q|a
With the people's dj from the bronx:
DJ Kaykay47
How did you get started as a DJ?
I grew up a couple of blocks from Cedar Park and 1520 Sedgwick Avenue - the birthplace of hip hop! As the youngest of 6 and with my parents' generation, I was introduced to music genres such as jazz, disco, funk, dancehall, House, Underground Hip Hop, Mainstream Hip Hop, and pop. And while growing up in The Bronx, some of my homies introduced me to salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton and more. But it wasn't until I started attending the West Indian Day parade when I became a huge fan of soca, Zouk, and Konpa.
But growing up in my hood was tough. Issues such as gun violence, police harassment, and lack of access to music and arts programs were the norm. Because of this, in 2011, I became a community organizer with the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDAC-BX). With the collective, I learned to build community using the arts, specifically hip hop which further developed my love for the culture. Through this experience I came to the realization that hip hop has saved my life.
My drive to pursue DJing was unexpected. If someone were to tell my younger self that I would be DJIng, I wouldn’t have believed them. However, I unintentionally planted the seeds to be a DJ through my introduction to the genres previously mentioned. During my high school years, I would go to house parties and at the time, Vybz Kartel and New Orleans Bounce took over the playlist. Some of my peers would give me the aux to play music and that’s basically how it started.
"I chose to learn DJing because I was inspired by the skills of DJs in the collective (S/O to DJ Illanoiz & Charlie Hustle). I also realized that I didn’t know too many women DJs and wanted to play a role in paving the way for more young girls and women to become DJs."
Can you describe an instance when you had fear or doubt but you were able to push forward?
I remember when, back in 2017, I was DJing for an event and the client didn’t give me much information about it. She found me through a holiday party at her job and wanted me to DJ for another event in the same month. I assumed that it was a holiday party because it was thrown at a known union space in December. However, when I got to the venue, I found out that it was a retirement party for my client’s mother who worked at that union. I felt so unprepared. Then, as I was playing music, my client’s mother came up to me and said, “I don’t like this song.” So I immediately changed the song. Then, a guest came up to me and asked if I had a particular song and then said that I suck because I didn’t have the song he was looking for. I felt so offended and wanted to shut down.
I wasn’t sure if I should’ve packed my stuff and left. All I know is that I couldn’t wait for the gig to be over. Their comments made me doubt my abilities as a DJ. But then, realizing that it wasn’t necessarily my fault, I played what I could and my client paid me extra. Because of this experience, now I require a phone/video call consultation with my clients to get an idea of what they’re looking for. The beauty of this experience is that it’s an area of growth in my career as a Freelancer/Self-employed creator.
"Remember Why You Started."
CURRENT PROJECTS
Right now, I am a resident DJ/Host for the following organizations:
Show Love Productions
Website Coming Soon
BRUNCH & BUDGET: Financial literacy workshops
REPRIEVE PARTY: SOBER PARTIES
INSPIRED ARTIST MOVEMENT
"Be Your Own Muse."
Follow DJKaykay47:
Instagram: @djkaykay47
Website: linktr.ee/djkaykay47