Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricardo Perez.
Ricardo, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started off managing an import store (Tatas African Imports) next to the local reggae club (Club Riddims) this was while I was attending TSU running Track for Puerto Rico’s National/Olympic Team (7’4″ high jumper).
During downtime, I would mess around with the turntables in the store. Always been a quick learner, so I got pretty ok, lol, pretty fast. People would roam around the store after the club or on evenings to listen to the music. One thing they noticed was that I didn’t talk, they made comments about me killing them with the music hence the name Silentkilla started being the name they would call me. It stuck.
Eventually, I received a booking here and there, and based off my views of consistency and effort, the bookings became consistent.
I’ve always loved all type of music, and the dancehall was like second nature to me, I eventually would add different genres in my sets of Soca, Hip-hop, African, Latin, etc. This wasn’t something done at the capacity as to how I had done it. That style in its own became one that seems to be in demand. Be honest, people love music… all types.
Being an athlete, of course, I loved competition, so I participated in any I saw, whether I specialized in that genre or not. To me, the experience is what I wanted and wanted to learn from, which I did winning several competitions locally. After that dominance, I saw an op for an International Dj Spin-off in Las Vegas. I drooled at the op and after qualifying, I flew myself and paid all expenses myself to be able to participate in that event. The awesome thing was, I won. 🙂 Later, becoming a two-time winner.
I stayed consistent and added a few more accolades to my belt such as 3x Caribbean DJ of the year, reggae DJ of the year, awarded Dallas tx best out of town DJ, Colorado reggae DJ champion, top-five finisher at the international soca DJ battle in Trinidad, Houston master of the mix award, Intl DJ champion, Texas 45 shootout second runner-up, multiple time Houston DJ Spin-off Champion and recently three times best African DJ USA nominee.
I’ve been lucky, lol, but To me, it’s about the music and the people. They are the ones that are important and who you play for. I also believe through experience, that there is “nothing” impossible. I went for a few events here and there to do 321 events in 2017 and it’s looking like that number will be passed in 2018. Funny thing is, I’m still just getting started. All this is building a base for what’s to come. As I tell everyone “Stay focused, eliminate all distractions.” Nothing is ever impossible. Boom.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Never smooth, lol. One of the main struggles is that me being Puerto Rican, I don’t have a based community of support in the genres I play. Example being though I’ve been and played many times in Jamaica, I’m not Jamaican, though I’m nominated best African DJ I’m not African, so I constantly and though willing, have to prove myself to others all over the world.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Dj Silentkilla – what should we know?
My goal later in time is to create a style fusing these multiple genres together to play all over the world.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Effort & consistency. And realize you are always still learning… you are never too good or too great.
Contact Info:
- Email: DJSILENTKILLA@YAHOO.COM
- Instagram: @djsilentkilla
- Facebook: @djsilentkilla
- Twitter: @djsilentkilla
- Other: snap chat @djsilentkilla
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