HYDERABAD: DJ Lil’ B hopes to strike a chord with party-goers and surprise the audience with her energetic beats. At Mighty Small in Smaash, she narrates how Bhavini Shah transformed into DJ Lil’ B. “I used to be a glamour broadcast journalist doing a show called What’s Up, Mumbai for C TV. My biggest influence has been my dad, who’s been in the profession for 30 years. Then, one day, my attention shifted from celebrities to the guys who play music for the celebrities. The console was inspiring and my dad supported me. My passion became a profession and I became the youngest DJ in the industry. I used to do a lot of hip-hop nights. There are other deejays like DJ Lil Win, DJ Lil Jon and DJ Lil Kim; Since my initial is B, I became DJ Lil’ B,” she recalls.
Deejaying for more then a decade has seen her travel to 60 cities across 22 countries. How difficult was it to establish a foothold in the industry? “If your focus is only music then the world is yours. I use a technology that no one else uses. I play a complete digital set; I’m the only female DJ to play it. My sets are meticulous. Recently I did a hip-hop set, opening for Snoop Dogg when he performed in India. It was a 60-minute performance with 85 songs and the crowd went crazy. If you listen to my set, it is like listening to a mash-up. One can listen to the songs in the car, on radio or at home. In two hours, I want to give the crowd everything - retro, commercial, Bollywood and hip-hop.”
Her basic style of music was hip-hop before Bollywood music beckoned her. “I had a life-changing experience in Dubai when I went to play there. The crowd was like, ‘ Yeh toh Mumbai se haina, Bollywood bajao .’ Now, I play a lot of Bollywood; songs that are commercial hits like the latest Salman Khan song in Sultan – ‘Baby ko bass pasand hai’,” she laughs and adds, “ Mere baby ko bhi bass pasand hai . My two-and-half-year old daughter Eva also starts dancing when this song plays.”
After a short break when her daughter was born, she is now back in the party zone. How does she balance motherhood with deejaying? “During the day, my laptop is hers and my songs are hers. She puts on the headphone and acts like me. When she goes off to sleep, I work. When I am deejaying, it is not work; it is a leisure break away from Eva. When she is sleeping, I am watching her on the monitor and simultaneously working with my headphones.”
Any plans for the future? “Deejaying is a very short-lived career. I can always get back to journalism. I can do journalism in terms of music which is again lacking in India,” she says.
