DJ Whitney - Seratocast 73

What are three words that describe DJ Whitney?

Driven, inclusive, energetic.

You believe strongly in empowering young girls and women through music with DJing and production. What is some of the programming you have done to achieve this?

Together with my team IMG Agency & Records, we have held workshops at various homeless shelters where I have taught DJ lessons to some awesome young women (and young adults in general). I believe strongly that we can't always control our circumstances, but we can always improve our quality of life and that's what I have hoped to provide through these workshops. At each workshop, the girls in the room have said it was really awesome to see a woman doing the deejaying -- I love that. Representation is so important!

You recently taught a DJ class to homeless youth in NYC. How was that experience and how did the youth take to the class?

It has been amazing. For myself, teaching the workshops have been challenging and new, but super humbling and rewarding. I believe inclusivity is one of the most important things always, so for us to bring programming like this to homeless shelters around the city is a huge blessing. The youth have been incredibly receptive and they love getting the opportunity to have the hands-on experience that we've been able to provide for them. After teaching the basics of mixing, I've given all of them all the opportunity to try themselves. When they do it seamlessly, their reactions are priceless.

How do you feel about the term "Female DJ"?

It's as silly to me as saying a "male DJ" -- why are we making it gendered? To me it's like, "ok...and?" As a culture, we've been socialized to associate "dj" with male-ness or masculinity. I'm trying to shift the culture and shatter that association. The future is female.

Tell us about your relationship with IMG Records and working with artist Tangina Stone.

When I met Anastasia (in a totally non-music setting), she told me about Tangina and I started listening to her music, following her on socials and I immediately loved her sound, her brand and what she stands for. One day Anastasia asked me if I had a passport and if I'd be interested in spinning for Tangina at Canadian Music Festival -- I said yes and the rest is history. After working with Tangina and the whole IMG team on a few occasions, Anastasia reached out to me and asked if I'd want to sign with them. It was a no-brainer for me. All female-owned and operated? They hustle and they're not about the BS? Yes.