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Entertainment: Women DJs rock straight to the top Black Habits Articles While most girls were yearning for the latest Barbie doll, five-year old Melissa Langley couldn’t wait to try out the turntables her father had purchased for her and her brothers. And instead of nursery rhymes, she preferred the lyrics and the beats of Sugar Hill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight and Kurtis Blow’s the Break.

So it should be no surprise that Langley, now also known as DJ MelBoogie, is one of the top female DJs in the country.

“When I first started professionally over a decade ago it just wasn’t a female thing to be a DJ,” says Langley, citing her older brother Maestro Fresh Wes, Michie Mee and Ron Nelson of the Fantastic Voyage Radio Show as some of her key influences.

Langley is a York University m a r k e t i n g communications, race and ethnic relations graduate. She has also studied classical music at the Royal Conservatory of Music and has taught piano.

According to Langley, for female DJs it can be a challenge to get club and event promoters as well as audiences to see past gender. “There are still some guys who will try to intimidate me standing in front of the DJ booth with their arms crossed just waiting for me to mess up. I am still keeping them waiting,” she laughs.

For Carleton University criminology and criminal justice graduate Jeannine “JJ Rock” Bryan, the story of rising to the top is about having to prove herself as a talented DJ regardless of her gender. Crediting Flow 935’s Scott Boogie and DJ Chocolate Groove for mentoring her, Bryan encourages young women interested in DJing to always present themselves as professionals.

“You’ve got to respect yourself, your image and your craft. Consistently practise and don’t be afraid to network and to ask to work with or study under those you admire otherwise others won’t take you seriously,” says Bryan. Both she and Langley recommend college and university radio stations as a great place to gain experience.

This Friday, MelBoogie, who specializes in New Jack Swing 90’s hip hop; JJ Rock, spinning hip hop and R &B; and other top female DJs like L’Oquenz and Gunz N Rozez play Down One Lounge.
Posted on Friday, March 24 @ 00:00:00 UTC by jcohen



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