Five Local DJs Turning Heads

Hits : "A song that works in the club, has a good hook, beat and personality, which means it has some type of feeling."

Misses : "A wrong song played at the wrong time, which means that you could be doing a reggae set and out of the blue play a down South record . . . bam, your crowd is gone."

Main Gig : Saturdays at H2O, 800 Water St. SW. Free-$20. 202-484-6300. http://www.h2odc.com/ .

DJ BOMBA

If you've been going to the top Latin and international nights in the city over the past 10 years, you've probably heard DJ Bomba, right, working the decks. Fur, Home, Modern, Love -- you name it, he's played there. Bomba, aka Yuri Bautista, 28, is your man if you're looking for a deejay who spins the best Daddy Yankee reggaeton tracks, salsa favorites from Puerto Rican Power, and a mix of bachata , merengue and top 40 that caters to the nightly whims of the dance floor.

Bomba got his first big break deejaying at the wildly popular Earth club night at DC Live in the 1990s. When Earth's promoter Masoud A. helped found the Dream nightclub, he brought Bomba with him. Nowadays you'll find Bomba on Saturday nights playing to a well-dressed international set on the third floor of Love, switching up styles to keep the beats fresh.

Hits : "The Latin rock song 'Oye Mi Amor' by Mana. When people hear the guitar riff intro, they go crazy. . . . I can turn off the music and the crowd will be singing and dancing on cue to the song."

Misses : "I went to Puerto Rico a few weeks ago and brought back some new reggaeton that has not hit the States yet. The song I played was 'Dame Lo Que Quiero' by Rakim & Ken-Y. I mixed it in and noticed a slight pause in the crowd. . . . People came to the booth to find out who the artist is."

Main Gig : Saturdays at Love, 1350 Okie St. NE. Free-$20. 202-636-9030. http://www.lovetheclub.com/ .

SAM 'THE MAN' BURNS

With almost three decades working the turntables, Burns, right, has become synonymous with soulful house music in the District. His flagship party, "The Underground Soul Solution," has outlived two popular nightclubs, moving from the now-defunct State of the Union, to the recently shuttered Red, to its current home of Dragonfly. Burns's blend of deep beats and moving vocals attracts some of the city's best dancers. Their intense spins and frenetic footwork float atop the music's syncopated rhythms. Flawless mixing makes it hard to tell when Burns, 48, has moved from one track to the next, but when he brings in the first hint of a classic house anthem, the dressed-to-sweat crowd lets out a holler of recognition.

Hits : "Hate Won't Change Me," by Byron Stingily. "Someone may be going through a relationship problem . . . They may hear these words, and it gives them a sense of empowerment."