Vibes outside the Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club in Scarborough, Ontario.
LU: When did you develop an interest in music?
DJDS: My dad’s a musician, he used to play drums and sing. It’s one of those things since I was three or four years old. My parents would show me record players and how to use them. I have been told that when family and friends would come over, I would just get up, pull out records and play music. People would be like “Who’s playing di music?” and my parents would say, “Oh that Jahhsoon.” They have pictures of me as a kid doing that. I remember in high school, I was more into hip-hop and house.
I kind of rebelled against soca because I heard that music every day. It was one of those things where you were around your friends and Caribbean culture wasn’t as popular back then as it is now. There was no Nicki Minaj saying that they are proud to be Trinidadian. But I always used to buy the records. My family would come back [from Trinidad] with Byron [Lee], Lord Kitchener and crazy records every year. I got a job at a record store, would get the stuff a little cheaper and bring it home. To make a little extra money, I would play family things and school alumni parties. But I loved hip-hop and house. I wrote for a magazine called Mic Check back in the day, and was more in the urban field. But I still used to play cultural music as a family thing until friends and I were like, “You know what? Let’s do this full time.” Soca became more of my passion and it came full circle.
LU: Your uncle Clive [Rosteing] was in the Tradewinds. What do you remember about that growing up?
DJDS: They’re a very popular band that tours the Caribbean. When I was growing up, I would always see records and think, “Oh, that’s uncle Clive.” But I don’t remember that much. Eventually he moved to the Cayman Islands. I remember my dad’s music more. He used to play pubs and do the Super Dave Osborne Show.