Artists

Jay Dabhi

Out of all of the South Asian deejays that have emerged from the New York City club circuit, only one, whose unmatched dj skills and incredible remix work, has earned the title of North America's greatest South Asian deejay: Jay Dabhi

Queens native Jay Dabhi (a.k.a. Lil' Jay) began deejaying at the age of 14 and acquired his nickname from the days when he stood atop milk crates to reach the turntables. "It all started when my mom would put me in front of the radio when I was 4 to keep me entertained while she was doing work around the house," says Jay. "By the time I was 8, I had rigged my parents' stereo system to play records and tapes at the same time, but out of different speakers." Introduced to his first set of turntables at the age of 12, he impressed his sister's friends with his ability to mix and match the tempos of different records at such a young age. "I was so excited to use the turntables," recalls Jay, "that I would cut school to take a train and two buses to my friend's house where I could practice mixing." After begging his parents to buy him his own set of turntables, Jay spent all of his time after school honing his skills and shopping for records.

By his sophomore year in college, Jay achieved national acclaim with his top selling remix album, "NY's Finest - Lil' Jay." A year later, following the tremendous response to his first album, Jay's sophomore release, "NY's Finest II," was met with even greater fanfare. As his success skyrocketed, so did his demand. Promoters from all over the country started booking Jay coast to coast, from such famed New York venues as the Roxy, Exit, Avalon and Webster Hall, to LA's Hollywood Palladium, Soho Club and Century Club. Jay also headlined numerous national events including: SASA (where he was bestowed with the first ever "South Asian DJ of the Year" award in Los Angeles). His hard work paid off, as his stateside popularity garnered invitations to various clubs throughout Canada, South Africa, and the UK.

As his name and reputation developed in the South Asian market, so too did it grow within DJ and production circles outside of his ethnic community. At the 2004 Winter Music Conference, Jay and his production team "Da Groove Doctors" (Duane Harden and Moises Modesto) received an honorable mention in Billboard for their track "Save a Little Love" being labeled one of the hottest songs of the conference. The following year, Jay was invited to be a panelist at the Winter Music Conference, and served alongside DJ Skribble, Gabriel and Dresden, and other esteemed djs and producers. Recently, DJ Riz of the Crooklyn Clan added Jay's mash ups to his mixshow playlist on New York's 103.5 WKTU FM. This, along with his records airing on New York's Z100 Saturday Night mixshow, cemented Jay as the first South Asian music producer on commercial radio.

Quickly expanding into the realm of other genres and club scenes, Jay was featured and mentioned in several publications such as, The New York Times, New York Daily News, The Village Voice, Newsday (NY), Billboard, Spin, and India Abroad. Jay also caught the attention of international video game developer Konami Digital Entertainment, and on November 15th, 2005, XBOX released Dance Dance Revolution Ultra Mix 3 for which his remix of Hisham Abbas' "Nari Narien" is featured in the video game alongside the Black Eyed Peas, Run DMC, Good Charlotte and The B52s.

Earlier this year, Jay reached #1 on the BBC Asian Network chart in the UK with his infectious hit "Mumbai After Dark", which will be releasing soon on his upcoming album. He also maintained very strong chart position with his Reggaeton remix of Bikram Singh and Gunjan's widely popular hit "Kawan". Recently, The Crooklyn Clan added him to their roster of djs on their website where Jays mash ups are now available to download. Besides production work. Jay maintains a very busy dj schedule that finds him spinning in clubs across the globe every week.

2007 looks even more promising as Jay, along with his partners Duane Harden and Moises Modesto, are gearing up for the launch of their record label SolTrenz Records. Jay is also working on a solo album, which will release in '07 as well.

With a track record that spans over a decade, Jay is a prime example of how a lil' passion goes a long way.

"Scratch LIVE is the best invention a dj could've ever wished for. The days of hoping they don't weigh your crates at the airline counter are over. I can now travel the world with endless mounts of music at my fingertips. Musically, my sets have become much more diverse and creative. Not only can I play a wide array of music and genres, I can also play my own productions, straight out the studio. There's no better way to mash up the club than with Serato!"