DJ Safarii

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Grace Enemaku

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So, my musical memory night that I've chosen was

the first time that I DJed at Sextant in Cork City.

This was three years back that all this happened. But back then, this was major to me because it was my first big headliner. You know? Well, I had one, but it got shut down because people were fighting and it was just havoc.

But anyways, this one was my first proper one, so I was really excited about it.

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Hear This Memory

How all of us started really was I started talking to this DJ called Gwada Mike and he used to host these reggae events at the Sextant back then.

Yeah, he put me on.

I was super excited back then because, if you know me, you know I love my reggae. I love my dance hall. It was just up my alleyway.

So as night came, you know, he started off night. He was deejaying. And then there were these two other DJs as well, DJ Arbaaz, and I can't recall the name of the other DJ, but they did their thing for a bit.

And then it came to me, and I was so nervous because I had never DJed in front of such a huge crowd before.

I couldn't even look up, that's how nervous I was...

I started off doing my Vybz Kartel, spinning that. And then eventually I was like, "Do you know what, I'm going to switch it up to Afro Beat" you know? So I switched it up to Afro Beat, and the crowd loved that. And I don't think they were expecting that as well.

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Hear This Memory

So yeah, I switched it up to Afro Beat.

Everyone was dancing, this and that.

And one thing I love about the place as well is that it wasn't a huge nightclub. It was a bar. So it was a medium sized area. It wasn't like "bam" you know? So things weren't too overwhelming for me or anything like that, you know?

Afterwards people were coming up to me and they were just like, "Oh, my days", my set was unreal, this and that. And hearing that back then, it just boosted my confidence so much to the level that I needed, definitely.

And that night it clicked and I was like, "Yo, I need to go hard core at this", because the feeling you even get when you're DJing, it's so exciting. It's amazing.

That night, it's very memorable to me.

And obviously I've had times where I've played at nightclubs and now I've experienced a way bigger crowd, Jesus. Back then, that was the night that I was like, "Okay. This is it", you know.

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