Turning the Tables: Dallas Female DJs Are Hitting the Kill Switch in a Man-Powered World.
With pandemic lockdown restrictions behind, Dallas venues, clubs, restaurants and parties have been seen a rush of talented female DJs, both emerging and longstanding , claiming their thrones behind the deck.
“I had rocked the crowd. I was just so pumped, like, they couldn't get me off,” Haynes says. “[Management] kept telling me, like, one more song, just one more song, and I was ignoring them. I just kept playing and I was just so pumped up. It was a lifelong dream, and when I did it, I felt like ‘Oh, I actually can do it.’ I just haven't stopped since that day.”
“It’s an insult,” Haynes says. “When someone says, ‘You’re really good for a female DJ,’ they are meaning it as a compliment, but it stings. People overall still can’t believe girls can DJ.” “He was one of the first people to sit down and kind of explain mixing and blending and stuff like that,” Steele says. “Big J was a big help when I first started.”
Steele maintained her position in promotions with Radio One until she was furloughed during the pandemic. Since then, she's focused solely on her DJing career. “It's been an interesting ride to see, COVID; it definitely made me think about my career as a DJ differently,” Ray says. “Last year was very hard, especially for the nightlife industry. So there were definitely points in time that I had to kind of pivot and think about if I was going to continue because we didn't know what was happening, or what was going to happen in that COVID space.”
Ray enrolled at the Keep Spinning DJ Academy in Richardson. Under the guidance of DJ Jay Clipp, Ray practiced to perfection. Ray has performed locally at Ruins, AT&T Discovery District, through a residency at Virgin Hotels Dallas and, living up to her true badass nature, she performed well into her pregnancy at former Deep Ellum hot spot Beauty Bar. Post-pandemic, Ray has opted for gigs in regulated spaces, such as lounges, private events and members-only clubs.“I enjoy that I don't need to pay someone 10% to speak for me. I can do that for myself,” Ray says. “And so I don't really mind that.
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