Via my feature story for Remezcla, D.C.’S Dj Rat Is Out To Change Male-Dominated Dj Culture With This Workshop–
You may already be familiar with DJ rAt as part of the Maracuyeah collective, responsible for bringing the finest of pan-Latin to the future sounds to the nation’s capital. More recently, rAt kicked off a workshop and practice space series specifically for women and gender non-conforming people of color thanks to support from the DC Fund, allowing her to collect the equipment and other resources needed to get the program thriving.
With rAt’s own sets ranging from vintage chicha recordings, synth & rock en español, electro cumbia remixes, and tropical bass bangers, the DJ and organizer is already well-acquainted with the revitalizing feeling the club floor can bring– as she described it, “some people call it leaving the bullshit behind, dance your pain away, decolonizing bodies, church.”
With massive disparities in booking and visibility still very much a thing across the board, there’s no better time to continue restructuring the scene so that women and gender non-conforming people of color can continue fortifying networks to bring each other up, and to share their skill sets along the way.
Read on to learn about a new crop of artists breaking away to create their own learning spaces and systems of inter-DJ support.
La homie Kristy La RAt, who is one of the masterminds behind the workshops, puts it best–
