At 38 years old, he is one of the most influential DJs in the Caribbean. Known and appreciated for his style and eclecticism, DJ Outkast lives his life at full speed for his passion, music.
Born as Chantry Hodge in Sint Maarten, “The Cut Creator” DJ Outkast has found out about music thanks to his dad, who had had a music store on Front street for many years. “I wasn’t fond of music when I was a kid, but when my father closed his store, he kind of gave me everything”, he remembers. At the age of 13, the young boy touched his first turntables and in 1999, he went on stage at the Philisburg Carnival Village. “It wasn’t easy at the time since nobody had ever heard of a white DJ and the crowd was hard to please”, he says. However, this didn’t discourage the young DJ who launched himself full throttle into music that had become a true passion for him. In 2004, DJ Outkast started playing in Europe, before coming back to the West Indies for the Green Synergy DJ Competition organized by the Heineken brand in Antigua. The 20-year-old took second place on the podium. A silver medal he would get again two years later in the Bahamas.
AN INTERNATIONAL CAREER
Then music took him all over the world. After the Caribbean and Europe, he toured widely in Australia, Japan, China or in Canada while still living on his native island. “My manager, based in Los Angeles, always says that he likes having me here, that it’s easier to book me because it gives me an exotic side”, DJ Outkast jokes about. He conquers the audience thanks to his energetic way of playing and his quick sequences, which will give him his nickname "The Cut Creator". Big fan of reggae dancehall, he gradually opens to all musical styles thanks to his travels and offers today an “open format”. “I can go from an Indian musical festival to an Afrobeat festival”, he illustrates as an example.
In 2009, he met with the rapper 50Cent while being the resident DJ at the Bliss. “He told me that we would stay in touch, but obviously I didn’t really believe it”, he says. However, six months later, he got a phone call from DJ Whoo Kid & DJ Genie who offered to open a Caribbean branch of Shadyville DJs, a community which gathers the best DJs of the world. “It opened all the doors for me and I am now one of their key players.” In 2011, he participated in the American BET Channel TV show “106 & Park” where he performed in front of millions of viewers.
Today, DJ Outkast alternates between travels abroad, nights in bars of Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and mixes on the radio. If his pace of life being a “DJ as well as full time father and husband” is intense, he wouldn’t see himself “doing anything else for the world. I feel blessed”, he summarizes.
HIS NEWS
Every Wednesday: Mimosa Lounge + Lotus Nightclub
Every Thursday: District 721
June 10th: Lotus Nightclub
June 11th: Boom Boom Nightclub
June 22th - June 25th: St Kitts Music Festival
TO FOLLOW HIM
Facebook : The Cut Creator DJ Outkast
Instagram : @djoutkast
Website : http://www.djoutkast.com
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