Young disc jock champion hails Bass Odyssey’s Delingy
Spins his way to number one in high-school competition
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD LEON Vassell was crowned SunCity 104.9 FM’s 2022 High School Disc Jock Competition champion last Saturday. The Anchovy High School student, who goes by DJ Leon, says that Delingy of Bass Odyssey has made a great impression on the way he approached the turntables.
“I watch a lot of Bass Odyssey videos, specifically the ones featuring Delingy, even though he may not be the one mixing. They are entertaining and I enjoy watching and listening those videos,” DJ Leon told The Gleaner, adding that he also had experience on his father’s Livity Sound System, “which isn’t active again, but inspired me to pick up the equipment around 2014”.
This was the pre-teen record spinner’s second time entering the competition, but this year he put on quite the show during the live broadcast of the finals and is now ready to intern at the radio station this summer, where he plans to “take control of the airwaves”.
“I believe I have evolved in a lot of ways [since the competition] and on the technical side. I am mixing the music and scratching much better,” he shared.
DJ Leon, along with the other four high-school disc jockeys who made it to the top five – Raheim ‘Benji’ Benjamin of St Thomas Technical High; Micheal ‘Jordan’ Williams of Maggotty High School; Tajae ‘Nicco Mattic’ Williams of Seaforth High; and McKenna ‘Mac Mac’ Virgo of Merl Grove High – will get first-hand experience during the afternoon drive-time segment that runs daily from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“It feels great to be a winner, especially when I’ve always wanted to win. In 2021 when I dropped out of the competition, I was already telling people that 2022 was my year and here I am, a winner,” he said.
He will celebrate his 16th birthday on May 16.
“[The] only thing left to do is get some big bookings, as in stage events, to get the feel of that. That is what my aim was from the day I started… I’m gonna be the next DJ on Bass Odyssey one day in the future,” DJ Leon continued.
Eighteen student DJs from the parishes of St Catherine, St Ann, St Thomas, Clarendon, St Elizabeth, St James and Kingston and St Andrew battled through eight weeks of competition for the seventh staging.
This year, the competition was hosted under the theme ‘Youths Unplugged: Amplifying the voice of the youth through music and education’. Some of the competition’s sponsors included FLOW, Sunshine Snacks, National Council on Drug Abuse, Ministry of National Security, Massy Distribution, and COK Sodality Credit Union.
The judging panel comprised veteran selector Jack Scorpio, 3D Renaissance and DJ Mac.
It also featured special guest performances by Pamputtae, Taneisha Shaw, and up-andcoming dancehall deejay Acea.