Waynesboro's Andrew Hypes gets opportunity of a lifetime to DJ for Justin Timberlake

As a third-grader in Waynesboro, Andrew Hypes already knew music was his passion. He began playing the drums, something his dad got him involved with, but somewhere along the line he thought he'd like to try DJing. His parents got him his first turntable and mixer.

By the time he was 14, Hypes was working birthday parties and weddings. From there his career continued to grow. A 2005 graduate of Waynesboro High School who now lives in Richmond, Hypes has now been a DJ for 21 years.

Hypes has opened for Pharrell and Travis Scott, worked for tech giant IBM, and gone viral for several videos. He's also a music producer. He's traveled from New York to Miami to Houston to Los Angeles, all over the United States, as well as internationally. Hypes' work has been on shows that aired on Netflix and BET Plus and other streaming services.

"But never anything like this," Hypes told The News Leader this week. "This Justin situation."

The "Justin situation" was Hypes' recent performance with Justin Timberlake. The pop superstar and successful actor returned to his home of Memphis, Tennessee, Friday, Jan. 19, where he performed a free concert for about 1,800 fans at the Orpheum Theater, promoting an upcoming album. Tickets were available only by raffle.

Hypes is a friend of a producer in Atlanta who he's worked with for years. That producer is good friends with the president of Timberlake's record label. The two were talking about up-and-coming DJs and Hypes' name got mentioned, eventually leading to him being asked to open the Memphis show for Timberlake.

"It's an overwhelming feeling, right?" said Hypes. "But at the same time, I've been doing this for a very, very long time. So it's also like a sigh of relief. All the hard work I've put in for more than half my life is finally paying off."

Hypes shot a video of him mashing up Timberlake's biggest hits and sent it to the record label. That was in August. He got a message that Timberlake saw the video and really liked it. The original idea for the Memphis show was for Hypes just to open the show, creating a party-like atmosphere to get the crowd pumped for Timberlake. After seeing the video, though, Timberlake asked Hypes to be part of his show.

"It was absolutely just mind blowing," Hypes said.

Hypes said Timberlake and his team really made him feel welcome, which helped keep him calm in the days leading up to the show. When Friday arrived, Hypes opened the show, DJing for about 50 minutes before Timberlake came on stage and played his first set.

"And then Justin brings me back out and we do a whole segment together," Hypes said. "Like the video, I mash up some of his most popular songs with other songs people recognized."

A story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal said that a song off the new album, "No Angels" was given its world premiere when Hypes played it from his console at stage left.

"Timberlake pumped his fist and encouraged the audience to sing along as Hypes played snippets of such cuts as 'Poppin' My Collar' by Memphis rap artists Three 6 Mafia," the newspaper story read. "The singer delighted fans by sauntering up the aisles, occasionally hugging or dancing with concertgoers, while Hypes scratched and mixed."

By the time Hypes stepped on stage, he wasn't nervous. He's been on stage for so many shows that, even though this was the biggest by far, he felt confident in his abilities.

"So many things have happened that prepared me for that moment," Hypes said. "When you're ready and you're confident and you know, you just know."

Hypes is hoping that this show with Timberlake will lead to more work with the superstar, but nothing is confirmed yet. Still, just to have done this one show is something he never imagined.

"It's been a journey," Hypes said.

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Waynesboro's Andrew Hypes DJs for Justin Timberlake's Memphis concert