Painfully Positive
DJ BRI Mafia - DJ, Entrepreneur, and Curator
Interview from May 2024
Painfully Positive is honored to welcome DJ, Curator, and community pillar, DJ Bri Mafia to the conversation.
Painfully Positive aims to illuminate how rich the DMV area is in talent, authenticity, and work ethic. You can certainly attest to that, Bri. I want to talk less about the glamorous aspect of it all and more about what we go through to make shit happen.
Considering the different areas throughout the DMV and their respective sounds, how would you explain it to someone unfamiliar with music from here?
DJ Bri Mafia DJing at The Looking Glass Lounge for their one year anniversary of Magic Mondaze
It’s so funny because when I met Trilla, Trilla had no idea that some of the Go-Go songs were not original songs. I had to introduce her to Ashley Simpson’s “Pieces of Me” she had no idea. How I look at it, I can be honest I didn’t like Go-Go when I heard it in Delaware because when it comes to the Delaware style of music, it aligns way more closely with Baltimore Club and Jersey Club - it’s a two-step. We have our own dance (in DE) called swagging, it’s a two-step (slowly) “bop, bop, bop” so when I heard Go-Go music that’s more (fast-paced) *clap, clap, clap, clap* I was like damn, how am I supposed to dance to this?! In Delaware, we never knew how to dance to Go-Go music. I didn’t realize until I got here that you’re supposed to really throw ass - like it’s a constant motion. I’m like “Damn, I can’t two-step to this it’s too fast”.
If I were to explain Go-Go culture - and as someone who’s from Delaware this is my perspective, as a transplant, as an outsider - there are original Go-Go songs but there are also popular covers. It’s traditional music that’s rooted in real and live instrumentation. It has big heavy influences in African artistry and just local DC culture. There is the lingo, the slang, that gives it that twist and that signature and that festers into Free Car music. Free Car music is that “uh, uh, uh, uh” it’s the same drums you hear in Go-Go music. A lot of dudes that produce, were in Go-Go bands. I’ve been here for 9 years now and have been trying to do my research extensively to be an advocate and say, “Hey, I know I’m not from here but I support this.” People can come in and collectively do that same thing. With Tommy Richman's Million Dollar Baby which just went number one, it still has DMV drums. You still hear Spark Heem and Manny’s signature sound in that. There is a signature DMV drum beat sound that’s in almost every single song no matter what genre of music it is that gives it some kind of DMV flare.
It’s not like any other music. It doesn’t remind me of Chicago drill, New York drill, it doesn’t remind me of LA rap. I think people need to put respect to it that the DMV is its own thing. This dude wrote on Twitter the other day “Somebody tell me what genre is that Tommy Richman song?” I was like it’s DMV - that’s the genre. There’s no other way to describe it; with Tommy from Virginia, and Spark Heem and Manny from the DMV. You know, they’re staples in the DMV. I’m not even sure if they’re from DC or PG it doesn’t even matter. I just know they sprinkle together all those parts that make that record what it is. I’m glad that happened because people are like “Nobody ever said the DMV sound wasn’t gonna make it, we said that Free Car music wasn’t gonna make it”. Okay well, two of the producers that are part of that project are two producers who are pioneers of Free Car music. That just goes to show you put them in a box saying they wasn’t gonna make it - not even realizing what else they can do.
How do you navigate when there are abusers in the space you’re DJing or when there is somebody that you know is not a safe person?
I think now that we’ve cultivated a great community I’m always informed. During the pandemic, I got a message that was like “Hey, you’re on the bill with an abuser.” and I’m like “Alright now, in this instance, I’m getting paid to be here, the curator put this together, I think that’s something you should probably direct to the curator.” If I’m in charge and you bring that to my attention I’ve pulled out of things or not worked with people because somebody brought it to my attention. I’m very proud now that people will inform me or check me but I haven’t had anything happen in real time. I feel like I’ve done a great job of aligning myself with people who are present who are positive who are collectively in the community and even in Baltimore. Baltimore is a great representation of that and they are holding their town halls and holding people accountable. Being so fresh and new in Baltimore I understand that I can’t have my feet on the ground yet because I haven’t done as much work as I have in the DMV. But I can hold that space in the DMV. I also think some people know not even to come because they’re like “Alright, Bri will probably say something”. Or I have had moments where I’ve had to be like “Hey, I’m not gon’ hold you, you might have to leave because I have someone here who’s uncomfortable.” Or we’ll have to figure out some common ground. My alliance will always be with women. I give everybody grace, but I can set healthy boundaries without picking sides. I feel like I’ve done a great job of that and if I haven’t somebody will call me out for it, rightfully so. I had that happen to me with Only Vibez. They were saying that I was advocating to have abusers work with Only Vibez. First off, I stopped working with OV exclusively during the pandemic - we’re back cool again - but even when people were doing stuff I never said do stuff with them or don’t work with them. That’s not my place to do that, like I’m not from here so I can never tell people like ‘You shouldn’t work with this platform, you should do this, you should do that.’ All I can do is like I said inform you of what I know but I would never dictate or litigate what people do in their decisions. I’m really a true OG moderator and person of light that speaks for a community of people. I have really tried to be this wholesome person that just says what’s going on? How can I help you? How can we set a boundary and how can I fulfill you because I’m in the space to do so where I have to pick and choose but I can provide those outlets for sure.
What’s your favorite mainstream song to mix with a DMV song?
The last mix that I dropped, which was Spanked ‘em, I go from Flo Millie Clap Sum - Flo Millie just dropped a hard project - into Bippin and Bangin by KP Skywalker. That whole mix is literally saying like you know people keep tryna say the DMV will never go mainstream but it’s like it all depends on the DJ ear and how to make it cohesive. What are people not gonna like about it? Especially if it’s in the same key in the same beat so that’s obviously like I went from - this isn’t local but the new Chief Keef and Sexy Red Damn Shorty into Like That. Especially in the DMV scene there’s not a lot of DJ’s like me and like Trilla, Bast, Tyra. I also think that’s because we’ve been able to cultivate our own following.
So many DJ’s for so long were told that they need to be open format to make themselves marketable. Now that’s backfiring because now none of these DJ’s have an identity. Unless you’re one of those DJs like Bo or K-Meta with Everything Nice they have a signature. What they do is like you know what you’re getting out of seeing this DJ but there are other DJ’s in the city where I know you’re playing “Swag Surf”, I know you’re playing “Can We Talk”, I know you’re playing “In da Club” and there’s so many like y’all that do that. How do you differentiate yourself as a DJ? But then again it might not matter to you depending on where you DJ at and maybe you don’t have the creative freedom to switch it up. The moment you start to spin some shit that you like the owner in there or the GM will be like “What are you doing?”. Now because you’ve made yourself open format, you’ve made yourself open to everybody to the point where you can’t even find your own identity. I was like that but during the pandemic, I was like - you know what, no. I’m a fucking trap, ratchet ass, underground DJ and I’m not gonna make myself open format no more. Now there will be a demand for that because among all the DJs doing open format shit, now when you see DJ Bri Mafia on the set you know what kinda set you finna get. Don’t come up to me talking about some “I wanna hear some Afro Beats, I wanna hear some R&B!” You better wait for the next DJ because I’m not the DJ for that and respectfully you can leave because I know that there are people here who want to see me and hear what I got to do, it’s not for you.
How do you find that? DC especially tends to cater to the tourists or the transplant neglects the actual culture of DC. Unless you’re going to a full-out Go-Go it’s hard to find that kind of sound or energy.
We don’t even have the space for that. RIP Velvet. That was the one place - That’s why I’m here (at Looking Glass). Looking Glass is the closest thing to Velvet that we’ve had. You know on any Friday or Saturday night you could walk into Velvet and somebody was playing something different. You never heard the same thing when you walked into Velvet.
Now because of the pandemic, all these venues just wanna get back to where they were. They can’t take those risks anymore and have to book DJs they know will play it safe and won’t be risky but they also need to understand that some DJs have followings that are mad valuable. Like me, everybody knows I work in the Beer industry, I’m a bartender and used to advocate during the pandemic. I’d say “Hey y’all, when outside opens back up and I’m doing all these events and shit is free, you gotta buy one drink. Buy at least one drink or one beer even if it’s $15. Just one that’s it and that’s to support me and the venue. You know it’s just too many open-format DJs yo.
For those who missed the Velvet wave, could you explain why that place was so important and why it closed? Then let's get into what almost happened to Looking Glass.
Velvet was a dive bar/venue with an outside patio that had a garage-style door on the front that was plastered with stickers and it was a place you could always count on to get a local show. Downstairs you could always count on having a fire DJ and then you could go in the back and smoke, roll up, hit a J, grab a beer you know what I’m saying. It was an all-around vibe and it wasn’t clicky, everyone would go to Velvet. I worked in the beer industry during the pandemic and Velvet is just a venue/dive bar so they don’t have food, you know they didn’t have any way to sustain themselves during the pandemic. We also just weren’t informed of it closing down, because if we knew, we would have had the potential to help in some way shape or form. I came here (Looking Glass Lounge) last year for Rocky’s birthday. He was DJing down here and he was like you wanna hop on? I was like yeah it’s your birthday, sure so me and Statiq DJed for a little bit and he asked if we’d come back next Monday. I was like sure I don’t have anything on Mondays. Maybe two or three weeks in I was like “You want me to do this every Monday?” He was like “Yeah, until they close.” I was like “What do you mean until they close?” he said “Looking Glass is closing on the last day of the year.” I said “Why?” He said “Something about they doubling the rent.” I’d said “Well what can we do?” I literally went on twitter and said “Don’t let what happened to Velvet happen to Looking Glass.” A lot of people don’t know this. I don’t talk about money I make DJing but I do a lot of shit off the strength. I don’t have to have money to do things and I’ve DJed here every Monday from August - December (2023)... and they stayed open. I brought awareness, and we had a great crowd and came here every Monday.
Juan’s birthday was the last night of us being downstairs and I think that was the shift of like, this has potential to stay open and now they are. That wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for community and awareness. In the long run, there are so many benefits for me now from that. I didn’t need to get paid in order for that to happen, like now we have the space. That’s the most important part. Just think about it, if Looking Glass wasn’t here we wouldn’t have another space like this right now. There is no other space like this. It’s close to U st., it has an outside patio, two floors just like Velvet, FOOD though, the food is good too! Magic Mondaze, Trivia Wednesdays, about to start an open mic comedy night, they have bingo. It’s a staple. I’m glad that Looking Glass is still here.
Could you explain why pay-to-play business models are a toxic practice?
I think it’s a very predatory practice for people to have to pay to play because it’s like you’re profiting off of the hard work of artists. I know a promoter around here who will have these artists come and he’ll have these open slots charging them $1000 - $2000 to perform. I saw this tweet that said, “Paying $1000 to open for this artist for 12 minutes?!” to an audience who is not here to see you. That probably isn’t going to care for your music. It’s so crazy because they’re missing out on money. They could easily make $1000 if they just booked that artist, and properly promoted them, then people will be more inclined to come if they’re like “Oh, damn what’s his face is opening up for such and such?!” Especially if it aligns with that headliner. People will know it’s gonna be a great show. With two openers, you’re gonna make way more money off people going to the bar and buying tickets and even up it with a VIP package or a meet and greet.
It’s just that pay-to-play is lazy, it’s exploitation. What is the return? What is that going to pay for? “Exposure?!” In this economy who has $1000 just to give a promoter to perform for 10 minutes?! Just for a chance. You don’t get a deal. It’s like Shark Tank. You get to pitch yourself and maybe somebody will bite. A&R’s don’t be coming to our shit in the DMV so it’s not like somebody’s gonna give you a deal or sign you. Whoever’s doing that the investment has to be the same. Nobody benefits from that except for the person who is making that artist pay.
We’re in an artistic industry that is naturally full of narcissists, and finding folks who prioritize community can be hard to come by. There’s the whole crabs-in-a-bucket mentality and that kind of energy. What made you feel so strongly about collaborating with other artists and bringing people together?
I’m from Delaware. People don’t realize that smaller towns have way more well-knit communities. People wouldn’t believe it, but I have friends from Dover (DE) here in the DMV who can vouch - since middle school, we were partying. We had friends who would rent out hotels and have the pool, we had these rooms, and our parents, peers, teachers, and our police presence did a good job of providing safe spaces. I had Boys and Girls Club from when I was around 8-9 until the time I was 13.
Then in high school, we had this place called Club Kids and the venue was a Chuck E Cheese in the daytime, then they turned their gym into a club at night. You could get drinks and snacks from the convenience stand and then go ‘club’ in the gym. Coming from that, then coming to a space like the DMV - like we didn’t have much but because we didn’t have much we were able to come together. Everyone’s on the same page about what we all need. Maybe, as a collective, we can get things done. It’s easy for me to get into spaces and be like “Okay you wanna do this, and you wanna do that why don’t we do things together to complete this common goal?” That’s just me coming from Delaware because we had a community. I attest high praise to being in the Boys and Girls Club too because that was just an important part of my life. I went to DC and Philly because of them.
I’ve noticed you’ve been performing your music progressively more, Was there a particular moment when you were surprised people were starting to remember the words?
I’ve had some pretty good shows, but it was the rave we did at Public - they gave Trilla and me a stage. That was when I realized like, oh shit… there was a video of people singing Sports Mode. I was like okay, yeah. I have no idea I just made this song like… the first line that I had been singing off of it is “If that nigga said we used to talk we fucking didn’t.” I was like I gotta make that a song but my rap career has been forced upon me. I wouldn’t be rapping if it wasn’t a demand for it. That’s why I don’t deem myself a rapper because as a DMV DJ, I see that there are people who put their all into that shit. I’mma be very honest, I don’t put my all into it at all. That is something for fun, I will never take seriously. People can say it’s trash, people can say what they want about it it’s just my hobby.
Would you consider your music to be influenced by the DMV sound? How would you describe your sound?
I love the ‘uh, uh, uh,’ I try to put that in every song so that's my sound influence. My cadences though, anytime I have something that I feel is similar to somebody I‘ll shout them out. If anything, my rapping is to highlight the DMV. I namedrop Rare Mystik, Kelow, Paco, D Money, KP, Thraxx, hm, I’m missing somebody, AnkhleJohn. Yeah, I be like “Word to ___.” That’s my favorite thing “Word to” because that’s where I’m getting this from. So when people are like “Who is that?” they can get hip. Regarding how I rap, I don’t think I sound like anyone. I will say that I do give a Bali Baby or old Rico Nasty flow on my new song “You Can’t Sit with Us”. Respectfully, because I know that there used to be some conflict with Bali saying people from the DMV stole her flow and shit. But at the end of the day, talent. Talent is talent and I think art is subjective and everybody is influenced by something. I’ll never say that I own anything or made something up as a DJ, my DJ ear is just in me and I love it so I’ll share it if I can.
You touched on how you’re back in the beer industry. You said you went full-time DJ after the pandemic right?
Yeah
How have you handled going from full-time freelance to getting another job again and the emotional whiplash effect that can have?
I didn’t talk about this a lot. Even though it was okay with my job then, I didn’t really tell people what I did before the pandemic. I was a sales manager for Stella Artois's entire DC market. When you saw Stella on anything going on between January and March that was me throwing an activation or giving our free beer. I was 50% hired by the distributor and 50% by Anheuser Busch which is Budweiser. I had a credit card with $35,000 on it for the year and could spend it on whatever I wanted. It was my dream job because I love beer, they would still let me DJ and I was able to throw these events. Sir E.U. was my first sponsored Stella artist. Anything EU did I was there swiping my credit card and handing out Stella. The last thing I did was an industry mixer at Marvin THE weekend the world shut down. I also threw the Key after party at Velvet, that was one of the last things I did too.
After that, I DJed full-time for three years. It was cool until I wasn’t getting unemployment anymore. Then I moved to Baltimore, I wasn’t working, I was just DJ’ing the first year out there. Then I was blackballed in DC in 2022. People go back and look at my page in 2022 it may seem like I was doing that but I really wasn’t DJing as much and it was blatant. People were purposely not booking me, I was denied entry into some parties. Then I was like alright, fuck it I’ll just go back to bartending. I got two bartending jobs in Baltimore and then I was back up. Then I was like “Oh shit” I wasn’t blackballed anymore and there was a demand for me. I can always tell how the year will be by my December. My past December was slow. I was like you know what, I can’t DJ full time anymore. I know when 2024 starts it’s going to be over-saturated and I don’t want to compete. I was like hey y’all, I’m not DJing full time anymore. Now I work for the local beer industry and it’s not of the stature of what I used to do, but I’m doing it and it’s a great safety net for me. They know what I do outside of beer sales. Now I’m able to up my rates, and I don’t DJ for over two hours anymore. I get to pick and choose what I want to do now. Like you said, last year when I was like alright I’ll take anything, or take it under my rate. Now it’s just that I’ll be 32 this year, I don’t wanna Dj for three hours. I wanna just do two hours of my style of music and go home. Now I want to get into creative direction, artist development, you know, things like that.
It was hard at first but I also think that when you have jobs that influence what your hobbies are, it helps. I’m grateful I can always have a job that knows my DJing comes first. Motorhouse, I was there four seasons in Baltimore and I’m still seasonal. When I got that job in 2022, they were like ‘Bri, what’s your DJ schedule?” they would work the schedule around me. They’d be like “Oh you gotta go Bri? Go ‘head.” They’d never be like “Oh but you’re scheduled”. 2022 was a great summer for me.
That’s the key.. If and when you need to have those part-time jobs to pay the bills and focus on where you really wanna expand, finding a part-time that aligns with what you want to do in some way and respects your passion…
It’s important!
Yeah it’s a blessing, and I’m not saying it’s easy to find but if you can try to focus on that it’s a lot better than working a job that just sucks your soul.
What advice would you give to people in finding and keeping their tribe?
Mark and I have been friends since college. I have hometown friends to this day, friends from A&T, friends from the city… You know, I convinced Mark to move here in 2019 right before the pandemic. He’s from Charlotte and we went to Elizabeth city together. We were roommates my last year in school. Then I moved here and he went back home to Charlotte. He makes clothes, takes pictures, he does all of this stuff and I noticed he wasn’t doing as much on instagram. I had just met Trilla around this time and me and Trilla did the DamnShawtyOkay and Mahadi’s birthday party show at Velvet. I didn’t know Trilla then, I was Djing and she was hosting. My name wasn’t on the flyer, I didn’t meet her personally then. When I seen on instagram that she wanted to start DJing I was like “Hey, I’m a DJ. I’d love to teach you everything I know we should link!” So at that point I met Trilla. I lived in my basement apartment, I was about to sign my 4th year lease there and Trilla’s lease was also about to end but she didn’t know what she was going to do. I was like, I don’t mind not paying $1,300 for rent. Then it’s Statiq, Rebel and Boof, I was like alright it’s 5 of us, let’s look for a house. I found us this fat ass house in College Park. I called Mark and said “I got this fat ass house in College Park it has a basement and it has an extra room! MOVE UP HERE, you can stay with me you can stay in the basement apartment for a month!” He’s like “Alright, I’m coming!” Packed up his whole van, packed up his whole life, and just came here because I told him to. Then Mark met Trilla four months after I had met her and we’ve lived in three different cribs together at this point. I just think that in order to maintain your tribe, especially with millennials. Like Mark’s 32, I’m 31, and Trilla’s about to turn 30. In this economy you have to rely on your friends, yo. Don’t be afraid to ask your friends for help because we’re all going through it. I think that honesty and transparency and keeping it a buck out the gate - like seeing how we went through the pandemic together, is a lifelong thing that will never change.
What I’d say about finding your tribe is like for instance, Daniel. This is a great example. Daniel is one of my most recent friends who I met at a show. After he met me he was like “Damn, Bri DJ’s nice as shit and she always has cool people around. I’m finna go to all her shows.” Then he started coming to all of my shows. By himself.
I remember you said that’s your love language. Show up.
SHOW UP! But the thing about it is ya know, he wasn’t even showing up to support me. He was but he was like damn if I keep coming I’mma find my tribe. He said every time he comes to my events he’s just meeting people and meeting people and now he’s cool with all of my friends. Now we’re all friends. If he hadn’t gone out of his way to do that on his own, maybe he wouldn’t have found his tribe. Now he has a well knit community of artists and creatives and we’re all working together. I think that we’re all looking for that there are way more people than you think that have no idea where to find that tribe. I know it can be hard in your 30s and late 20s but you know, we’re out here. He was telling his friends, you gotta come to Bri’s events. He brought his homeboys to one of my events and they were like “Bri’s events are fire!” so I’m like come to the next one and bring your friends! That’s how it works. Just don’t be afraid to do things on your own. Don’t use your friends, but rely on them in times of need, and make sure you can reciprocate that energy.
How do you handle burnout? I heard you say you don’t sleep, but I know it eventually catches up to you.
I won’t say that I get burnt out but I do feel like I deplete myself and I overextend myself to people. I don’t ever burn out from work for myself but I do feel sometimes even in my relationships and friendships I over extend myself. When I feel like I’ve poured and poured and poured into other people’s cups now I’m about to be fucking empty and ain’t nobody pouring into my cup. That’s happened before but this year, 2024 is the first time I’m like “Nah, I’m keeping my cup half full, it ain’t getting under half.” and when it get to half, somebody gon’ have to pour me somn’ in order for me to give something else. It’s not gon’ be like last year, my cup was on negative. My two words for this year are grace and boundaries. I have to set boundaries for myself and I have to give myself grace. I started off this year pretty strong. I feel very leveled. I don’t feel like I’m doing too much or doing too little.
