Artist Biography: DJ De La
On his 12th birthday his aunt had a party for him at her condo in Westchester. Upon his arrival he heard a loud thumping bass sound coming from the next building over. De La was attracted to the music and fun so he wondered from his family and followed the quad . They were jamming to songs like Roll It Up my Nigga, Shake what you got feat. Breezy Beat MC and groups like MC.A.D.E, Run DMC, 2 Live Crew and MC. Shy D. At this party is where he first witnessed scratching for the first time and was drawn to the DJ booth. Nobody really noticed him until he went up and asked if it was ok to try to scratch. He got the go ahead and moved the record back and forth really fast. He basically brought the party to a stop and caught the attention of the crowd at the party. What saved him was that everybody saw a kid so it was funny. By the end of that summer he had a new friend named Claudio Lugo, Jr. He is the kid who lived at the apartment where the party had taken place. He gave De La a broken down wanna be Technics1200 turntable, battery powered Realistic mixer, small radio receiver amp, and a set of old speakers. He was the first to give De La some pointers not knowing he wouldn't be around to see the day where the kid actually got nice but that is another story.
By the time he was 14 he was on it non-stop unknowingly acquiring his form by scratching all his grandfaters Alvarez Guedes records (Cuban Comedian). De La was heavily influenced by DJ Laz formerly of Power 96.5 now on Pitbull's channel on Sirius XM, DJ Eddie Mix, Scratch D, Debonaire, DJ Jock-D, Jealous J (Jim Johnson), and DJ Magic Mike. During middle school he met a kid by the name of Daniel Barrios (MC-Queens Terrorist / Manawar) who introduced him to the New York underground hip hop sound of the early 1990’s. They formed a group named Underground Cypher Est. 1992 and hit up house parties and school talent shows for performances. During high school the group grew to include other MC’s with a strong Zulu Nation connection. Eventually the group got signed to an indie label and De La was voted off! De La frequented events like The Sugar Shack and The Joint where local Dj’s spun records, Mc’s rocked the microphone, and b-boys slammed the floor. De La also spent a lot of time at The Check Point (graffiti store) where he set up his decks daily and gave shoppers a fresh vibe to shop to. Stan (Stash) (RIP) was the manager and constantly invited De La over to the store.
In 1996 he was introduced by David (Sativa) Bernal (Elevators Crew) to Chief, a local south beach promoter which De La credits as his first official south beach gig. The place was called Society Hill, it didn’t offer much money but it was De La’s first place to express himself. De La ended up being the resident dj along with Chief and continued to travel through south beach clubs in search of shining spots. During his travels he shared the spotlight with such DJ’s as Epps, Coupe De Ville, 3rd eye Kris (Klassik), Craze, Suicide, Dj Grass, Mark Leventhal (RIP), Kool G, Tom Laroc and Radimus.
While on his ventures De La was introduced to DJ Rob Dinero owner of the club formerly known as Cream on 6th and Washington (1997). He offered him a residency which later led to an assistant manager position. Around this time he was introduced to DJ Raw who was the creator of the Hood Stock Hip Hop festival. Raw also had a mobile pirate radio station where De La had his own show on Saturday nights hosted by Wisdom Love. De La along with DJ Kaos had a weekly event countdown to Hood Stock at Society Hill, they were also set to take the stage at the festival. Hood Stock 1997 was to be hosted by Kid Capri with acts like Fat Joe, Black Moon and Channel Live to name a few but the event never happened.
Club Cream is where De La met Tricks, a promoter who booked a night at the club for a Zulu Nation event. Soon after club Cream closed its doors for good Tricks offered De La management and work with his company, A Step Above. Tricks teamed De La with DJ Eon and they continued to hit up the streets of south beach with Tricks handling the bookings. Later A Step Above teamed up with Platano (Helicoptero) of Baja Panti and fused hip hop with Latin flavor, a movement that gave birth to Heavy Management.
In late 1999 De La got a chance to be part of a show on local television called The Cuban Connection Show. The hosts were Platano (Baja Panti) & Piccalo (Big Money Ballers) with De La scratching in the background with an occational comment. Don Dinero’s camp was behind the creation of the show as well as Big Puns Uncle Joe. The Cuban Connection Show featured local artists with Pitbul and Don Dinero as regular guests. The live show with guest interviews, live call in shot outs and video requests would only last for De La a short 6 months.
In mid 2000 Speedy Legs of the Hip Hop Elements crew asked De La to be part of the Beyond 2000 festival at Bicentennial Park. The three day festival featured artists like Stone Temple Pilots, Method Man, Rabbit in the Moon, Third Eye Blind, Slick Rick, Doug E Fresh, Snoop Dog, Outkast, and Ice T. De La performed all three days and on the second day opened up for Ludacris on the main stage due to Method Man missing his flight.
In late 2003 soon after his time at Heavy Management ended due to conflict of interests he hooked up with 3 individuals named Serge Rock, Craze and Smalls (Artime). They asked him to team up with them at the Marlin hotel on Tuesday nights for Tru-school Tuesdays. The movement lasted a good 5 to 6 months as he finished his communications degree at Miami Dade College. In 2004 soon after graduation he hooked up with an old friend named Mr.Felos (RIP) who he knew from the south beach days. Mr. Felos had been working with two individuals named Teknik and Emil (The 3 Amigos). Teknik is the CEO of Dadeabass Recordings and asked De La if he would like to be featured on some tracks and together they got going one of Miami’s top talked about electro cd promos of the 2006 Winter Music Conference. The official first Dadeabass EP featuring the club bangers All Radio Is Dead and Doc Nasty’s promo release of Back to the City. Teknik’s style of electro bass and De La’s early 90’s Miami bass style scratch with the direction of Doc Nasty and influence of Felos led to a timeless production. The record All Radio Is Dead was broken live at Ultra Music Festival by none other than the godfather of breaks DJ Icey, the Dadeabass family describes that moment with eternal gratitude to Zone Records!
One Artist featured on the Dadeabass EP promo was Juniorrock, he along with DJ Billy E added a bonus mega-mix at the end of the promo. Shortly after the release of the promo all members focused on solo projects. The long time friendship of Teknik and Juniorrock lead to the birth of Sound Chasers. Teknik, Juniorrock & DJ De La in 2007 signed to Cut it up Def records V.2.0. They released War Games feat. Jock- D. Sound Chasers first independent release record is De La’s first official vinyl release. Sonar and a remix to Sonar by Supreme Ja, Dynamic Bass System with We are Binary and Records 2 Wreck which was mastered at Debonaire Recording Studios. SoundChasers have a cameo appearance in the documentary film The Bass That Ate Miami available on Youtube.
Aside from being a Turntablist, Music producer, Co-Owner of Warchant Recordings and Vice President of Dadeabass Recordings De La also has a career in network television broadcasting. De La is the former Director of Univision Noticias with Ilia Calderon & Jorge Ramos, De La launched Fusion UNews with Andrea Linares and a variety of live entertainment and sports shows including FIFA World Cup, MLS & League Of Champions events on all of Univision's Entertainment, News and Sports Networks. De La has also worked with Viacom, MTV, ESPN and CBS. De La is a two-time Emmy Nominee for Outstanding Newscast or Magazine in Spanish for the 38th and 39th Emmy Awards.
Times have certainly changed for many and De La is one of the ones who spoke up during the pandemic. Being immunocompromised he was hesitant on receiving the vaccine and not many broadcasting doors were opening due to him not receiving it. De La has been hired as the resident DJ for BYB Extreme Bareknuckle Boxing Fights, he made the announcement on May 14th, 2024 via social media @therealdjdela
By the time he was 14 he was on it non-stop unknowingly acquiring his form by scratching all his grandfaters Alvarez Guedes records (Cuban Comedian). De La was heavily influenced by DJ Laz formerly of Power 96.5 now on Pitbull's channel on Sirius XM, DJ Eddie Mix, Scratch D, Debonaire, DJ Jock-D, Jealous J (Jim Johnson), and DJ Magic Mike. During middle school he met a kid by the name of Daniel Barrios (MC-Queens Terrorist / Manawar) who introduced him to the New York underground hip hop sound of the early 1990’s. They formed a group named Underground Cypher Est. 1992 and hit up house parties and school talent shows for performances. During high school the group grew to include other MC’s with a strong Zulu Nation connection. Eventually the group got signed to an indie label and De La was voted off! De La frequented events like The Sugar Shack and The Joint where local Dj’s spun records, Mc’s rocked the microphone, and b-boys slammed the floor. De La also spent a lot of time at The Check Point (graffiti store) where he set up his decks daily and gave shoppers a fresh vibe to shop to. Stan (Stash) (RIP) was the manager and constantly invited De La over to the store.
In 1996 he was introduced by David (Sativa) Bernal (Elevators Crew) to Chief, a local south beach promoter which De La credits as his first official south beach gig. The place was called Society Hill, it didn’t offer much money but it was De La’s first place to express himself. De La ended up being the resident dj along with Chief and continued to travel through south beach clubs in search of shining spots. During his travels he shared the spotlight with such DJ’s as Epps, Coupe De Ville, 3rd eye Kris (Klassik), Craze, Suicide, Dj Grass, Mark Leventhal (RIP), Kool G, Tom Laroc and Radimus.
While on his ventures De La was introduced to DJ Rob Dinero owner of the club formerly known as Cream on 6th and Washington (1997). He offered him a residency which later led to an assistant manager position. Around this time he was introduced to DJ Raw who was the creator of the Hood Stock Hip Hop festival. Raw also had a mobile pirate radio station where De La had his own show on Saturday nights hosted by Wisdom Love. De La along with DJ Kaos had a weekly event countdown to Hood Stock at Society Hill, they were also set to take the stage at the festival. Hood Stock 1997 was to be hosted by Kid Capri with acts like Fat Joe, Black Moon and Channel Live to name a few but the event never happened.
Club Cream is where De La met Tricks, a promoter who booked a night at the club for a Zulu Nation event. Soon after club Cream closed its doors for good Tricks offered De La management and work with his company, A Step Above. Tricks teamed De La with DJ Eon and they continued to hit up the streets of south beach with Tricks handling the bookings. Later A Step Above teamed up with Platano (Helicoptero) of Baja Panti and fused hip hop with Latin flavor, a movement that gave birth to Heavy Management.
In late 1999 De La got a chance to be part of a show on local television called The Cuban Connection Show. The hosts were Platano (Baja Panti) & Piccalo (Big Money Ballers) with De La scratching in the background with an occational comment. Don Dinero’s camp was behind the creation of the show as well as Big Puns Uncle Joe. The Cuban Connection Show featured local artists with Pitbul and Don Dinero as regular guests. The live show with guest interviews, live call in shot outs and video requests would only last for De La a short 6 months.
In mid 2000 Speedy Legs of the Hip Hop Elements crew asked De La to be part of the Beyond 2000 festival at Bicentennial Park. The three day festival featured artists like Stone Temple Pilots, Method Man, Rabbit in the Moon, Third Eye Blind, Slick Rick, Doug E Fresh, Snoop Dog, Outkast, and Ice T. De La performed all three days and on the second day opened up for Ludacris on the main stage due to Method Man missing his flight.
In late 2003 soon after his time at Heavy Management ended due to conflict of interests he hooked up with 3 individuals named Serge Rock, Craze and Smalls (Artime). They asked him to team up with them at the Marlin hotel on Tuesday nights for Tru-school Tuesdays. The movement lasted a good 5 to 6 months as he finished his communications degree at Miami Dade College. In 2004 soon after graduation he hooked up with an old friend named Mr.Felos (RIP) who he knew from the south beach days. Mr. Felos had been working with two individuals named Teknik and Emil (The 3 Amigos). Teknik is the CEO of Dadeabass Recordings and asked De La if he would like to be featured on some tracks and together they got going one of Miami’s top talked about electro cd promos of the 2006 Winter Music Conference. The official first Dadeabass EP featuring the club bangers All Radio Is Dead and Doc Nasty’s promo release of Back to the City. Teknik’s style of electro bass and De La’s early 90’s Miami bass style scratch with the direction of Doc Nasty and influence of Felos led to a timeless production. The record All Radio Is Dead was broken live at Ultra Music Festival by none other than the godfather of breaks DJ Icey, the Dadeabass family describes that moment with eternal gratitude to Zone Records!
One Artist featured on the Dadeabass EP promo was Juniorrock, he along with DJ Billy E added a bonus mega-mix at the end of the promo. Shortly after the release of the promo all members focused on solo projects. The long time friendship of Teknik and Juniorrock lead to the birth of Sound Chasers. Teknik, Juniorrock & DJ De La in 2007 signed to Cut it up Def records V.2.0. They released War Games feat. Jock- D. Sound Chasers first independent release record is De La’s first official vinyl release. Sonar and a remix to Sonar by Supreme Ja, Dynamic Bass System with We are Binary and Records 2 Wreck which was mastered at Debonaire Recording Studios. SoundChasers have a cameo appearance in the documentary film The Bass That Ate Miami available on Youtube.
Aside from being a Turntablist, Music producer, Co-Owner of Warchant Recordings and Vice President of Dadeabass Recordings De La also has a career in network television broadcasting. De La is the former Director of Univision Noticias with Ilia Calderon & Jorge Ramos, De La launched Fusion UNews with Andrea Linares and a variety of live entertainment and sports shows including FIFA World Cup, MLS & League Of Champions events on all of Univision's Entertainment, News and Sports Networks. De La has also worked with Viacom, MTV, ESPN and CBS. De La is a two-time Emmy Nominee for Outstanding Newscast or Magazine in Spanish for the 38th and 39th Emmy Awards.
Times have certainly changed for many and De La is one of the ones who spoke up during the pandemic. Being immunocompromised he was hesitant on receiving the vaccine and not many broadcasting doors were opening due to him not receiving it. De La has been hired as the resident DJ for BYB Extreme Bareknuckle Boxing Fights, he made the announcement on May 14th, 2024 via social media @therealdjdela
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