Upbeat. Refreshing. Original. Those are the words DJ Caise uses to describe his signature sound aptly called Gidi House Music. For visitors who want to dance, you’ll be remised to not know DJ Caise or his music. The multi-award winning DJ and producer has rocked the U.S., Rwanda and everywhere in between with his fast-paced-just-get-up-and-dance sound. He talks about how he developed the rhythm, first playing Gidi House Music in the club (SPOILER: it wasn’t pretty) and places to check out on your visit to Las Gidi if you simply want to dance.
On How He Developed the Gidi House Music sound…
Its basically stemmed out from my experience in the U.K. Basically living there listening to house, garage, dubstep, funk and electronic dance music. I came here to Lagos with that ear and I wanted to express that sound. But I wanted to introduce it to Nigerians in a way that they would accept it. And that’s how Gidi House came about. I didn’t want to force them to switch from the mind frame of Afrobeats. The feedback has been great so far.
On when he first played the fast-tempo music in the club…
I kind of downplayed how tough it was for people to accept it. I made a mistake. It wasn’t an instant thing like I started playing it and people loved it. I did get a lot of dead stares in the club like ‘what are you playing? What is this?’ You know how everyone’s in the groove and they’re having a great time and then you drop that song and everybody just stops? It was terrible.
On recommended artists for first-time visitors to Lagos…
You can go to some M.I, Ice Prince, P-Square, WizKid. If you’re looking for something alternative you go to some Bez, go to some BlackMagic, Asa and TemiDollface.
On events to check out in the city…
There’s an event called The Hidden Agenda. They do it in different venues and it’s about twice monthly. It’s very exciting and a unique crowd. Pure dance; the real deal. And it’s a very intimate and cool session. To find out more information you can holler at me on social media.
On his next projects…
Now I’m working on a track with Bez. And also a really popular South African artist. And the feedback has been great. It’s very refreshing when you’re trying to do something different and people are accepting it and loving it. Also, look out for more videos. Keep in close contact with me on my social media platforms.
You can find DJ Caise pretty much everywhere on social media including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and SoundCloud.
To get a sampling of DJ Caise’ take a listen to Buckle Up with Emmy Ace. You won’t be able to stay in your seat.
The theme for Social Media Week Lagos 2015 is Upwardly Mobile: The Rise of a Connected Africa. If you have any questions about traveling to the conference, please contact yours truly at roxanne.scott@gmail.com. I hope to see you in Lagos.