ORLANDO, Fla. – Born in Brooklyn, New York, DJ Jay-R moved to Miami to attend Florida Atlantic University and study music. From there, another move was made.
The young music-lover was headed to Orlando. It’s here in Central Florida where he found his passion through deejaying.
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“I tried it and I fell in love. And then I got inspired by a couple of bigger DJs like DJ Nasty and DJ Chino, and they took me under their wing and they showed me the ropes and it’s been history ever since,” Jay-R said.
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Sure, anyone can play their favorite Pandora or Spotify playlist, but being a DJ requires more and it’s not as easy as it looks.
“So a lot of people think when they see a DJ, all they see is the headphones and this motion (mimics spinning a record), but there’s so much more to it,” Jay-R said.
There’s an art to being a good DJ. Spinning, mixing, and scratching aren’t skills someone picks up overnight.
“I spent hours just going back and forth on a record, just to like, see how I can make the sound sound different, how I can make people’s words match like people’s beats and whatnot,” Jay-R said.
After a lot of practice, studying his mentors, and playing at UCF events and plenty of frat parties, Jay-R has found himself DJing private celeb events like Tobias Harris’ wedding and even had the opportunity to spin inside the NBA bubble, a moment that is forever etched in his memory.
“I was equally as nervous because like, oh my goodness, I’m in the bubble,” Jay-R laughed.
His work has even taken him abroad touring with Fat Joe in Moscow, picking up some valuable performing knowledge from the hip-hop icon along the way.
“He’s like ‘Listen junior,’ he calls me junior, said Jay-R, recalling the moment with Fat Joe. “He said ‘Once you play the record, you got to step back and see the crowd and enjoy yourself,’ and he was right. I took that with me that stood out with me from then until now. And I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Now a veteran DJ, Jay-R said when he first started out his biggest goal was to be on the radio. Over the summer that goal was met when he was added to the list of DJs playing for FLY 1031.
“I love it. That’s my dream,” Jay-R said.
The thing about radio, Jay-R tells me, is you never know who is listening.
“I’m thankful to have that opportunity to do that every day, for almost two hours, a lot of mixing, but I do it. I love to inspire people I love to share I love to, like you said play a record that maybe people haven’t heard in a while. Or it makes their kids dance in the backseat of their car,” the proud dad said.
“Or maybe it makes your grandma want to like get up and just do a little two-step that she used to do. That’s what really motivates me,” Jay-R said with a smile. “This is just the beginning.” You can hear DJ Jay-R play the 103-minute commercial free FLY Mix weeknights at 8 p.m. on Nights with Nailz.
Hear more about Jay-R’s career and his plans for the future by listening to the latest interview of Riff On This.