifically suited to their needs, their music taste, and types of WOD.
So – what happens when you get a professional in the mix?
DJ Lucky Lou, who grew up around music and with a father working at CBS Records, found CrossFit while training for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing, looking for more strength and aerobic capacity. He fell in love with the new sport quickly at CrossFit Rancho Cucamonga near Los Angeles, one of the oldest CrossFit affiliates that started in 2008. The owners, Shelly and Dan Mielke had connections to CrossFit executives and introduced Lucky to them. From 2013, when he first started DJing the CrossFit Games, the rest is history.
- “(The Mielkes) both expressed that it would be refreshing and nice to have an actual CrossFitter DJing the games,” Lucky said. “I usually pick out songs that I would like to work out too with lots of energy. Being an actual CrossFitter working out daily helps in my selection.”
Outside of his work with the CrossFit Games (including specially curated mixes for each Open workout), Lucky is a traveling nightclub DJ and is currently on tour with rapper Lil Jon. This, along with being able to retire his mother and financially support her, are two of his top-five accomplishments in life, he said.
With such a robust background in nightclub music, there’s quite a difference between his everyday work and the CrossFit Games, Lucky says.
When he DJs at a club, he’s constantly reading the crowd’s reactions to each song, and says he tries to bring them on a “long-haul musical journey.” At the Games, on the other hand, he says it’s more about picking up on the movement of the athletes, how the crowd is reacting to the athletes, and transitions between songs.
Of course, it’s not without challenges. With his regular job taking place at night (meaning he often doesn’t go to sleep until five in the morning) it’s hard to adjust to the early mornings of the Games. Plus, with bathroom breaks are few and far between, he says that dehydration can be a real challenge.
Nevertheless, Lucky says that working the Games is a super positive experience for him.
- “For the Games team, it’s all about bringing the best fan experience for all the athletes and patrons who spent their hard-earned money to travel the world to see and root for their favorite athletes and compete,” he said. “I’m proud to say our entire Games team and staff is dialed in.”
As for his favorite PR songs, he listed five:
1. Lucky Lou, DOWN
2. 42 Dugg, We Paid
3. Lil Jon, ALIVE
4. 2PAC, Hail Mary
5. Metallica, Enter Sandman
You can see (and hear) DJ Lucky Lou’s mixes live at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games or on Spotify.
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