Original subtitles

Hi, everybody. Welcome to Apple TV+.

From my home in California,

we're all in lockdown mode here,

as I hope you are, 'cause that's how we're gonna

flatten the curve of this virus,

is by following the rules

and staying at home

and not letting other people come into your home.

We're in total lockdown,

which I know can make a lot of people feel lonely,

isolated, going a little stir-crazy,

but I'm here to tell you that

social distancing doesn't mean social disconnection.

As a matter of fact, some wonderful things are happening.

This past Saturday, I got a call

that there was this party going on and I was like,

"Party? How you gonna go to a party?"

Well, the party was on Instagram,

and everybody was there.

And you are invited.

And I wanted to talk to the guy

who got this party started,

where people are laughing and dancing and singing

for six, seven, eight, nine hours at a time.

The guy who got the party started,

D-Nice. Derrick Jones.

Well, you have just now reached a new level,

I have to say.

So I was at home Saturday night minding my own business,

just trying to stay isolated, quarantined,

and I get a text from someone

who is a dear friend

and had been a producer of mine

for years on "The Oprah Show" saying,

"You should join this party."

I'm like, "What party? We can't go nowhere."

[laughter]

I know. No, it's on Insta now.

D-Nice is on Insta now.

So then I went on there and it was--

it was the most fun I think we've all had in a long time.

[D-Nice] Yes, it was beautiful.

It was beautiful.

I honestly couldn't believe what it became on Saturday.

Like, I felt like it was a movement that was, like,

happening with everyone

and that we all felt connected through music.

-[Oprah] Yeah. -[D-Nice] From different locations,

and the music brought us all together.

So how did that come about?

My friend told me, she goes,

"This party's been going on for five days now."

And it started out with 200 people.

And now--

listen, I came in around 48,000, 49,000.

Yeah, you were just hitting 50,000.

And then I stayed in to 103,000.

[D-Nice laughs]

It felt like we were like-- somebody said,

"Oh, let's get shots at 100,000."

I go, "Let me go chill the tequila, y'all."

It was so fun!

[D-Nice] It was great.

And that was the beauty of it.

It started out--you know, I've been self-isolated.

You know, I didn't-- I travel a lot for work.

Obviously for DJ-ing, I'm always on planes,

and, you know, I work between here

and I go back to Michigan and, you know,

I just didn't want to be around [indistinct].

So I've been here, like, home alone,

and I never have turntables or anything at home

because I didn't want home to feel like work.

So I was sitting in my kitchen--

well, I woke up that morning and I was like, you know what?

I just wanna play music online for my friends.

So I woke up, came in here,

set up my laptop in the kitchen,

and opened up, you know, iTunes.

I was just using iTunes.

And I would play songs in IG live

and my friends were on

and they would all pretend that it was a bar,

like, that we were at a club.

That's why they were saying, "Shots for everyone."

-Yes. -It was, like--

a lot of my music industry friends and, like, Kevin Lowes.

-You know, like... -Yeah.

All in there, like,

"Hey, who let Kevin Lowes in the VIP?"

And it was just fun. And we were playing music.

And then the next day, it was 2,000 people.

And then we were like, wow, like,

who told them about our club?

And then the next day, it was, like, 15,000 people.

And then, you know, John Legend joined in,

and then I just hit, you know--

hit the screen so he can join in.

And he joined in with Lou la and, like, it was great.

And everyone just went ecstatic.

They were excited.

I think John's followers came in.

And then I--you know--

I heard Dave Chappelle-- Dave Chappelle called.

Yeah, Dave Chappelle called.

And then the next day is when it started.

This was the Friday.

J.Lo joined in and then Drake joined in.

And then we were like-- we're at 20,000 people,

and it was like, "Oh, this is great!"

So they--Saturday,

I called up one of the former First Lady's, you know, people,

and I was like, "Hey, you think she would stop by?"

-And she was like, I don't know. -Wow.

And she's, "I don't know.

I don't know if she would do something like that."

I was like, "All right, cool, you know?

I just wanted to put it out there."

Because you had done parties for them

before at the White House.

Yes, at the White House,

I did their second to the last party.

And I did the inaugural ball for them,

the second inaugural ball.

And by the time this thing started to swell

where it was like 40,000,

you know, someone was like,

"Oh, my gosh, Michelle Obama is in here," like--

and that was just, like, the moment where,

you know, Janet Jackson came.

Then you popped in!

And I was just trying to play music.

But I was just in awe that something

that I started here in the kitchen--

because I was by myself

and I wanted to be, you know,

in contact with my friends, turn into something.

You know what's so interesting to me about this, Derrick,

is that in this moment

where so many people are feeling isolated

and you say yourself

you were at home feeling a little removed,

a little isolated,

and I think that's an important thing to express,

because people like you in particular,

uh, and--

and also my friend Gayle,

who you know very well and did her show yesterday,

who's used to going, going, going all the time

being a social animal, this--

this moment feels particularly isolating.

It feels like--

it gives you anxiety to do nothing.

So you were feeling that,

like a lot of other people are also feeling that,

and then what really happened was you said,

how can I be useful?

-How can I do the thing that... -Yes.

How can I use what I know, what I love,

what I do, and offer that to somebody else?

Yes, and it was a great feeling to do that

and just see how many people have been impacted by it

because, you know, what I've learned

is that the feeling that I had wasn't unique.

There was so many of us going through that...

-[Oprah] Yes. -You know, to--

you know, we all know how to vacation,

and that's great, but that's by choice.

-This wasn't by choice, you know? -[Oprah] Yeah.

I'm not at home because I really want to be here.

-[laughs] -Like, I wanna go outside, you know?

And I literally have not been outside of my door,

um, since Tuesday?

So I've been at home, you know?

Since last Tuesday.

Since last Tuesday, I have not left the apartment

because I'm so excited to just get on

and play music for people.

You know, yesterday when I signed on,

I wasn't even gonna do it.

Like, my buddy Diddy was like, "You killed it on Saturday.

You should just do it next week

and just let it breathe and enjoy the moment."

But I started feeling restless.

I was like, "I don't think I want to do this right now."

Because I didn't-- I didn't want it to be about--

it wasn't a business move for me.

It was really about just trying to

brighten someone's day.

So even though it started with me wanting to, like,

brighten 200 people's days, you know, like,

it went on to just become this thing

where I sign in yesterday and it was like 165,000 people in--

Already? Yesterday?

-Yesterday. -See, I didn't party yesterday.

-I thought... -[laughs]

-After Saturday night-- -You took Sunday off?

[laughs] I said, "I'ma take Sunday off."

Literally. [laughter]

But you had 165,000 people at the party yesterday?

[D-Nice] Yes, 165,000.

And I planned on taking today to--

That's, like, the biggest, largest concert ever.

[D-Nice] That's a large concert.

There's nothing wrong with, like, you know,

whatever the kids are making for them,

like, that's great, but I didn't--

you know, I wanted to take the opportunity

to just play good music.

So it felt good to play Sister Sledge,

and Nile Rodgers is in here

telling stories about the record.

Like, he's typing in stories, like...

[Oprah] Wow.

I mean, this--and then Nile came back the next day,

and it's like, you know,

Naomi Campbell was telling friends to,

like, you know, just to come in.

She was the one that got Lenny Kravitz to come in, like--

and it's just beautiful, you know,

to play music and celebrate.

Yeah, I think you really helped

a lot of people not only feel better,

but it was the most hopeful healing experience,

I think,

going on as a collective virtual community,

uh, in the United States.

Wow. Wow.

And to think it all started in the kitchen on a counter.

[laughter]

That's the best part about it.

-Yeah. -In the kitchen.

So how are you feel--

how are you feeling about it all right now?

Well, I woke up on Sunday morning

after that big night, and you know,

to watch, like, my social media following go up by, like--

you know, I started, it was 200,000 people,

and I woke up that next morning, it was close to 700,000.

And by the end of the day, it was, like, 1.3 million.

And when I woke up and I--

I felt like--

I felt a bit overwhelmed because when you're in that moment,

you don't realize that you're doing something special.

You're just doing what feels good, but you're doing--

I didn't realize it was special until that morning,

and I had tears, and I had, you know, just--

I walked into the living room and I turned on the television

and the news story was on and then my face was there

and it was just like--

it was just so overwhelming.

-[Oprah] Yeah. -And, you know,

I've been in the music industry since--

you know, for 30 years, you know,

and I've had ups and downs in some years and records, and--

but nothing felt like that.

-[Oprah] Yeah.

Nothing felt like you were helping people.

And the interesting thing, Derrick, is that lots of DJs

are doing it around the country,

but nobody had the ability to do what you did.

What do you think that was?

[D-Nice] It came--not to say

that it didn't come from an honest place from any other DJ.

I don't know where it came from, but for me,

it was just me wanting--

it was very selfless, you know?

It was selfless and it was self-serving

because I was feeling lonely as well

and I wanted to play music,

and I wanted to communicate with friends,

but I was also just trying to, like--

I just wanted people to feel good.

This wasn't about--I can--

you know, this is gonna turn into something big.

No, this was about,

I want people to feel good.

And it hit me that it was happening when,

you know, one of our buddies, Will Packer,

he called me and he said,

"I heard about this Club Quarantine thing you're doing."

And this was before everything-- this was before the big day.

-He was like, "Keep doing that." -[Oprah] Yeah.

Like, I think it's gonna be something nice that, you know,

people can just enjoy.

And he wasn't--he was thinking about just, like,

entertainment people.

He didn't realize that it was gonna become what it did,

and neither do I,

and it's just a beautiful feeling.

I heard that people have even been hooking up.

-People are hooking up. -Yes.

Meeting during the dance party online.

[laughs]

I saw something where somebody tweeted they were, like,

DM'ing each other and they were like,

"Hey, uh,

I tried to get to you, but the room was so crowded."

[laughter]

Had to get--had to get through Biden and Michelle

to get over to you and you had gone, yes.

I think that was beautiful.

So with the fact-- so like I said earlier,

my friends were all pretending to be in a club.

The fact that that resonated with other people, like,

"Hey, we're in the club now."

Like, that's-- it's just beautiful.

It's just beautiful to see that, you know,

we allowed our imaginations to just flow and just to be free,

and, like, "Hey, yes, I'm here. I see Oprah over there."

You know, "Oprah's getting in my way."

Like, "Why's she looking at me like that?"

[laughter]

-[Oprah] So fun. -It was beautiful.

So we want to know, number one,

what else are you doing to stay positive?

'Cause you just can't play music all the time.

What are you doing to stay positive?

You know, I've been playing music all the time

and a lot of FaceTime with--

with my kids and-- I have two daughters.

And that's been great.

Now, I don't think I'll do another nine-hour session

the way I did on Friday or on Saturday.

That was a bit much, but I do a lot of--

People are staying in. People are just playing it.

You know, Gabrielle Union said she stayed in for six hours.

[D-Nice] Yes, that's-- oh, yes, they're staying in.

I mean, literally staying in the chat for six hours.

-[Oprah] Yeah. -Six hours just being there.

And, like, dancing around and, you know,

it's great, it's great.

You just put it on Bluetooth

and you're just dancing around your house.

I was out on my porch.

Come on, got my tequila shots. Hey, hey.

Just to be useful at this time

and to be useful with something that you love,

what a wonderful offering.

What a gift to us all. Thank you.

-Thank you. -You know what I would like to say?

It's D-Nice.

-So nice. -Aw, thanks, my name is D-Nice.

So--so D-Nice.

Thank you so much. I'll see you at the next party.

Absolutely. Love you, take care.

Love you too. Take care.

What's so cool about

D-Nice's jamming Club Quarantine party

is that everybody in the world

no matter where you are can join

and have your own VIP pass to the party.

Admission is free on Instagram.

Thanks so much, D-Nice.

Well, there's no doubt that music is bringing us

all together in ways we had not expected.

I'm sure you saw the John Legend concert

or at least heard about it through social media

and Coldplay, and the other day,

somebody sent me this really cool tape

of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

from the Netherlands,

all of them in their own bedrooms

playing Beethoven

a reminder that even in this time of discord,

there is perfect harmony.

[Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" playing]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[choir singing majestically]

♪ ♪

Didn't that just warm your heart?

Mmm, gave me goosebumps.

Hope to see you next time.

Until then, stay safer at home.

Lockdown.