dj-ing
My dj project is called WAYWARD, and I play 90s house and club/160 music. All my mixes are on my soundcloud and I've put some of my favorite ones grouped by genre below. If you want to talk dj-ing or book me in the Bay Area, feel free to reach out on instagram or by email.
My dj name is inspired by Sadiya Hartman's book 'Wayward Lives Beautiful Experiments' on the fugitive intimacies of Black queer women in the early 1900s. Like my radio and performance work , I see dj-ing as a way to bring out the sonic echoes of Black queer history in the same way Hartman does in her writing. My mixes often have narrative through-lines and incorporate archival audio alongside the culturally rooted Black music that I share. Growing up in Chicago, I was surrounded by queer classic house and 160bpm regional club music like footwork, both genres that were born out of black pain transmuted into community and collective expression. Those two genres are still the ones that inspire me most and that I share most often when I dj, but I also love idm, latin club and uk club.
Since I started dj-ing in earnest in 2022, I've been very lucky to play all around the Bay Area at venues like F8, El Rio, and Bissap Baobab, alongside collectives like Club Triste, No Bias, Cutie town, Juke Wrld and Freqshow. I've also played at renegades across the West Coast like Mutant Fest that continue to embody the ethos of building spaces for the most marginalized Black and queer folks through music and dance. It's been an honor to share this music with you all & excited for more shows to come :)