We were lucky to catch up with Tahani Roman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tahani, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

During the pandemic/lockdown I decided to host friends over at my apartment to
‘practice” and get comfortable performing in front of people. I had lots of time on my hands as did the rest of the world. I hated the job I had, and I made the decision to give this a try (DJ). I took a risk by leaving the corporate 9-5 job and decided to turn my passion into profit. It was a scary and risky step to take when the entire world was shut down. It was a huge risk to take, not getting a paycheck weekly, not getting health insurance, sick days, 401k. I believed in myself and it was a gamble that really is paying off!

Tahani, 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?

At age 5 my mom bought me a record player, so I would get off hers! I started to collect records, that I still have till this day! I have always been such a lover of music and in a Latin household you do everything with music. I got into turntablism in the late 90’s; scratching and beat juggling, and DJ battles. I used to watch all the great DJs battling each other like Craze and Roc Raida. I attended many of these battles all across the US. I even traveled to London. I have been curating the vibes my entire life and I never thought about doing it until a guy I dated gifted me an entire studio of 2 Technics, a Rane mixer, speakers, records etc. That was like 2016. I was so surprised. He told me you should really do this you got what it takes. I cried! I hired my good friend and mentor who has been DJing over 20 yrs (DJ Rugged One) and we have private lessons. I love this and respect this artform so much that it was important for me to really put my best effort in. I did not even call myself a DJ for years until I felt like I could hold my own and be great. I am an independent artist and that means alot of work goes into networking, cold calling, emails, I am blessed that people see me perform and pass my name to others who are looking for a DJ. I like to play open format (every genre) and people are surprised when I play tracks they are not expecting me to! I am most proud of how far I have come and where I have played. I have been professionally DJing full time since 2021. This is my full time job and I absolutely love it!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I post a ton! Social media is the best promotion and marketing tool. People all over the world can get a glimpse of who DJ 411 is through stories, reels, etc. I have gotten many bookings off of social media. Businesses looking for a DJ might search on socials and find you! My advice to anyone starting out: “Activity breeds activity!” Once you start posting your flyers/gigs, people will see the demand and it lets people know you are popping! Take lots of videos, pictures, content is key!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Back up your computer and music! Someone spilled a drink on my laptop a few weeks ago and I learned the hard way! Don’t let anyone near a laptop or equipment with liquids! I lost everything!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: dj411boston
• Facebook: tahanichristine
• Other: DJ 411 has residencies in 2 states, NYC and Boston (my hometown) DJ 411 has curated the vibes all across New England, Miami, and Mexico!

Image Credits

Image #1 & #8 Bregga photography (NYC) IG: breggaphotography

Image #2 Mister Solutions (Boston) IG: Mistersolutions

Image # Laced Artistry (Boston) IG: laced.artistry

Image #4 Renee Johnson (Boston) IG: Renone