RENEE LEVINE

I was born in East London to parents that are from The Spice Island Grenada, where I have lived all my life. From a very young age I always had an interest in music, which was influenced by my father and close cousins, who were in sound systems, Unity HiFi, Main Attraction, Spinners Hi Tech and Viking Sound and they were very positive role models to me.

Growing up I listened to a variety of musical genres, ranging from Calypso, Country, Ska, Rock Steady, Reggae (Roots, Revival, Studio One, Treasure Isle) to Gospel music.

 In those days it was all about ‘The Vinyl’ being played on ‘The Gram’ –my parents had a Blue Spot (Blaupunkt) radiogram which was played constantly and I still have one that works!

As I matured, I would play alongside my cousins at family gatherings, selecting records and sometimes I was even allowed to put the needle on the record.  As time went on I was asked to play at friends’ parties with my cousin, these opportunities were my gateway into the ‘DJ scene’.

I have always been ‘a raver’ and mostly raved in ‘Shubeens’ in case you don’t know these raves were held in the basement of people’s houses or basements under shops for example, or as my Mum called them “In the hole”, as this was where a lot of the best music was played.  

In 2013/14 I started playing music at a club in Norwood called ‘ The Sugar Bar ‘ on Sunday evenings with my cousin and where I practiced using ‘the mixer and decks’.  I became a lot more confident using the equipment on my own.

From there I decided I wanted to play at other venues.  I approached various Club Owners  / Promoters to get bookings, but I was turned away as they stated “they had not heard of me” and wanted to know what radio station I DJ’d on, so they could listen to me.

When I explained that I didn’t play on a radio station as this was not what I wanted to do, they would say “I’ll get back to you,” but of course they never did.

Eventually I got a break playing at the new ‘All Nation’s Bar’ in Broad Lane, Tottenham on a Wednesday night, which then led to getting bookings on Sunday nights too.  I went on to get further bookings on a Thursday night at ‘The Flower of Kent’ in Lewisham and also played at ‘The Heritage Inn’ in Cricklewood before it closed down. 

I then got my first big dance from the late promoter, Mikey Stay Green RIP, who heard me playing one night at the ‘All Nation’s Bar’.  He organised an all-female DJs Mother’s Day Dance which was a great success at The Tottenham Green Leisure Centre”.

I then heard about a ‘Reggae, Revival and Lover’s Rock Cup Clash’ competition taking place in Catford organised by David Reid and Eternity Entertainment Sound in 2017. I was totally blown away as I had never experienced a clash before.

I never really liked the club scene in those early days, but I did attend some of the most popular ones such as ‘Four Aces in Dalston, Cubies in Dalston this was around the corner from Four Aces and All Nation’s Club which was in the back of London Fields (downstairs in the hole) and Phoebe’s in Amhurst Road, downstairs where Jah Shaka played every Friday night’.

I saw other female participants and one came third.  I said to myself “Wow I would love to enter this competition” and decided to do so the following year.  To my surprise, I won and was triumphant in my endeavor, putting ‘Vinyl playing female DJs’ on the map and getting the recognition I wanted.

Since winning the clash competition in 2018, I have become quite a popular DJ playing all genres of music and have been booked to play outside of London – places like Manchester, Reading, and Birmingham.  I have a large female following and encourage other females to come out and play their vinyl.

I was also approached in 2018 to take part in an ‘All-female DJ Hall of Fame Exhibition’ called ‘A Hidden Picture’, which started off at Stratford Library and then it made its way to ‘The University of  Westminster Bass Culture Expo’ and finally ended up in’ The Museum of London’ who would have thought that I would have ended up in a Museum wow.

I also participate in community-based events, for example, the ‘Windrush / Sunday Serenade events’ run by the TTM (Turn Table Massive), which started in Dudley, Midlands, where I played last year 2019.  The event then came to London in December for a ‘Pre-Christmas Brunch & Dance’ for our ‘Windrush Heroes’,  which was a great success held at ‘The Classic’ in Tooting.

In 2020 I had bookings every month.  I had two bookings for the whole of 2021 in London, Birmingham, Reading and Wolverhampton but due to the Covid Pandemic these events were cancelled.  As things slowly get back to some kind of normality, I am looking forward to getting back out there.

During the lockdown I was approached to do some Zoom Parties, at first I turned these down as to me it didn’t feel real and I could not see myself standing playing music to a screen, but as time went on I thought that I would give it a go as it seemed to be all that we had at the time, so I got some friends over to create a vibe and ended up doing quite a few and did enjoy them.

Going from ‘Strength-to-Strength’, I like to lead by example and to use my Cup Clash victory to empower others and to show what’s possible, with work, practice, passion, love and not to be afraid to seek guidance and advice if necessary.

In the words of Bob Marley, ‘One good thing about music, when it hits you feel NO PAIN!!’.