Photo courtesy of DJ Nico Marie Instagram

You know when a song is a hit record, the feelings it gives you is unexplainable. From the lyric content, the way it flows down to the production, some songs immediately stand out from the rest upon that first listen.

Having a studio recording artist that has that IT star factor and and je ne sais quoi helps boost the track even more. Whether it's respected in the streets, ranks high on the Billboard charts or becomes a Grammy-winning record, there are some songs you hear that you know will always be a classic.

However before a song reaches astronomical achievements, it has to go through an unsung hero—the DJ. The DJ is the ultimate vibe curator of the party. They break records, they control the crowd, and are responsible for creating a happy, feel-good environment.

Like most careers in music and entertainment, males make up the majority, but there are several women holding it down and keeping their name and talent alive otherwise.

St. Louis-based DJ Nico Marie is one of the countless women in music and entertainment representing the culture and inspiring young Black girls and women to follow a similar path.

Closing out Women’s History Month, Rare Radar caught up with DJ Nico Marie to chat about what she enjoys about being a woman, what sisterhood means to her, her favorite women DJs, and more. Check out our Q&A interview below.

What’s your favorite part about being a woman?

I love the essence of being a woman. The natural power & beauty that lies within being a woman is the core of my confidence.

What does sisterhood mean to you?

Sisterhood is sacred. It's built on trust, connection, empathy, & love. To look at other women & feel that they truly SEE you is sisterhood, & it's important.

What women in your life have been most influential to you and what have you learned from them?

The hands-down most influential woman of my life is my mother. I often wonder how she managed to do all she did for my family. My mother supported her children's love for creating, immersed us in art, & took care of home, all while working a full-time job. She showed me what hustle was & it had lifelong effects.

Do you have a community of women DJs you’re surrounded by, if so, how have they helped you along the way?

I do & I enjoy how it's expanding through social media. Even women DJs from other cities have become a part of it. They've taught me a lot, worked with me, & lifted me up. It's comforting knowing I have that type of support.

When did you first fall in love with music?

I was definitely a child. I can’t tell you what age but my dad was a musician and we had records, a stereo system, and cd players in the house. I would listen to whatever my parents were listening to. It would be Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Chuck Berry. It's definitely been since I was a kid as long as I can remember.

What made you want to get into DJing?

It was never really a passion of mine. I stumbled upon these DJ lessons they were doing in Berkeley a while ago and it was taught by Tossin Ted and DJ Vudu. They were doing it for the community. Just trying to provide some type of way to give back to the community and there was a handful of us in there. That kickstarted my DJ career. I learned from them and then I learned a lot from a friend of mine DJ Twinny Twin. Eventually, I started getting booked for gigs with SLUM Fest with Finsta and Rob Boo. It just started going up from there. I had no idea it was gonna go as far as it's gone.

Who are your favorite women DJs you look up to?

I’ve never heard her DJ, but I love Solange and I know she, DJs. There are a lot of women I look up to like DJ Agile One, Makeda Kravitz, and DJ HourGlass. She's in Atlanta right now, I like her. Of course, there’s no way to not be inspired by Spinderella just by being in the hip-hop scene and being a woman DJ. Peggy Gou, DJ, and producer, I really like her.

With you being a Saint Louis native, how do you feel about the local DJ scene?

I think that in my experience from what I’ve experienced with other DJs, I’m lucky to have met people who are very welcoming, who wanna teach you stuff, who are open to teaching you stuff, who welcome you in and put you onto other gigs. It's been great for me. I feel like the DJ community here for the most part really lifts each other up. The people I’m around at least. I try to make sure I surround myself with people who are giving off positive vibes. I’ve been welcomed and people have taken me under their wing and it's really helped me grow as a DJ.

How do you feel about the representation of women DJs?

I feel like there’s definitely room for there to be more of us. It's a matter of people having the confidence to start and having the confidence to try. Once people say they wanna DJ I try to give them some tips on how to get started or what they need to do to get started. I think there’s a deficit and there are so many opportunities for us cause there are a lot of people who look for women DJs for their events. There are a lot of really good women's organizations here that wanna hire women. There’s definitely room for there to be more of us. Anybody who tells me they have an interest I try to encourage them.

DJing is a male-dominated field, what advice would you give to women overcoming the stigma that DJing is mainly a man’s playground?

Surround yourself with other women DJs and men that support women DJs and believe in and respect women DJs. In my experience, there have been times when some of the male DJs they’re aware of this and they help put me in positions that normally would be filled by male DJs. They recommended me and put me in those positions. Surround yourself with people who believe in lifting up women in the music industry and believe in giving opportunities to women. Care yourself with the same confidence as a male DJ, cause you’re just as worthy as they are and people will notice. If you get a chance to show your craft whether it be on social media or making mixes those are ways to get noticed. Those are ways for people to see that you’re serious about what you do and that you can be just as good as anybody else.

How did the opportunity come about for you to be The Domino Effect’s DJ?

Me and The Domino Effect met maybe like ten years ago. In the SLUM Fest scene, there was a show called Freshman Class where people who are just starting in the St. Louis music scene we were on that same show and then a little while later I saw them again at SLUM Fest and they just reached out and were like hey wanna DJ our set and we became friends. I would DJ their sets and eventually we started hanging out. They adopted me into the group and we’re really like a family. We have a big group of friends and we’re really like family and a support system for each other. I’m really thankful for them.

What other DJ ventures do you have outside of The Domino Effect?

I like to curate my own events. I took a pause because of COVID, but I’m back into curating events. I had an event called Bounce Rave, which is a big fun carefree party.

I do have a residency at Sophie’s with Agile One and Makeda Kravitz on Fridays. I have a residency with The Marquee. I'm there on Saturdays for brunch. I’m the official DJ for Frizz Fest.

I’m with Soulition, Soulition is a DJ coalition and we throw Black events and Black parties.

Abundance other things outside of that.

What’s your top favorite albums of all time?

Sir, Chasing Summer, that’s an album I can play any time. I love Masego’s album Lady Lady. I love Solange’s When I Get Home. I love Lemonade by Beyonce. We listened to a lot of Michael Jackson when I was younger, maybe the Bad album. 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole, that’s a big one for me.

Who are your favorite women rappers?

I love Meg of course. I like Rapsody. I used to love Left Eye when I was younger. I wanted to be Left Eye when I was a little girl. I wanted to be her so bad. I like Foxy Brown. I like Lil Kim. I like Nicki Minaj.

What songs can we find in your personal playlist?

I listen to a lot of rap. I listen to a lot of Memphis rap. I love Young Dolph. I love Key Glock. I love Duke Deuce. I love Lucky Daye. Listen to a lot of J. Cole. I listen to a lot of local people. I like Usher a whole lot. I like Saba and I like Childish Major.

A lot of your mixes have gone viral. Where do you get your inspiration to put the mixes together?

A lot of the inspiration comes from when I’m DJing somewhere. I’m Djing a gig and there are two songs that sound really good together. I'll write them down and save them for later just in case I wanna make a mix with them or in case I wanna make a mashup with them or just hear a song in the car. There are some songs you hear and you’re like ooo I wanna play that song. I wanna mix that song or I wanna add that song to a mix. Hearing Djs on the radio I grew up hearing Djs on the radio like some of my favorites….my music taste was curated by DJs on the radio like DJs in teen clubs DJ Sir Thurl, DJ Cuddy, DJ Krisstyle I grew up listening to them I’m always heavily inspired by what I used to hear them doing from when I was younger. Live mixes playing at a gig and hearing a combination I like just being inspired by a song I hear somewhere.

What makes a good DJ?

I think a big part of being a good DJ is being yourself because you curate the playlist. A lot of that is based on your music taste. There are times when you have to play stuff that’s trendy. Even with that it still involves your music taste. I think people playing some of the things that they like to hear that still fit in the setting that they’re DJing in is a really big thing. Exposing people to something new or a new artist they’ve never heard before or like a deep cut on an older record doing a little bit of research and it's almost like studying when you are looking for new music or music that you’re gonna play at an upcoming gig it's like studying you have to dig deep and find the things that are not only gonna bring people some joy but you also wanna bring people nostalgia you wanna make people feel things when you’re DJing. If you can make people feel something, feel some joy, feel some nostalgia then you’ve been successful in your job.

What’s the best way aspiring DJs can go about getting into the field?

I would say start with a computer and some music, whatever music you have available or whether you have some songs you need to download some songs or if you can get some songs from someone I say start with your computer and start with your music if you are not in a position to buy any equipment or not ready to buy equipment yet always test it out by getting a computer, getting some music in your music library and practicing with some of the programs on the computer practicing with some of the DJ programs whether you use serato or virtual DJ or trackster play around with those things see how you feel about it see if you like it to see if you’re into it and if you wanna keep going. Because there are times that people buy stuff and they decide they don’t wanna do it. I try to discourage people from going out and spending hundreds of dollars on something if they’re not gonna keep up with it. Definitely experiment at home and experiment with those programs. Look up videos on how to mix and learn about BPMs and learn about beatmatching and then just practice. Practice and if you enjoy it keep going.

Follow DJ Nico Marie’s social channels, here: https://linktr.ee/djnicomarie.

Celebrating DJ Nico Marie: The Ultimate Vibe Curator and St. Louis Legend