dj derajja

dj derajja :-:-:-: derajja – An ethnic, contemporary, fusion dj; Derajja spins brazilian arabic rai bangra hip hop electronica -::world music mixed for NYC. derajja mixes include: rebeh saqer, muslim gause,nomad soundsystem, maya nasry, saad el fahad, fugees, tartit, senhaj, kamal al abdi, rouaida attieh,turbo tabla, chalf hassan, oum kalthoum,  hakim, ahmed jouhar, baba zulu, cheb mami, samar, sultana, rida, Metkaal kenawe, jomed, Cheb Mami, ramy ayach,  aphex twin, ustad sultan khan, claude challe, swami, ashraf abu lel,  nitan sawhey, groupo batique, jai uttal, rachid taha, fati salama, cheikh lo, hussain el jassmi, adel maktar, eric b and rakim, eastern dub tactic, bebel gilberto,  burhan ocal, axiom, azzam ali, jeff stot, aly hemeida, nawal al zoghby, tego calderon, orishas,  ray baretto, la grande de madrid etc etc..

Derajja does television, internet design, and is a audio/visual collage artist ...

ok here's a few random thoughts...

I love the Moroccan & Rai, Arabic, khaleege, Bangra and a lot of underground music == and now I am finding so much new music, energy, it's like there's a conversation we are listening to, like so many new musics are expressing a new politic, one of change & evolution towards individuality- an expression of the heart..& its all about us all dancing!!


I would so much like to thank Shimmy on the Hudson, the NYC Arabic Club, & Hoboken Bellydance meetup, & all the dancing people at Layaly & Kush lounge nyc, & of course my favorite club Nu Blu on ave c &  Chris @ Katra Lounge and Taj lounge and all the wonderful people that listen to my mixes & dance so much, and Nourhan, a fab person and friend, Stella , Dalia & her crew, Tahya & all the wonderful dancers in Pnsylv & new jersey..., Maggie @ Lafayette, Arianna & her Nubian Moondaughters, Maya de Silva & Flamenco Revolucion & a few special others that inspire me & make all this possible...I am blessed to work with such pro dance companies and amazing dancefloor artists and such amazing people with a lot of soul and heart..

I am spinning in nyc nightclubs, and I always want to know what other people are doing so I hang out and dance a lot...love the dancing and energy when a hafla is taking off..but what in the world is going on with "beat matching" with dj's, I always want to know, why should every song have exactly the same rhythm??? things should change and I love to watch as a dance crowd works with, well -- "challenging" rhythms and unexpected new stuff.. deep groove African- rhythmically & culturally mixes so nice with South American grooves, take for instance, and of course can "beatmix" so nice, but I love to spin grooves that take off into different cultures with ecstatic rhythm, and a lot of time that isn't going to go so nice with a 4 4 time signature or housegroove for 1/2 an hour exmp:....watch when the Palestinian dabke is going on, omg, and that is not a housegroove but the ultimate housegroove....but watch it mix so nice into some hotshit samba and some antique Egyptian music and then that's my idea of "beatmixing"..ha! samba dancers and Debka" well then there's a concept! Sometimes my mixed rhythms come in the side like flying saucers or firecrackers at carnival or so smooth you hardly notice it's all changing....., but it's the dance, the dancers, it's all about the dancing...and all of a sudden we are in India!

 khaleege and Bangra are some of the most exciting examples of "beat mixing" if you will, I notice so much in the rhythms of Saudi artists, rhythms coming in from Mother India just under everything, almost too subtle but there's that influence, & you hear that particular Indian "swing" in the Saudi music called khaleege..a friend told me that it's an influence of Indian oil workers that have been bringing that particular Indian rhythm into the cultural musics of the UAE...& doesn't the underbelly of the culture contribute so much,.. but what a beautiful feeling in this music, that swing....so we mix this with the diaspora musics & traditional rhythms & from so many cultures.. and we have been "beatmixing" like this for centuries anyway, & now we have a new container it seems called the dancefloor, and to watch hip hop & Hindu & Arabic & bollywood & samba dancers.. like a rave party in Moroc at 6 am as the sun is coming up and there's still smoke in the distance with music coming from 6 directions..and people are still dancing -and it all somehow works together, when all the elements are rough and mixed up and still pulled apart somehow, separate and respected, and NOT smoothed over and watered down under the weight of some 4 4 beat -but STRONGER in the identify of each beautiful music & rhythm,  and in this -it is the differences that make us whole and better and more individual ..

I hope you like this music I am spinning and these amazing musics that these artists make....