Dutty Artz Keeps Changing The Mood Lineup: Ushka

We present someone who at this point really needs no introduction since she exploded into the NY DJ scene a couple of years ago: Dutty Artz member Ushka is a Sri Lankan-born, Brooklyn-based deejay.

Having grown up in several parts of the world, her musical influences are as transnational as she is, and reflected in her numerous mixes, as well as the events she organizes, deejays and promotes, both as a member of Dutty Artz and also as a cofounder of the beloved iBomba, one of NYC’s premiere parties for global bass music. She deejays from the perspective of a dancer, blending a wide range of music from soca to cumbia, hip hop to south asian rhythms, baltimore/jersey club to rasterinha, kuduro and other African genres  for a wide audience. She does so with the philosophy that genre blending connects cross-cultural struggles and tells important stories between communities but most importantly, she translates this onto dancefloors.

Ushka has deejayed throughout New York City and in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, Chicago, Oakland, Baltimore, Miami, and internationally in Toronto and Mexico City. She has also deejayed at the prestigious Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Brooklyn Museum First Saturday, Toronto Music Gallery’s X Avant IX Festival, and has most recently been invited to deejay at the American Museum of Natural History and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. You can find her stirring up trouble/ speaking truth to power on Twitter as @ty_ushka and via her many mixes available online.