That’s what HaSizzle, the proclaimed King of Bounce, said as he hit the stage performing at ANTWIGADEE’s Third Annual ENERGY!Ball. Across the room, people danced and sang every lyric as he mixed and mastered underneath the spinning disco balls at the Civic Theatre.
Last Friday, Dec. 19, local creatives and influencers stepped out in style for a night filled with music, connection and dance. The theme this year was All Black or Black Dandyism, inspired by this year’s Met Gala, said Antoine Barriere, known as ANTWIGADEE.
A Nola native, Barriere, 29, explained, “So it started out just as an alternative option for people who wanted to be in a space that they can dress up, look nice, where it was dance centered, music centered, [and] coming from DJs versus the other balls, that I feel like curated a space for older crowds.”
The ENERGY!Ball launched in 2023 as a younger, dance-driven alternative to legacy Mardi Gras balls like Zulu and Endymion — a space for New Orleanians to get fancy on Bacchus Night and dance without judgment.
This year’s Black Dandyism theme pushed that vision further, drawing on historic Black fashion statements of dignity, joy and resilience.
As the ENERGY!Ball continued to evolve, ANTWIGADEE realized there was an opportunity to capture the heart of the city in a new way.
“I wanted to get video and pictures of this event so that when other people see it from wherever in the world, they can have either a snapshot or they could see video in real time of what New Orleans is like.”
Barriere says he intentionally features horn players at each ENERGY!Ball — from violinists to the Brass-A-Holics to Girls Play Trumpets Too — because horns are a core part of New Orleans culture.
And perhaps the clearest sign of that influence is 11-year-old trumpeter Ja’Nel Watson — proof that the next generation is already stepping into the spotlight.
“Makes me feel like a role model, like I’m an inspiration,” she said. “It gives me a lot of confidence.”
Watson says Girls Play Trumpets Too is a “beautiful organization” that inspires her as a young musician. She said the group’s late-night swag-surf trumpet set left her “surprisingly energized,” and her mom said it showed Ja’Nel recognizing her own gift in a space she trusts.
The third ENERGY!Ball played like a love letter to New Orleans — a packed, dressy crowd dancing hard to ANTWIGADEE’s gospel-laced mixes, live horns from Girls Play Trumpets Too, and legends like DJ Raj Smoove and DJ RQ Away on stage.
He calls the horns “a pivotal part of our culture,” and built the night around moments where people could completely let go: jigging with his childhood best friend Josh, call-and-response with the crowd, and stretches where gospel and club records collided.
One of the biggest shocks came when HaSizzle, the self-proclaimed King of Bounce, jumped in unannounced. ANTWIGADEE had simply invited him as a guest, but backstage he felt like HaSizzle was “outside the jump rope… ready to jump in,” so he handed him the mic.
“He just was like, ‘I’m ready.’” Moments later, the room erupted.
More than a Party
For ANTWIGADEE, the ENERGY!Ball isn’t just a party — it’s a ministry in motion. Barriere calls himself the “GROOOVE!MASTER,” not just a DJ, because he says the title DJ feels limiting. He prefers “architect of sound and social experiences,” a term that reflects everything he does — arranging, performing, producing and blending live instrumentation. DJing, he says, is simply his instrument of choice.
He’s been DJing for about a decade, starting in 2014 as a high school sophomore.
He deliberately wove gospel into the set, including a mashup of Norman Hutchins’ “God’s Got a Blessing (With My Name on It)” over “Still Not a Player” by Big Punisher, and even flipping “Revolution” over the beat of “Back That Azz Up.”
Barriere says his playlists are a sonic picture of what it feels like to hear God while you’re “still doing you.”
Rooted in his church upbringing — his father pastored congregations across the city, Barriere says he “grew up on” dance, both in church and early-2000s music culture.
He said he included so much gospel because he needs to bring God into everything he does — and because, to him, “God is in everything.”
“So you know how sometimes we may go out and you’ll hear God talking to you, and you may not be doing the right thing at the time. Even in those times where you still doing you, if you really listen, God is still talking to you,” ANTWIGADEE said.
At one point, he even considered mixing a jigging song with Donnie McClurkin’s “Speak to My Heart.”
“So people will probably be thinking like, ‘What like, why are you mixing ‘Speak to My Heart’ with crazy, like aggressive, kind of angry cursing, you know, song’,” he said. “And my point of doing that was, that’s what we do.”
He says he wants to eventually host intimate sessions so people understand his faith-rooted approach.
“I want to host intimate sessions where I can explain that specifically, so that people aren’t off kilter or feel like is quote, unquote blasphemous in that time, because that’s not my intention at all,” he shared. “Like I respect and fear God.”