Thursday night saw Pianos’ backroom filled with folks from all walks of life, as everyone had gathered for No Requests, NYC’s first all-female DJ battle from Blo Productions, which saw 6 DJ’s compete for the $2000 grand prize. Judged by established DJ’s Nyla Symone, DJ Savage, and Callie Rae, the event took place across three different rounds.
From Left to Right: Contestants DJ Chloe J, Denise Renee, DJ Autumn, DJ Oatmilk, Blo Founder Courtney Chelese, DJ Nine11, and Blu3 Babe
The first was “modern R&B and Hip-Hop,” where each contestant was given 10 minutes to conduct a killer set and wow the judges. Despite some initial technical issues, things smoothed over rather quickly and the fun commenced! The first-round matchups of the night were DJ Oatmilk and DJ Nine11 (pronounced ‘nine-eleven’), then DJ’s Blu3Babe and Chloe J, and finally DJ’s Denise Renee and Autumn, to cap off the first round. Even though each contestant managed to put some dope mixes down, only three could move on to the second round. Before we found out who made the next round, the audience was treated to a performance by up-and-coming Chicago artist, CryBby. Leaning into the baby theme and handing out small baby bottles with her logo on it, CryBby treated the crowd to a great intermission performance, showing her range and affinity for experimental trap.
From Left to Right: Judges Callie Rae, Nyla Symone, and DJ Savage
Following CryBby’s set, the DJ’s moving on to the second round were announced as DJ Oatmilk, DJ Denise Renee, and DJ Blu3Babe. Given 5 minutes for each set, the theme of the second round was “2000’s R&B and Slow Jams.” The three sets varied in song selection, but each had the crowd moving to the beat with ease. With a solid round 2 in the books, DJ Blue Babe was eliminated, leaving DJ Oatmillk and DJ Denise Renee as the last two standing. With the theme of the third and final round being “Club Bangers,” the contestants wasted no time getting right to it. Putting together some of the most consistently hitting sets of the night, Oatmilk and Denise Renee both made sure the night ended with a bang. Despite their stellar sets, only one winner could be claimed, and the judges decided that winner was DJ Denise Renee! The $2000 grand prize was hers, and to make the storyline even more thrilling, she wasn’t originally on the lineup for the event. Denise had joined at 12pm that day as a last-minute replacement for another DJ who had to drop out. Oatmilk wasn’t leaving empty-handed though, as her runner-up prize was a paid DJ set at Piano’s.
CRYBBY performing for the crowd
By bringing together 6 acts that have been tearing up the underground scene as of late, Blo Productions put together a night to remember! As someone who loves music, and a good DJ set, having 11 different sets played in such a short amount of time showed me that the future of DJ’ing is in good hands, and is most definitely female. Keep an eye out, as Blo plans to bring No Requests to a city near you in the future.
Winner Denise Renee
Comments