DJ Kayper – Musical Crusader

Just in her wee twenties, U.K. deejay, Kajaal Bakrania (a.k.a. DJ Kayper), has accomplished a great amount in such a short. She has been deejaying since she was 12. In 2004, she became the first female deejay to win the Vestax Juice Dj competition at the age of 19. Since winning that contest, she started her own club night, worked a global tour and landed her current radio show on the BBC Asian Network.

Her radio show has featured some of the hottest recording artists in the music business, including but not limited to, Common, Amerie, Jay Sean, Kelly Rowland, and The Game. Kayper’s show is not only about bringing well-known guests – it’s also about showcasing fresh, new talent. She provides her show as a “stage” for upcoming recording artists to show that they, too, can be the next best thing.

DJ Kayper is a fresh mix of East meets West. She mixes “hip-hop with bhangra, house with Bollywood, and dancehall with soca.” There is no end to what she is capable of doing when it comes to music.

She is about to release her latest mixtape called “Futurebox.” So, be on the lookout for that!

For the time being, read on about how DJ Kayper got into the business, the challenges she faced and what’s next on her agenda!

Asiance: You’ve been deejaying since you were 12. That is a pretty big accomplishment for anyone. What has the journey been like deejaying professionally since you were a teen?

DJ Kayper: At first it was difficult because my parents didn’t accept what I was doing – because they didn’t understand. Up until I went to University, I had to lie to them about where I was going when I was booked at clubs. The good thing was that my brother was supportive and would help me out by driving me to the gigs, help me with my records and cover for me with my parents. They always thought I was just hanging out at a friend’s place. At University, my parents finally let me be, because I wasn’t at home. I won the Vestax Juice DJ competition at the age of 19, which was sponsored by the Daily Telegraph and IDJ magazine. That opened up many doors for my career. I started running my own club night and started touring all over the UK and abroad. I really built my career from there and eventually landed a radio show on the BBC Asian Network – which I still have today. Overall it was an incredible struggle, but it was well worth it – as I can confidently say that every day I am doing what I love.

Asiance: What is it about deejaying and the hip hop movement that got you into it?

DJ Kayper: I’ve always been a fan of hip hop and I grew up listening to it, so naturally it was the first genre of music that I wanted to DJ with. I always had a fascination with DJs – I watched my 2 older cousins DJ in the 90s and back then there were no CD DJs, it was just 2 turntables and a mixer and your own records. It was pure. I picked it up when my cousins and brother went off to University (they left their equipment at home), and as deejaying was such a core element in the hip-hop movement, it all came together for me like that.

Asiance: You have deejayed around the world, making headlines, catching the attention of new and old fans. Most of all, you have been praised as being the best female DJ by DJ Jazzy Jeff, a great musical influence to you. How did that feel when you had received such a great compliment from him?

DJ Kayper: Jazzy Jeff was my idol growing up deejaying, and I actually learned to scratch by listening to “Live From Union Square” which was a track on the Fresh Prince & Jazzy Jeff album ‘He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper’. He did the “transformer” scratch and so I would always try and imitate that. And now to have him now acknowledge me as a deejay he respects – I was quite overwhelmed.

Asiance: You currently have your own radio show on BBC Radio’s Asian Network called The DJ Kayper Show. On the show, you encourage and showcase new and upcoming talent. How important is it, to you, to have that kind of platform for aspiring musicians?

DJ Kayper: It’s important to me because there is so much talent out there that is undiscovered – and for someone like me who has been given a platform to expose that talent, I feel as though I want to give them the opportunity that they deserve.

Asiance: Everyone has their beginnings, and you must have gone through some obstacles before you could reach the success level that you have. What were some hardships you faced? What helped you to overcome those hard times?

DJ Kayper: My biggest obstacle was the fact that I was a female – and it still is today. Although it’s not as big of an issue as it was when I first started deejaying, it still always is a struggle to get people to take me seriously because there aren’t that many female DJs – and female DJs are not normally known for being as skillful as I am. I hate being put into the category of a female DJ, and I don’t understand why there is even that category. I don’t do this because I think it’s a novelty – if that was the case I would have stopped this a long time ago. I deejay because I truly love it – I don’t know how to do anything else.

Asiance: Being that there are not a lot of female deejays in the business, what words of encouragement or advice would you give to those girls or women who want to become deejays?

DJ Kayper: Don’t deejay because you think it’s something cool for you to do – or because it’s a novelty because you’re a girl and you assume that you’ll get lots of bookings from that novelty – because you’ll fade fast. The most important thing is to forget what people may categorize you as, and focus on the music. Music is the essence of deejaying. The most important thing though is practice. Practice makes perfect – perfection takes time.

Asiance: As a DJ, what is your ultimate career goal or dream?

DJ Kayper: To deejay in space with Bubbles the Chimp as my hype man! (the happy one, not the angry one).

For more information on DJ Kayper, visit www.DJKayper.co.uk and www.myspace.com/djkayper www.myspace.com/djkayper.

Be sure to catch DJ Kayper on the BBC Asian Network, Friday nights from 10pm to 1am (5­8pm EST).

You can get it from her website: www.DJKayper.co.uk
if you want to link to it. You can also download all of her mixtapes from: www.soundcloud.com/djkayper