The best way to find out how to mix (or how not to mix) is to roll out to wherever you’re trying to work a show. Or if you’re just getting started, still go to a spot and see how the crowd reacts to what the DJ does.
Dancehall spots have completely different rules from most any other DJ show I’ve seen or worked in my life. It’s much faster, less focused on DJ tricks like blends/scratching. They burn through songs FAST (which is helped by the aforementioned riddim thing – a dozen guys might have a verse or two on the same beat) and music selection is going to be your most important skill set. They may run back the song a few times, they may trainwreck it into another one by simply hitting the airhorn/laser and yelling for a second. You have to be literate in music that’s popular with various islands, various sub-genres of reggae/dancehall/soca, and also modern rap and dance music. Knowing when to drop a particular song into your set will be the key here.
And every guy I’ve ever talked to or been told about in the dancehall DJ world had to find all that out the hard way. Going to watch several other people do their thing will at least give you an idea. I’d suggest putting Shazam on your phone and keeping it close.
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