DJ Puffy
Born1991/11/20
Barbados

Andre Parris Professionally known as DJ Puffy , is a Barbadian disc jockey and 2016 winner of the Red Bull Music 3Style World DJ Championships.[1][2] He competed as a wildcard entry[3][4] in Santiago, Chile, making it the first time the Caribbean has ever been represented in the finals. It was the first time a Barbadian qualified and won a qualifying round.[5]

Early life

Andre was born on November 20, 1991, in Barbados to Grenadian singer Denise Williams[6][7] and Barbadian Curtis Parris. He is said to have been interested in turntables from the age of seven, and credits having grown up in a musical household sparking his initial interest in music.[8][9] Prior to entering the music industry, he was a model[10] and tennis player[8][11]

Early career

While still at school, he began deejaying under the stage name DJ Puffy, which was a nickname he received as a pre-teen after attending a costume party dressed as American rapper Puff Daddy.[12][3]

Before becoming a recognised entertainer, DJ Puffy began Prime Time,[13] a long-running bi-weekly podcast featuring present and past hits, and potential chart-toppers from around the world.[14][15] His major launch into the local spotlight came at a carnival party in 2010, when he acted as an emergency stand-in when organizers could not find a deejay.[16][8][10] There, he captured the attention of event promoter Matthew “Fewwture” Ashby, who soon launched Dream Real Projects and signed him.[15]

In 2012, DJ Puffy was included in the inaugural Caribbean DJ honours in Scarborough, Tobago[17][15] before he went on to perform on the carnival circuit across the region.[18]

His radio presence in Barbados was exclusive to Slam 101 FM[15] up to 2016 when he gave up his prime time evening slot to perform his world tour.[19]

Red Bull Music 3Style World DJ Championship

On December 17, 2016, DJ Puffy entered and won the Red Bull 3style competition in the event's sixth year.[20][21][22] It was the first year in which countries without national final events could be represented,[23][24] making him the first Barbadian to enter, and the first deejay from the Caribbean to ever make it to the finals of the 3style competition.[25]

In the qualifying stages, participants are required to showcase at least 3 different genres of music within a 15-minute set. Red Bull requires that deejays deliver their sets on "2 players (2 turntables or CDJs), 1 mixer and a maximum of 2 midi devices”.[24] The 2016 competition judges were Nu Mark, Mix Master Mike, Jazzy Jeff, Z-Trip, Skratch Bastid and Craze.[26]

DJ Puffy performed his set with a DJM S9 mixer and PLX 1000 turntables supplied for the finalists by Pioneer DJ.[27] He told press he traveled only with his laptop and headphones, with his most lethal weapon to the competition being his “Caribbean music".[28] He was among 21 national winners and three wildcard selections in competitive rounds, and won his round to advance to the grand final where he defeated finalists JFB (United Kingdom), Trapment (Canada), Beastmode (Australia) and You-Ki (Japan) at Estadio Nacional in Santiago[1]

After winning 3style, DJ Puffy completed a tour across Europe[29] as the 2016 world champion followed by an Asia tour,[18] where he visited the Philippines, and Japan.

Other competitions

Puffy was part of the winning time of Toronto's 24Hours/24DJS[14] competition after being invited by Dr Jay de Soca Prince of Canada to join his team. The competition was streamed live by the Vibe105 radio station at York University in Toronto, Canada. Each DJ was given an hour to create a live exclusive mix, to be voted on by an online audience.

Performances

In 2017, his mix for Destination Africa, a show with Nikita Chauhan & DJ Edu was aired on BBC 1Xtra[30] and selected as one of the best guest mixes of 2017.

Also in 2017, during the Swizz Beatz initiative Art Basel in Miami DJ Puffy performed[31][32] alongside Chronixx, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, 2Chainz 6ix9ine and Stone Love.

In the Netherlands, DJ Puffy was announced as part of the Mysteryland 2017 lineup.[33][34]

Production work

Puffy's production work includes remixes for Caribbean soca artiste, Machel Montano,[18] including Waves (2017) and Showtime (2018).

In August 2017, he released “Bangalang”, a reggaeton featuring Barbadian rapper Teff Hinkson, which reached international airwaves[34] and was featured on BBC Music.[35] DJ Puffy also appeared in the “Bangalang” music video.

Other work

Since his 2016 Red Bull 3Style win, he has spoken about potential collaboration with Pioneer and Serato[36][3] to facilitate workshops, deejay meets and deejay link-ups in Barbados[37]

DJ Puffy was an official ambassador of Carifesta XIII, the Caribbean Festival of Arts[38] and regularly performs on the Caribbean carnival circuit.[39][8][15]

References

  1. 1 2 "Meet your new Red Bull Thre3style champion". Red Bull. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  2. ↑ Brathwaite, Sheria (10 January 2017). "Dj Puffy Follows Dream". Nation News. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "DJ Puffy - I Love This Rock". I Love This Rock. 2017-02-13. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  4. ↑ "Dj Puffy Puts His Own Spin on Music". Nation News. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Barbados' DJ Puffy makes history". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  6. ↑ "M People Barbados Issue #28". publications.macomag.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Watch: DJ Puffy surprises mum with new car". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "This is Brukout! Seani B talks to DJ Puffy". Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  9. ↑ "Dj Puffy: Onesheet Biography". Dj Puffy: Onesheet Biography. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  10. 1 2 Thorne, Toni (25 December 2016). "Hats off to you, Puffy". Nation News.
  11. ↑ "Did You Know?: Dj Puffy Edition". www.looptt.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  12. ↑ Island Indigo (2017-03-16), DJ Puffy: " '...Puffy never plays my song.' I never heard your song!", retrieved 2018-06-16
  13. ↑ "Dj Puffy". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  14. 1 2 "24hrs/24djs". 24hrs/24djs. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Barbados Very Own DJ Puffy". Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  16. ↑ Smith-Hurdle, Natanga (21 September 2018). "Dj Puffy pleases the crowd". Nation News.
  17. ↑ "Caribbean DJ honours - crank it up - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Archives". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday Archives. 2012-04-23. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  18. 1 2 3 "An interview with DJ Puffy, Red Bull Thre3style 2016 World Champion". I Love Carnival. 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  19. ↑ "DJ Puffy slamming tunes on tour". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  20. ↑ Ferris, Glen (18 December 2016). "Spend some time with Puffy, the Barbados-based DJ who took the Red Bull Thre3style crown". Red Bull.
  21. ↑ "DJ Puffy wins Red Bull #3style World Finals 2016". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  22. ↑ "DJ Puffy brought soca plates to shell World Finals". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  23. ↑ "A brief history of international DJ competition Red Bull 3Style". Red Bull. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  24. 1 2 "Red Bull 3Style | About". www.redbullthre3style.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  25. ↑ "Red Bull Thre3style World Finals: Day 6". serato.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  26. ↑ "Red Bull Thre3style World Finals Day 5 (Final)". serato.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  27. ↑ "Behind the Booth with DJ Puffy, 2016 Thre3style World Champion - DJ Roodz". DJ Roodz. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  28. ↑ Smith, Natanga (15 December 2016). "DJ Puffy in finals of world competition". Nation News.
  29. ↑ "The DJ Puffy Bus Tour-Red Bull 3 Style | CaribVision". CaribVision. 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  30. ↑ "DJ Puffy and DJ Tira, 1Xtra Mixes - BBC Radio 1Xtra". BBC. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  31. ↑ "Swizz Beatz's No Commission Slated to Shake Up Miami's Art Basel!!!". globalspin365.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  32. ↑ "See What We Got Into at Miami's @ArtBasel 2017". NYCPlugged. 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  33. ↑ "Mystery Land 2017 - Day 2".
  34. 1 2 "DJ Puffy banging out original productions, preps for Euro tour". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  35. ↑ "Bangalang (feat. Teff) - DJ Puffy Song - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  36. ↑ "Puffy rocks Ham Jam crowd". Nation News. 31 December 2016.
  37. ↑ Sealy, Java (24 December 2016). "Puffy pushing DJ careers". Nation News.
  38. ↑ "Celebrity and cultural ambassadors to promote CARIFESTA XIII". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  39. ↑ "DJ Puffy and #TeamBlue win Toronto's 24Hours/24DJS". www.loopnewsbarbados.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
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