Q & A with DJ Wicked: Durham-based DJ reflects on career as a DJ and identity

21 Questions, rapid-fire questions with DJ Wicked.

Last year, I had the chance to sit down with one of the RDU area's top DJs. At just 24, DJ Wicked has been mastering the soundboard for most of her life.

As I reflect on life in my mid-twenties, it only felt right to share some of the gems from our conversation for the person of the week.]

DJ Wicked, named Brianna Gonzalez, is a 24-year-old DJ and party host in Durham. She is originally from the Burlington and Mebane area and has been DJing since 2013. Her parties have become a safe place for black and queer people in the RDU area.  

This interview was edited for clarity. 

Brianna Gonzalez, aka DJ Wicked, smiles outside PS-37, a nightclub in Durham where she throws parties.

When did you start DJing? 

I just always had a love for music, my family is really big on live music collection, and just always play music everywhere. So it just started with that – noticing my love for music. I started burning whole CDs for the family when Michael Jackson died – I was in middle school – and I made a mix of his whole, like, discography. And my mom was kind of like, like, you're pretty good at this. 

From there, I started burning CDs for my family. 

How does your background in dance connect with your DJing career? 

I used to dance a lot when I was younger and one day went to a party in my hometown. They have a lot of teen clubs and parties. I just got so tired of, like, older cis-gendered men DJing and playing Kids Bop. I didn’t want to hear that, we wanted to do our own thing. So, one day I was at a party, at The Raven, a local club in Burlington, and I told my friend, I thought I could go up there and DJ. She agreed. After that, I asked my mom and she got me a board for Christmas in around 2012 and I started DJing. After that, my mom formed a business around my work.

How are you different from traditional DJs? 

I think I'm different from traditional DJs because I DJ based on the energy of the crowd. As a DJ, I feel like I am the puppeteer for the energy that is in the room. So when it comes to me, I don't play what I want to hear, I play what everyone wants to hear. I feel like my brain holds millions of songs.  

What else makes you stand out? 

I think I also stand out because I don't practice as a DJ. Everything that you have ever seen me do is a freestyle. I'm DJing off the top of the dome. There'll be times when I'll mess up and things like that — or I may not think of a song fast enough — but I like for people to see that raw. 

So, when you do see me, DJ, I'm DJing raw freestyle, no plan. I don't do playlists. My folders look crazy, but it just works for me.

What does being a black queer person mean to you? 

Honestly, it means everything because that's my identity –  not my personality – but it's my identity. My identity means a lot to me because it took me a long time to come to terms with it and embrace that about myself. And I mean, I embrace things about myself every day, but it just means a lot, because I know I'm a part of a certain community, and with me being a DJ, I feel like I have a job to do, which is to represent that community the best way I can. I put my queer identity in the same category as my black identity and my Latina identity. 

Have you experienced any adversities as a black or queer person in the RDU area?

I think for me even though I'm a black gay person, I don't like being boxed into just that. If I'm having an event for pride or a queer space, it's going to be publicized as that. But I do like to include everyone, I like black people of all kinds, people of all kinds. 

Sometimes where adversities kind of come into place is when I don’t get full the exposure I want or I'm not able to reach certain avenues because some people may have a feeling that, because I am a black queer DJ, I want to be boxed into only black queer spaces. Sometimes, people don’t consider booking me for bigger commercial events because they don't want it to become a gay event. So I often, have to prove myself with just the music and tell people to judge me based on my talent. Because I can’t change my identity, whether I'm DJing or not, I'm gonna be black and gay regardless.

DJ Wicked is showing her Durham pride with the "Bull City" hand logo!

What advantages have you experienced as a DJ in Durham? 

Durham has shown me so much love. It's really funny because I went to North Carolina Central University. I'm an alum of there, and lived in Durham for four years, as a student, but a lot of students don't go outside of Central's campus. We have a different perspective of Durham. So I moved back to Durham after graduating and became a part of this community. The city has welcomed me with open arms. 

I won DJ of the Year last year which surprised me because Durham has so many DJs, so many talented DJs. Although it's not a competition, it just puts you on your toes. But I love Durham. I love Durham. Bull City forever. 

What disadvantages have you experienced as a DJ in Durham? 

I think the biggest disadvantage is limited exposure, and it's not Durham's fault. It's just the fact that I’m a big artist in Durham, but that's not the case in Charlotte, or sometimes Raleigh. Even though these places are only two hours away, 30 minutes away when I go to Raleigh, I still have something to prove, which is not the case in Durham. 

In 10 years, where do you see yourself? 

I don't plan on being a DJ anymore. I am DJing to study music, but I want to create music. I want to be a composer. I want to be a songwriter, I want to be a producer. I want to be an engineer. So in 10 years, I'm hoping that I have crossed over to where I can be more than DJ Wicked, where I can be a liaison for music based on my tenure.  I'm not trying to be carrying around equipment and throwing speakers up. No.

Find Gonzalez on social media @djwickednc