Born:
Home: Orlando,FL
Genres: Hip-Hop, Reggae, R&B, House, Disco.
Influences:
Quote to live by:
Favorite Hip-Hop Song:
Mix Cd's:
Dj Chino -
"DJ Chino the Turntable Dragon!" 102 Jamz’ Ricky P is shouting on the air as he introduces your maestro for the evening. But who is he? You’re still confused. The music makes sense but the name doesn’t. Where did they find this kid? DJ Chino’s been in the game for more than a decade, brought up in the business by Orlando’s DJ Nasty. Back when Orlando didn’t have any well-known DJs, Chino was doing shows throughout Central Florida for the younger crowd with his team of DJs, Native Souls Productions. After a while, everyone went their own way, and Chino chose to slow down and possibly even quit the club scene. "I was literally going deaf," he remembers, "I had a hum in my ear, so I had to choose between losing my hearing or keeping what little I had left." He didn’t quit the music game altogether, but instead began dabbling in music production. Not long after that, Chino was asked to fill in for DJ Nasty on the Rollins College radio station from time to time. His interest in radio was piqued, and not long after he was featured on the now-defunct underground radio station 95 Live. "That’s when I really started to enjoy myself, and realized that radio was what I wanted to do!" Now, on 102 Jamz, Chino has the opportunity to play not just for a club crowd of a few hundred people, but a chance to play for thousands of radio listeners, not just in Orlando, but as far as Daytona, Tampa, and even St. Augustine. So began the journey – spinning records for thousands of listeners on the weekends. DJ Chino is one of the fastest-rising DJs in the Orlando hip-hop scene, but also one of the quietest. Just recently he DJed prime time slots on 102 Jamz like the 5:00 Traffic Jam and the 9:00 bomb. His most recent gigs included the Paid in Full concert at Hard Rock Live featuring Camron, M.O.P., and Noreaga, and OZONE’s Thursday night at The Club at Firestone. With all this going for him, you’d think DJ Chino would have his head up his ass, but anyone will attest to the fact that Chino is as grounded and real as they come! So what’s next for the Dragon? "I’m blessed to do what I do. It’s hard work but I love it. I’ve been patient for so long to even reach this level, so I’m just going to be patient til I reach the next level and see what’s in store for me," Chino explains. In the meantime DJ Chino is becoming more and more well-known. He and Ricky P are like a one-two punch, and the 102 Jamz rookies are taking over the weekends. You heard it here first. People are feeling his style of play and there’s nothing stopping him from taking over BET like these O-Town cats do! But you don’t need your remote to catch Chino yet, just tune into your radio every Friday and Saturday night starting at midnight. Don’t break your neck trying to hear him, though, because if things go the way they’re supposed to go, DJ Chino should be spinning records on 102 for as long as Angie Martinez has had her show on Hot 97. Trust me, no one’s gonna slay this Dragon. – Noel Malcolm
