Female DJ Spotlight: DJ Nickiee

Hometown: Inglewood, CA
Current Location: NYC

How long have you been in NY: Off and on past 8 yrs
What brought you here: I went to NYU for undergrad.

How did you get into Deejaying?
I used to hang around the NYU radio station and always dibbled and dabbled in it but never took it seriously as a profession. I would always go up to the station and hang out but I didn’t want to do it. Then in 2007 I was off work due to an injury and started practicing and Deejaying during my off time.

Who inspired you? Did you mentor anyone?
I did parties in undergrad and law school. When I was at NYU Mayheim at the station inspired me a lot. Then in law school I was able to do parties with Erykah Badu, Raekwon, and Kanye and I couldn’t find a DJ I liked so I started Deejaying.
Negrille Village. Got it through the woman who started Black Diamonds Pam Pickens. They thought I played a lot of ol school stuff then I realized I had to learn to DJ for everyone. Now I play everything.

What genres do you spin?
I chose what I spin based on what will move my crowd that night. I do hip-hop, rock, electronica, reggae, and underground.

What were your original career plans and how did you arrive to this career path?
I was economics major originally. I like money so I wanted to go into business. Then when I went to University of Denver for law school I realized I wanted to do entertainment law. When I got back to NY I realized no one was trying to help me. Kanye referred me to his attorney but no one was calling me back so I went to work on Wall Street and the last four years I just networked real hard.
I was focused on getting my name out there and people kept telling me that I was doing a good job and should do PR. It was what I was doing all along. I had been doing events for all these people just based off the love of it. I was doing parties to promote myself as a DJ and would let other DJs rock. They did it for free promo and now I have built clients and relationships from that and started my own company with two brands Good Girl PR and DJ Nickee.

Who does Good Girl PR represent?
We represent Cipha Sounds, Sosh Bacardi (upcoming artist), The Jane Carter Solution (hair care), Vain (artist), Jusrolle (artist), and we are about to sign more. Our first event under Good Girl PR was VH-1 Hip Hop Honors event last year. I got so involved in Good Girl PR that now I am going to do my thing instead of just focusing on others.

Who have you Deejayed for?
Good Girl Party, Ed Hardy Events, Fox 5 News, Nigel Barker of America’s Next Top Model, and I’ve gone to Europe to DJ.

Who haven’t you worked with you want to?
Jay-Z and Diddy. Once they meet they will automatically respect my educational foundation. When I meet people they automatically want to work with me so the only challenge is just getting to the people.

What are your future career plans?
I am going to continue doing everything I have started as well as start a law firm in 2010. Im used to having 20 things going on so I just balance everything. One of the things I learned working on Wall Street is it’s all about building great teams. I want to build and grow my business, train, and mold people so that our team can be superior.

Anything else you want to do that you haven’t done yet?
Be a mom.

What is one challenge you have faced as a female DJ and woman in the entertainment industry?
People appreciate the fact that I have some degree of intelligence but they stereotype female DJs and women across the industry get a wrap. So my thing has always been that I am educated and I am not going to up with any BS.

Any advice you have for women who want to get into the industry?
Everything takes time. Just focus.

5 songs you have heavy rotation new or old?
1) Ryan Leslie---You’re Not My Girl
2) Jay-Z Venus vs Mars
3) MGMT- Electric Feel
4) Beyonce- Ego
5) Gucci Man & Mario--- Break Up

5 DJs you look up to
DJ AM- He was so humble
Cipha Sounds always showed me love and supported
That’s pretty much it. I don’t look up to a lot of DJs. I more so look up to people when I meet them and interact.

Websites/Links:
www.djnickiee.com