SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Women are on the ones and twos here in Sacramento's DJ industry. If you like hip-hop, house, reggaeton, or all three, these women have you covered.
ABC10 interviewed seven female DJs in Sacramento:
All seven are women of color, and all have a love for their city.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the United States, men dominate the DJ industry by 76.5%, while only 23.5% are women. Additionally, 74.2% of DJs are white, 11.2% are Hispanic or Latinx, and 7.3% are Black.
Being women of color in a predominantly white male industry, they are ready to not only crush stereotypes, but inspire others.
Sacramento's diversity makes the industry more welcoming to these DJs, opening them up to various opportunities to collaborate with other Sacramento creatives or to perform solo gigs at clubs and lounges.
Roshelle Kumar, otherwise known as DJ Roshelle, loves music and has a strong appreciation for it. She's always been obsessed.
"From the moment I get up until even when I'm sleeping, which probably isn't good for my ears, I'm always listening to music," said Kumar.
She turned her passion into a profession, but she didn't expect it to get her where she is today.
Now, not only does she DJ at weddings, birthdays, events, and at various clubs, bars, and lounges around Sacramento, but she is one of the Sacramento Kings' four resident DJs! She loves playing and mixing different genres like Latin, R&B, and hip-hop.
Growing up in a Southeast Asian and Indian household, pursuing a career as a DJ was taboo.
"It's a big deal," said Kumar. "Sometimes, I don't realize it. I don't really look at it like that."
But she let her love of music lead the way and after training, she pays more attention to detail and has quickly learned how to read a room.
"I like to listen to different genres and I try to branch out, so I have everything on my setlist," said Kumar. "I just like to make it exciting, even if I'm a little challenged because I have to change so many songs and I'm going through so much music. I like to give the crowd a full experience."
Being a woman of color in a predominantly male industry, it's important for Kumar to be able to represent her culture.
"We're inspiring," she said. "We're changing the stereotype. There are a lot of men in the field, but they better watch out because the girls are coming."
Trang Tran, also known as DJ Uni, grew up in Vietnam and was highly influenced by electropop music. Although she loves artists like Usher, The Backstreet Boys, and Michael Jackson, EDM was most popular in Vietnam.
“I grew up with a whole bunch of different music and I started listening at a very young age, so I wanted to do something with it," said Tran.
She bought her first DJ controller years a few years ago, but didn't feel like she was good at the time. During the COVID pandemic, Tran re-invested her time and passion into practicing with the controller.
“There was a lot of time on my hands during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Tran. "It really got me focusing on being a better DJ and I would just practice and practice like a madman the entire time.”
She is now a full-time DJ and is starting to produce her own music. She specializes in bass and house music, connecting her community to her love of being a DJ.
She says the men in Sacramento's DJ industry have been open and welcoming to her. She's noticed some glances of underestimation, but she loves to prove them wrong.
"I wish more women could DJ and it's in the works, but so far I've seen mostly male DJs here in Sacramento," said Tran.
Since she's worked toward her goals and has invested time, energy, and money into perfecting her craft, she hopes to be an inspiration to others. She says believing in herself is what really helped her career, and she is adamant about relaying the same message.
"If you love what you're doing, especially as women, go out there and invest in yourself," said Tran. "There's a lot of support out there; you just have to connect, talk and put yourself out there."
Charlene Ramos, also known as DJ LadyChar, is from Santa Rosa and started to show interest in the DJ industry during the 90s rave scene.
Her uncles were b-boys back in the day and she started tagging along to their dance battles at the age of six. B-boying started in the 80s, so the cultural shift from then to the 90s rave scene expanded Ramos's music taste.
"Back in the early 90s, kids my age were looking for something they could do and a place where they can go have fun and express themselves," said Ramos. "The early 90s rave scene was exactly that and I was able to find a lot of myself during that time. That's when I really fell in love with music."
Ramos is the home DJ for the Sacramento Republic FC soccer team, as well as a full-time open-format DJ playing for events, kid's events, corporate events, weddings, bars, nightclubs, and festivals all around California.
Ramos has built up her musical library over the last 20 years and loves to play any type of music, but her favorites are anything that feels good like reggae, R&B, and chill house.
"Music is like therapy," said Ramos. "Music is a great gift and a great tool and I'm happy to be able to share it with everybody."
She is also a woman of color in the LGBTQ+ community, so she is proud to represent.
"The DJ industry has opened up my world so much," said Ramos. "There are so many people who haven't seen somebody like me as far as being a queer woman who kind of appears to be boyish."
Ramos has taught at a DJ program for three or four schools in the last six years. She teaches kids how to DJ, and she's also mentored a few up-and-comers in Sacramento!
She says it's important for the older generation of DJs to mentor and uplift the younger generation of DJs.
"I really want to help the next generation of DJs come up," said Ramos. "I feel like us older cats really need to share the culture with the younger kids so that they can keep it going and keep the culture going."
Stacey Brown, also known as DJ StaceLace, is one of the four official DJs for the Sacramento Kings.
She was in various choirs growing up and is musically trained. She also studied music history, so with her experience, she feels like she has an advantage when it comes to experimenting with different songs, samples, and genres.
"I have experienced many more genres of music than a lot of people that are newer to the game," said Brown. "Growing up in a black household, I have a deeper understanding and experience with jazz and acid and all of those other genres that people don't play with that much."
Her husband, Kedrian, is also a DJ in Sacramento and goes by the name KB The Arkitekt. He was the one who introduced her to DJing. Since then, it's become a family affair. She taught her daughter how to DJ and her son raps and emcees — together they form 'The Kontrol Freex.'
“I actually have a vision of my family doing things together," said Brown. "When we perform together, we always have a set where he can perform something live or do a freestyle off of an instrumental and I want to continue doing that in the future. I see us all on stage working together, some emceeing, some DJing, some rapping."
Brown takes her talent across Sacramento, playing at clubs, lounges, bars, and events, but one of her favorite places to DJ is at elementary schools. She loves to teach, so when kids come up to her, she happily shows them.
Prior to the pandemic, Brown would DJ at what they used to call "Ladies Night" where they would bring in two or three female DJs to play music all night on Thursdays. Although she loved it and appreciated the connections she made, it didn't make sense to her.
"I'm not just good at this on Thursday, I'm not just good at this on Sunday nights, I could do this any night of the week," said Brown. "My gender shouldn't have anything to do with my skill. When you look at music videos and TV, every DJ is a man or even most songs that refer to the DJ are referring to a man."
During the pandemic, she took time to perfect her craft and network while staying inside. She, along with three other female DJs of color, founded the Sacramento Women's Artists Alliance. The alliance is to encourage women to become skilled in music, the entertainment industry, or just as an artist.
She started live streaming on Instagram, but once copyright issues came up, she discovered Twitch and started live streaming for the Sacramento Women's Artists Alliance. They would feature a new female artist every week and after that, they started branching off into DJs of any gender and even did a couple of comedy nights.
"It felt so good because it was all about collaboration," said Brown. "It was about helping people keep that fire lit for what they did as an art. During the pandemic, people definitely thought differently about what they wanted to do with their lives. For me, I kind of blossomed during that time. I got to DJ a lot more, I started playing with a lot of other genres like drum and bass, and I discovered that I actually love house music."
She looks forward to DJing at the Sacramento Kings basketball games and continuing to perform with her family. She also looks forward to the growth of the DJ industry in Sacramento.
Geneva Brown, also known as DJ Genetixx, started DJing about 10 years ago once her parents — DJ StaceLace and KB The Arkitekt — started nudging her towards it.
She would be side-by-side with her parents, DJing at the age of 13 for younger kids at different venues. The more she did it, the more she realized she loved it.
“Not too long after I started, I developed a passion and love for music, playing for people, and creating that environment where people can have a great time," said Geneva.
During the pandemic, she found herself perfecting her craft of DJing with her family. Now, she plays at bars and lounges in midtown and downtown as an open-format DJ and likes to create new experiences for others.
“I enjoy bringing people together," said Geneva. "Whether it’s dropping in some house with some R&B or mixing hip-hop and drum and bass, I love to surprise people when it comes to my art."
The more involved she got in Sacramento's nightlife, the more she realized she would sometimes be the only female DJ of color at the bars and lounges.
“First of all, people probably haven't seen a female DJ, but a female black DJ? Never in their life," said Geneva. "That’s kind of shocking to me, I’ve seen female black DJs, but my mom is an example.”
She is excited about expanding and collaborating, especially within Sacramento. She is thankful for the support her friends and family have poured into her, and she wants to give back.
"It's so important to see people working hard and showing their passion for what they do," said Geneva. "I just want to see everyone doing well and working on their craft."
Edrianna Regelbrugge, widely known as DJ Eddy, started making her connections in the DJ industry through dance lessons at Step One Dance Company in Sacramento.
Her dance instructor at the time, Brandon, noticed she really enjoyed dancing to different beats and suggested she DJ. He then sold his extra DJ controller to her, and she started learning from there.
Regelbrugge went to school for cosmetology and barbering, but always had a desire for music. When she told her family she was going to quit all her jobs to focus on music and DJing, they questioned her but believed in her and trusted her along the way.
"You have to take a little risk to get a bigger outcome," said Regelbrugge.
She grew up in a household that played Latin and rap music, but also attended Catholic school, so she grew to appreciate gospel music and choruses.
"I just had a lot of resources with music and it's just created this big playlist in my mind," said Regelbrugge.
She gained further interest and connections within the DJ industry through DJ Gio, who initially introduced her to Tiger's HOF Team. She also started going to Motown Mondays and made connections with the DJs.
She realized people missed Motown Mondays during the pandemic, so she started going live on Instagram and releasing different mixes on music outlets like Soundcloud and TikTok. She's gained a huge following from it.
Regelbrugge is now a resident DJ at Tiger Restaurant and Lounge, and is expanding to gigs in LA and the Bay Area through her connections. She strives to inspire others and be a resource for help and support.
"I get really motivated by my family members," said Regelbrugge. "I strive to keep pushing for them. Everything they gave me, I want to give back to them."
She has her eyes on the future and wants to be a universal artist. She recently bought a microphone and released a couple of songs, but she can rap, sing, and wants to be able to compose more reggae and R&B music.
She also looks forward to the growth of the DJ industry in Sacramento, especially among women.
"As females in the industry, I just know we’re gonna take that power back," said Regelbrugge. "The females are on the come-up for the DJ scene and I'm loving to see it in Sacramento."
DJ Fiji grew up loving and appreciating music.
After her first year of college at California State University, Fullerton, she tried to find a job during her summer break and her mother suggested she look into DJing.
"My mom told me that since I was young, I've always loved music," said DJ Fiji. "Thinking back now, it's true. I've always had an ear for music and a passion and a love for music.”
She got her name after being inspired by the Fiji water sold at CSU Fullerton's college store.
The more she got into music, the more she realized she had to make a name for herself. At first, she went by DJ Young Fiji and throughout the years she's morphed into DJ Fiji.
She graduated from California State University, Sacramento, in 2019 and now says she's a DJ with a degree.
DJ Fiji was born in Maryland and her mom is Kenyan, so growing up there were always events and parties at her house and there was always music playing. She thanks her mom for that.
She does private events, weddings, birthday parties, house parties, gender reveals, baby showers, retirement parties, and DJs at various clubs and lounges in Sacramento.
"I can cater to any crowd," said DJ Fiji. "I love that I can go from rap straight to afrobeats back to rap, maybe drop some R&B and the crowd goes ballistic every time. I love it."
Being a college-educated woman of color with a full-time career who also DJs full-time, DJ Fiji recognizes it's been a hard journey but she's made it.
"It takes a lot of dedication, hard work and patience," she said. "I got a lot of no's, I've gotten a lot of yeses and lots of people have turned me down, but I just use that to motivate me. I've met a lot of my goals, but I'm still striving."
DJ Fiji wants to see a place in Sacramento where people can come together, maybe with food and drinks, but just to vibe out to music. She also looks forward to booking more gigs and expanding her brand so she can be the best mentor for herself and for others.
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