KHALIL LIVIN' PROOF

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Last night we welcomed special guest DJ, London's Khalil Livin' Proof, who now lives in New York City, to Show # 57. In the UK, he was a co-founder and DJ at one of London's seminal hip-hop parties, Livin' Proof. After making the move to NYC last year, he started the Back To Life party, with Pauli Lovejoy and Move Forward Music, which takes place monthly at The 303 at Louie and Chan. If you're looking to get a slice of London vibes and nightlife, it's worth a visit. A few of our favorite DJs have told us it's currently their favorite party in NYC. 

Listen to or download his set here

DJ STEFANDE

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DJ Stefande wears multiple hats: he's the program director and a creative force at Meridian 23, he manages the venue many nights during the week and he's an accomplished DJ. The New York-native was also one of the DJs who held down the decks and commanded the dance floor at Brooklyn's Bembe week in week out during a legendary time in the Bembe's history: the mid-2000s. 

Listen to or download his set here

ELI EFI x DELACEIBA

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Eli Efi was one of the key members of the pioneering Brazilian hip-hop group, DMN (Defensores do Movimento Negro, in Portuguese), which he co-founded in São Paulo in 1988. An emcee, musician, beatmaker, activist and educator, Eli Efi now resides in the Bronx, NYC. On Show # 55, he tag-teamed a DJ set with our fam Delaceiba, an emcee and DJ reppin' People of the Way, who was celebrating his birthday at The REFRESH.

Listen to or download their set here

JENNIFLY

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London born, New York based DJ Jennifly definitely brought the UK flavor to Show # 54 last night. Moving seamlessly between future beats & soul, broken beat, 2-step, garage, grime and jungle, she gave us over an hour of London vibes to rock to. We talked to her briefly before her set and she clarified that she reps for South London, both southwest and southeast. Here in NYC, you can catch her at her residency at the 60 Soho Hotel or soon for the sunset on the rooftop at Le Bain.

Listen to or download her set here

QUIANA PARKS

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(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

The DJ/visual artist and founder of DJ for a Cure (& birthday girl), Quiana Parks, decided in the moment to do an impromptu birthday set for everyone gathered at our REFRESH 1-Year Anniversary x DJ for a Cure event (and Show # 53). It was a quick one, but we're happy she did. And after the sets from Kieran Meadows & DJ Prince, it warmed the crowd up for sets from the night's special guests Vashtie & DJ Moma. This was Quiana's second official set on The REFRESH, as she was a special guest DJ on Show # 45 as well. Quiana is a 10-year cancer survivor and founded DJ for a Cure to serve as a platform to raise awareness and raise funds to help young people battling cancer pay their medical bills. At our event, we raised money for Enida, who is a cancer patient currently awaiting stem cell treatment. 

Listen to or download Quiana's quick set here

DJ MOMA

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(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

Known as one of NYC's hardest-working DJs, DJ Moma closed out the night blessing everyone gathered for our 1-Year Anniversary with a mix of classics, hip-hop and house. You can always count on him to rock a party and keep people dancing. That's one of the reasons we reached out to him to play at our 1-Year Anniversary collaboration with DJ for a Cure (Show # 53). DJ Moma is one of the founders of the popular Everyday People brunch day party. You can also catch him Wednesday nights at Le Bain at the Standard Hotel alongside Eli Escobar, and often on Friday nights at Ginny's Supper Club at Red Rooster in Harlem.

Listen to or download his set here

VASHTIE

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(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

(Photo: Jordan Tempro)

Vashtie, a modern renaissance woman also known as Downtown's Sweetheart, is a director, designer, model, creative consultant and DJ. At The REFRESH 1-Year Anniversary x DJ for a Cure (Show #53), she was wearing her DJ hat. Her special guest set for the packed Monday afterwork room at The REFRESH was a mix of 90s hip-hop and R&B blended in with today's vibes and sounds. Vashtie is also the co-founder of the 1992 party (a downtown staple since the late 00s, which for a while was at Santos Party House with Q-Tip) and is now weekly as part of House Party on Thursday nights at Webster Hall. As a director, she's helmed music videos for Justin Bieber, Joey Bada$$, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Solange, Kid Cudi, Jadakiss and more. She's also worked in a variety of creative capacities with a number of brands.

Listen to or download her set here

THA YELLOW R KEL

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Tha Yellow R Kel brought us choice selections and heavy vibes, taking us all over the map. Besides being a resident at the monthly FOMO party, he's all about music education, so you can catch his new series called "One Giant Repost" over at his SoundCloud, which features some 30 of his favorites songs posted to SoundCloud by users during the previous week.

Listen to or download his set here: 

DJ BENHAMEEN

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Last night we welcomed back DJ BenHaMeen, who was making his second appearance on our show -- he first played a guest set on Show # 35 back in November. 

BenHaMeen is the official DJ of The Combat Jack Show and is the host and producer of TheFanBrosShow, "The Voice of The Urban Geek." You can catch him as the resident DJ of the Groove Candy party, as well as at numerous venues around NYC.

Listen to or download his set here:

DJ SELECT

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Last night, we welcomed DJ Select to help us celebrate our Show # 50. Select is a known quantity on the downtown NYC scene for always playing a variety of music, with interesting remixes and bringing a healthy dose of Caribbean vibes to the mix.

You can catch him often setting the vibes at Miss Lily's 7A in the East Village, Bodega Negra at The Dream Hotel in the Meatpacking District and La Esquina in Soho. He's also been a fixture at The Box downtown. On top of that, he's performed as the tour DJ for the rapper Eve.

In his set on our show Monday night, he incorporated a number of remixes and edits into his genre-mashing set, including his own recent dancehall refix of Rihanna's "Work" with DJ Autograph.

Listen to or download his set here

JUST DIMY

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Monday night we welcomed Just Dimy who took to the decks to give us a proper dose of chilled out Monday afterwork feel-good selections.

Just Dimy, who came to The REFRESH saying that he was ready to just vibe out in terms of musical direction has been in NYC for a little over two years now after living in Miami. Since touching down in the city, he's been hustling as a DJ playing as many parties and events as he can.

"First year was hard. I always tell DJs," says Just Dimy. "I know about doors being shut on me more than doors being opened up for me." But the DJ has been making moves lately, including playing his own party 'Down To Party,' and  most recently opening up for Anderson .Paak at Paak's sold-out concert at NYC's legendary S.O.B.'s venue. 

We talked to him for a little bit before he blessed our show with his set. He recalls the time he first listened to Funkmaster Flex and Angie Martinez on the radio and even the moment he first heard Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life." He also tells us about the night of the Anderson .Paak show. 

Listen to Just Dimy's set here

DJ NYACK

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Straight from São Paulo, Brazil, DJ Nyack (pictured second from left) joined us last night. DJ Nyack is the DJ for hip-hop artist/emcee Emicida, who has played with him since 2007, and began touring the world with him since 2011. DJ Nyack is part of a 100% vinyl party in São Paulo every Thursday called Discopédia. And he boasts over 67 mixtapes on his website. You can follow him on social media on his Twitter and his Instagram. In his set for us, he injected just the perfect amount of Brazilian music and flavor to make it feel right. 

Listen to or download his set here

DJ CHELA

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DJ Chela describes herself as a "modern day alchemist" but we might understand her better as a modern day renaissance woman. Not only is the North Carolina-raised Chela a DJ, but she is also a healer (practicing Reiki and Brennan healing science) AND an activist. 

Last night she came through our show to drop a special guest set on Show # 43. We were treated to tunes from all over as Chela has been rocking her sets for 10 years since her move to New York City. We talked to her briefly before her set (check the 1:09:00 mark in the full show) and then she took to the decks to speak with the music. For more, check her website and her Instagram.

Listen to or download her set here

MARTINA McFLYY

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Martina McFlyy joined Ms. Nix and Jasmine Solano to celebrate with us on Show # 40 (and Winter Solstice). Originally born in Houston, Texas, she grew up in Atlanta. When we interviewed her, we found out how she got into music and what classical musical instrument she plays (hint: it rhymes with "saloon"). 

She's also heavily into fashion; she's a co-owner of a footwear and accessories boutique in the ATL called Epitome.

Check her personal website to find out how to connect with her via social media.

Listen to or download her set here

Listen to the full Show # 40 to hear our interviews with Jasmine, Nix and Martina.

(Go to 3:40:20 in the full show for Martina's individual interview)

 

MS. NIX

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Ms. Nix celebrated the Winter Solstice with us on last night's Show # 40, dropping a set between her comrades Jasmine Solano and Martina McFlyy. It was lovely to have these three women join us as we pushed the show almost to the 5-hour mark.

Ms. Nix grew up in Toronto, Canada and in Jamaica. She is somewhat of a renaissance woman, beginning her career as a child actor and later moved to Hollywood. It was during this time that she began to get into music professionally, first picking up DJing as a hobby. Check her mixtape Idyll Awhile -- it's a REFRESH favorite. You can catch her playing all over, often in NYC and L.A. Check her website for more info.

Listen to or download her set here

Listen to the full Show # 40 to hear our interviews with Jasmine, Nix and Martina.

(Go to 2:40:08 in the full show for Ms. Nix's individual interview)

JASMINE SOLANO

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Last night, we celebrated our 40th show (and the longest night of the year in that it was Winter Solstice) with the help of three very special guests: Jasmine Solano, Ms. Nix and Martina McFlyy. On our show, they announced their intention to rock as a trio of DJs moving forward, and as you can tell from listening to Show # 40, they are a force to be reckoned with. On top of that, all three have an infectious energy and positive spirit that is intensified when they're together. It was a joy to have them on the show.  

Jasmine Solano is a DJ, artist and TV host, born and raised in Philadelphia, but who's been based in New York City for the past decade. She is one half of the duo and the co-founder of the electro-dancehall party by the same name, Electric Punanny, with artist/DJ/producer Melo-X. Check her website and her social media for events, as she frequently travels the globe playing all sorts of parties, often collaborating with top brands.

For her set last night, she decided to play an all reggae set of classics, roots, rockers, culture & lovers rock tunes for us. 

Listen to or download her set here

Listen to the full Show # 40 to hear our interviews with Jasmine, Nix and Martina.

(Go to 1:46:00 in the full show for Jasmine's individual interview)