Text: Juule Kay

The world is changing, and with it, a new generation of trailblazers is taking over. In our monthly series E-MERGING, we introduce the people adding to the cultural moment with their creative minds, new ideas and unique approaches. It’s a glimpse behind the scenes, a way to dig deeper and look beyond the picture-perfect outcome we’re swamped with every day.

JADA knows how to make people dance. In fact, she has successfully proven it with her Boiler Room debut last year, serving the hyped-up crowd a mix of House, Jersey Club, Baile Edits and some twerking sessions in between. “For me, dancing is in symbiosis with music, you can’t have one without the other,” says the up-and-coming DJ, who grew up in the North of Germany watching her Afro-Brazilian mother, a professional samba dancer, perform. It didn’t take long until she started to twirl in the living room with her sisters to Axé and Baile Funk. “I remember how we were already imitating all the dances from YouTube as kids,” she says, laughing.

When she wasn’t busy going to jam sessions and dance training, you most likely found the self-declared music nerd bonding over favourite tunes, burning CDs, watching MTV and never leaving the house without her iPod. “If I couldn’t have a friendship over sharing music, it would be difficult,” she confesses, with artists like SBTRKT, M.I.A. and Roots Manuva in mind. Her diverse musical upbringing might explain her love for experimental mash-up surprises, mixed with her club kid persona. “I started going out when I was 16, collecting my first experiences with Jungle, Drum ’n’ Bass, Dancehall, Soca and House Music, whereas listening to a lot of alternative Hip-hop, R’n’B, Neo-Jazz and Indie in my daily life,” she tries to explain the contrary influences in her DJ sets. “I’m not too hard, I’m also not too soft, but somewhere in between.”

Music has such a strong meaning for JADA that she’s very intentional when it comes to selecting it. “I’m constantly reorganising my collection,” the German-Brazilian DJ and mother continues. “It’s never the same, but grows with the concept of being open-format and genre-fluid.” JADA might be an overthinker before her sets, but acts very intuitively in the moment, which she proves at Ballroom DJing in particular. “It’s a very special craft, which takes a lot of patience and practice as you have to be on time, prepare several playlists for different categories and have a fundamental knowledge about ballroom culture and music,” she describes, being an active part of the German ballroom scene since 2015.

It takes a community to raise an artist, and JADA is deeply grateful for the continuous love and support she has received from her close friends, ballroom house and fellow music lovers over the years. “I had many difficult times in life where I lost track of who I want to be or what I want to do, as well as becoming a mum at a young age,” she reaches back, “but having access to a community that I can identify with and resonate with on different levels helped me a lot to find my path.” It’s not only about her own growth: Organising club nights and ballroom events for the Hamburg scene made JADA connect with like-minded people, create spaces and support each other on their journeys.

If someone hands you the AUX cord at a party, what’s the first song you’d play?
Kelela–Contact.

What’s the best icebreaker question for small talk?
To ask someone how they feel instead of how they are.

Do you remember one of your ringtones?
I had “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” from Soulja Boy as my alarm for at least a month. It low-key traumatised me.

What Y2K item is part of your signature look?
Crop tops and my bag from Paul Frank.

What’s something motherhood taught you?
Patience, hidden energies and a certain magic that no matter how hard the times, there’s always this superpower of unconditional love that makes everything possible.

Credits

Elena Cremona
Hien V
Nilustrate
Selina Keskin
Agatha Powa
Melvyn Ivy

Published April 30, 2024.