We caught up with the brilliant and insightful DJ Sonic a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

DJ, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

It all started around 5th grade. As a kid I was known for making mix cds and putting music on everyone’s mp3 players and IPods. I followed in my dads footsteps with my interest in music. He would always have new albums from all kinds of artists and I learned how to make copies of cds at a young age. From 5th grade through middle school my interest in hip hop grew tremendously as I started dancing and even beatboxing. I would watch movies like crush groove, beat street, breaking, you got served, Juice and many more almost daily. I remember around 7th grade helping my dad move into a house that he had just purchased and I came across his DJ equipment. He saw my interest and gave me a quick lesson on the basics and mixing. I think I played around with his equipment for at least 3 hours that day and I knew that this was something that I wanted to pursue.

DJ, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

One day in middle school, I discovered my father was a DJ. He gave me a lesson when he saw that I was curious and this was the spark that brought me to where I am today. From that day on I started practicing as much as I could. I started by downloading Virtual DJ so that I could practice with out being with my dad and after some time I was finally able to get my first DJ Setup. Now this was by far probably the worst setups you could have but back then it was the best I could get as there weren’t really dj controllers at the time. In 2009, I DJ’d my very first event, a sweet sixteen. I was 13 and extremely nervous. I prepared for at minimum 2 weeks just making sure I had everything and worked on how I would mix throughout the night. When the day came I did a great job overall and at that moment I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. From this time on I started DJing a lot of sweet sixteens, family gatherings, teen parties and even church events as I took my journey on truly learning the craft of DJing. Through out those early years I was blessed to DJ for crowds of over 8,000+ people, I DJ’d for a local television station, clubs at a young age, and even played events outside of Virginia. When i graduated high school I decided to take my talents to Virginia State University where I became one of the student DJs and DJ’d various events through out my college career. During this time I was also building my skill as a turntablist. When I finally graduate college I entered my first DJ battle in Virginia Beach that lasted over the course of 2 months and Won. This was a turning point in my career that boosted both my confidence in being creative as a DJ and boosted my brand landing me opportunity to DJ in various venues throughout Virginia and more. Today, you’ll see me DJing various types of events from weddings, proms, and corporate events to clubs, bars and pretty much anything you can have a DJ for every weekend out of the year. I pride myself in my creative routines that I frequently post on Instagram and TikTok @DJSonic757. You can also catch me mixing live in Columbus, GA on 98.3 The beat.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The biggest thing is being able to connect with people through my own personal creativity. It truly makes me happy when I’m just trying out new ideas and learn that others share similar interests in some of the music I play as well.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I would say my biggest goal is just to continue growing and pushing my creativity as time goes on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Djsonic
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/djsonic757
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DjSonicEntertainment
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asante-wilkes
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/djsonic757
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/wilkesboy
• Other: SoundCloud.com/DJSonic757 Mixcloud.com/djsonic757 www.tiktok.com/@djsonic757

Image Credits
Franklin Chatman