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Red Hot Female Hip-Hop DJ Not Shy About Breaking New Ground In Hometown Of Los Angeles And At Cool Clubs Throughout Asia
One of the hottest female hip-hop DJs in Los Angeles since breaking through doing intros and outros for comics at The Laugh Factory in 2001, DJ Shy recently scored one of the city's most coveted on air gigs, spinning and mixing for top rated pop station KIIS-FM which also features American Idol's Ryan Seacrest during the morning show. Filling in for full-time DJ Drew, the talented and charismatic Shy (aka Karen Beck) made her on air debut with a compelling, highly rated hour long mix during the noon hour July 5, followed by a second set during the Friday "traffic hour" (5-6 p.m.) on July 8. In addition to her broadcast time, DJ Shy is already spinning her magic for many of the station's high profile live events around Southern California, including a recent live outdoor event at the Hyundai Pavilion in Devore (near San Bernardino) before a concert by the Anger Management tour starring Eminem, 50 Cent and Li'l John. She has also spun for KIIS at the Club Deviate, located at Level 3 of Hollywood and Highland. Popular also from her live gigs for such companies as NIKE, PUMA and MAC Cosmetics˜she first attracted the attention of KIIS-FM's Music Director Julie Pilat at a well-attended date she did for MAC at The Grove shopping mall in L.A.˜DJ Shy has also been busy this summer doing daytime events for NIKE's Battleground Basketball Tournament. The eight week annual event takes place on Venice Beach and includes ball players such as the R&B singer Brian McKnight and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jr. Over the years, the consummate "vinyl only" personality has also done high profile spinning for Missy Elliot (the wrap party for the hip-hop legend's UPN show, whose guests included Tweet, Busta Rhymes and Teena Marie) and Jin tha MC, the popular addition to Ruff Ryders who won BET's "MC Battle" seven years straight. Next stop for the Pennsylvania born, Korean American USC Alumnus is Asia, where she will tour in mid to late August, hitting five of the hottest hip-hop clubs on the continent˜Club Mix in Beijing (August 19); Coccolatte in Singapore (August 20); Q Bar in Bangkok (August 21); Park 97 in Shanghai (August 24) and C Club in Hong Kong (three nights, August 25-27). "If we think of hip hop as a recent musical trend in America, in Asia it's a very recent phenomenon," DJ Shy says. "A lot of the DJs there don't know the style and format very well and they play a lot of older songs. Many haven't done it long enough to have the skills to keep the beat going. So it's becoming a popular thing to import hip hop DJs from the States. There also aren't many DJs around who are female, which makes me even more interesting to them. This is my first real tour in Asia, and I'm really excited. I had previously spun at a club in Taipei, Taiwan, where I met three booking agents. I chose RnR Asia who is based out of Hong Kong to help organize the tour." Aside from her gender and the fact that she sticks to traditional vinyl, DJ Shy also stands out from the competitive field in a few other areas˜the amount of discs she carries and her tendency to focus on and appeal to a primarily female crowd. "I've known a lot of DJs who carry 4-5 crates of records, with 100 discs each. I think this is the main reason why a lot of the DJs are converting from vinyl to using CDs or Rane Serrato/Final Scratch. Personally, I think using CDs/Serrato takes away from the authenticity of the art. I'm known to kill the crowd with only one crate," she says. "Then I really like appealing to the girls in the club because I know what they like to listen and dance to. I always keep Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliot, J Lo, Beyonce, and Destiny's Child in my crate. Since I'm from the East Coast, I also love to throw in some old school and reggae into the mix as well. "I base my song selection and mix on what I would want to hear and dance to if I were going out to hear music myself," Shy adds. "I want music that's fun to listen to. Even though I like to speak for the ladies most, I also tailor the set based on age, if there are more men in the crowd and other demographics. I never want to limit myself." DJ Shy got her start behind the turntables at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, where she worked as a hostess while attending USC. Her usual shifts were Thursdays through Saturdays, but she later managed to snag a Sunday night˜also known as Chocolate Sundaes for all of the BET comics who would participate. The DJ who spun the intros and outros for the funnymen was a female DJ named DJ Eque, who advised Shy about how to get started and what to buy. Shy made the most of her opportunity to spin at the Laugh Factory and was soon doing similar gigs at The Comedy Store and Haha Café. Her success at these clubs, combined with some clever networking, led to her shot to do some spinning at Barfly on the Sunset Strip. The club's clientele consisted of a virtual "who's who" in the urban/hip-hop entertainment community, and soon she had a regular Monday night gig for all the VIP and record release parties happening there. Patrons included Evander Holyfield, Shaq, various other NBA/NFL All-Stars, Ludacris, Ja Rule, Too Short, Jam Master Jay and Li'l John, among others. Among DJ Shy's goals are to go on tour as a female artist or group's DJ (listen up, Missy!), increase her exposure to the international audience, participate in a company's marketing campaign and do commercials, promotions and advertisements, and DJ for athletic events like basketball and baseball games, BMX or skateboarding. Clearly, with her behind the turntables, the sky is the limit! "I was once one of the resident DJs for a Korean club called the Velvet Room in Koreatown on Normandie and Wilshire," she says. "The owner asked me to spin Korean music. I left because I realized I wanted opportunities where I didn't want to limit myself to only doing Korean or Asian clubs. I think what makes a good DJ is the response from the crowd, and whether or not you can pull in your own huge crowd along the way. My job is to keep the dance floor dancing with a good song selection, some hot mixing and scratches in all the right places. Personality, looks and style are important, but in the end, it's all about the music."
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