DJ Tabu: The Crowd Is My Scene Partner

My uncles' record collections were really my first music education. Growing up, music was always around me, especially at family gatherings. I would go through their records, look at the labels and covers, and listen to all these different sounds. Eventually, I started helping them spin records at family functions.

What I didn't realize at the time was that I was learning how music creates a mood. I was watching how one record could change the energy in a room and how people reacted when they heard something they loved.

Those 45s also taught me to be curious about music. I didn't grow up thinking you had to stay inside one genre. If it sounded good and made you feel something, it belonged in the conversation. That curiosity is still a big part of how I DJ today.

I had already been pursuing acting and working in education, so performing and storytelling were already part of my life. DJing felt like another extension of that. The difference was that instead of telling a story with a script, I could tell one through music.

When I started professionally in 2001, I wanted to learn the actual craft. I didn't just want to be someone who loved music and played songs. I wanted to understand transitions, programming, pacing, equipment, and most importantly, how to read a room.

That's when it became something bigger than just loving records. I realized there was a real art to taking people somewhere musically.

I don't think it was one huge movie moment where suddenly I said, "This is it." It was more the feeling I started getting when I could see a room responding to something I was doing.

There is nothing quite like putting on a record and watching the energy change. You might have people who weren't dancing suddenly get up. Somebody hears a song they haven't heard in years and gives you that look from across the room. Or you take the music in a direction people weren't expecting, and they come with you.

Those moments made me realize that DJing wasn't just playing music. I was communicating with people without necessarily saying a word.

Once I understood that, I was hooked.

They're very different rooms, but the basic skill is the same. You have to pay attention. I've played events for major brands, corporate and fashion, and in all honesty you're part of a larger experience. The music has to support the identity of the event without overpowering it.

You may have executives networking, people having conversations, presentations happening, or a brand trying to establish a particular atmosphere. You have to understand when the music should sit in the background and when you can bring the energy forward.

A nightclub is usually much more immediate. The crowd tells you very quickly whether something is working.

But I actually enjoy both, because they require different muscles. One is about subtlety and atmosphere; the other can be much more about energy and movement.

Travel changed the way I hear music. When you're playing internationally, you can't automatically assume that the records that work back home are going to have the same meaning somewhere else. So I listen and observe first.

At the same time, traveling showed me how universal rhythm is. You can be thousands of miles from home and play something with the right groove, percussion, or melody, and people connect with it.

Those experiences helped shape my sound. I love melodic and syncopated house, but I'm also drawn to Latin American, Middle Eastern, African, and other global influences.

I think traveling made me less interested in putting music into little boxes. I'm always looking for the connection between sounds.

All of those things connect for me because they're really about storytelling. As a theater sound designer, I'm thinking about why a particular sound or piece of music exists in a scene. What is it telling the audience? What emotion is it creating? When should it enter? When should it disappear?

That's very similar to DJing.

As a teaching artist, I've spent years helping young people, especially students who may be shy or unsure of themselves, find their voices through the arts. That has made me very aware of listening and communication. DJing has also influenced my theater work, because I'm constantly thinking about rhythm, pacing, and transitions.

Whether I'm behind the decks, designing sound for a production, acting, or teaching, I'm basically asking the same question: what does the audience need from me at this moment?

I absolutely love it, because there's something about physical music that streaming can't completely recreate. When I was going through my uncles' music, the record itself was part of the experience. You looked at the label. You handled it. You flipped it over. You discovered what was on the B-side.

And sometimes the B-side becomes your favorite record.

Streaming gives us incredible access to music, and I'm not against technology at all. But physical collections encourage a different kind of relationship with music. You don't just consume it, you live with it. I think younger collectors are discovering that experience now, which is beautiful to see.

A lot more than people might think. Acting teaches you to listen and respond. You can't decide exactly how a scene is going to happen before you walk into it, because you're working with another actor who's giving you something in real time.

DJing works the same way. I can prepare music, but I can't completely prepare the set, because I don't know what the audience is going to give me.

You have to stay present.

And I'm naturally more introverted than people might expect from someone who acts and DJs. Both acting and DJing helped me learn how to step into a performance space, communicate with people, and trust my instincts. The crowd is basically my scene partner.

What might surprise people is how much I'm influenced by music outside of whatever genre I'm actually playing. Growing up in a Trinidadian family meant I was surrounded by different rhythms and cultures from the beginning. Then traveling internationally expanded that even further.

I'm fascinated by percussion, syncopation, and melody, especially the places where Caribbean, African, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and electronic music intersect.

So sometimes the inspiration for something I'm doing in a house set isn't another house record at all. It might be a rhythm, an instrument, or a musical idea I heard somewhere completely different.

That's probably one of the biggest things that shaped me: curiosity.

Learn the craft and don't build your entire identity around one type of gig.

I really see myself as a multidisciplinary artist. Acting, DJing, sound design, voice work, and teaching all feed into each other. Each one uses a different part of me, but they all come back to storytelling, connecting with people, and creating an experience. I think working across so many different areas has made me a stronger and more versatile artist overall.

All of those things have helped sustain me creatively.

I would also tell DJs to learn how to read people instead of just learning how to make playlists. Anybody can have access to thousands of songs now. Your value is what you do with them. Be professional. Show up prepared. Know your equipment. Respect the people you're working with. Build relationships. Stay curious about music.

And don't chase every trend.

Technology is always going to change. Platforms are going to change. What's popular is going to change. But taste, professionalism, adaptability, and knowing how to move a room will always matter.

I'd love to see MixtapeKings spotlight DJ Janesita and Sunshine Rewind. I had the pleasure of meeting both of these lovely young ladies during my time in Chicago, and I have so much respect for them. They're incredibly talented, passionate about music, and each brings her own unique perspective to the culture.

Janesita brings together house, acid, juke, footwork, and influences from her Mexican roots, while also creating space for Latin American music and culture. Sunshine Rewind is a talented vinyl DJ, record collector, and music researcher whose sets explore everything from soul, funk, disco, and boogie to new wave and house. I especially appreciate Sunshine's love of digging, discovering music, and keeping the art of vinyl collecting alive.

Beyond their talent, I genuinely enjoyed getting to know them. They're both lovely, creative young women whom I respect, and it's been wonderful watching them continue to develop their own voices as DJs. I think they represent an exciting part of Chicago's next generation of selectors, collectors, and music lovers, and I'd love to see MixtapeKings share their stories.

With this in mind, I will humbly add: I'd love to see MixtapeKings spotlight people who helped build DJ culture but don't always get included when the history gets told.

Especially women DJs, Caribbean DJs, older DJs who came up through vinyl culture, mobile DJs, radio DJs, and the people who were playing parties and building scenes long before social media made everybody visible.

There are so many people whose record collections basically document an entire piece of cultural history.