At 5:14 p.m., DJ Automatic slips headphones over his ears and begins to scratch.
“Grove St. Party” by Waka Flocka Flame becomes the soundtrack as Langtson Galloway warms up on one end of the court and Nico Mannion on the other nearly three hours ahead of the Suns’ Jan. 28 matchup against the Golden State Warriors. From a turntable in section 111, DJ Automatic shepherds the transition to Drake’s “Back to Back.” Later, Jay-Z’s and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” slides into Jennifer Lopez’s “Get Right.”
For the start of the Suns’ 2020-21 season, DJ Automatic and DJ Q have been responsible for creating a home-court advantage inside a largely empty Phoenix Suns Arena.