I tell stories with the songs I play —DJ Dozzy Ross

Anambra State-born Nigerian DJ, Dozie Udemadu, better known as DJ Dozzy Ross on the international music scene, knows his onions and believes a DJ must know his trade to remain at par with the artistes.

In a chat with R, the Miami-based disc Jockey explained how he has remained on top of his game, saying he could hold his own against any artiste.

“DJs are the heart of entertainment. Our music controls the crowd. A musician can only perform for one hour maximum before people get bored of him. But a real DJ knows when to switch the tempo. When I DJ, I’m the artiste. I tell stories with the songs I play. I’m very diverse. Not all DJs can do that. You have to understand the crowd and play what they want to hear and not what the DJ likes.”

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He added further that once one establishes himself as a DJ who can take people on a musical journey, he or she automatically become a brand. “People want to come to your shows and listen. Even artistes start trying to associate with you. They want you to listen to their songs and play it. So it’s all about how good you are and how serious you take the act of disc jockeying,” he said.

Asked what a DJ needs to be successful in the rapidly competitive and evolving world, he said, “Skill, patience, networking with artistes, party promoters and consistency. Lastly, always be open minded, listen to music outside your genre. That way your target market can be more diverse.”

Although he has been an established name in the international music world but he said he has been a long road to sell Nigerian music to the American audience.

“It’s not been an easy road, hence I said I was one of the pioneers of Afrobeats music into the American music scene. But the past 2 years Americans became more open to Afrobeats, they come up to the DJs and requests songs by Davido and Wizkid”.

Ross said he’s currently working with Skales, Runtown and Ball Greezy, adding that by summer of this year, he will be hitting the town with an EP of six songs and videos.