Meet Your Master: DJ Jayceeoh Wins SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix

Versatile would be a good way to describe DJ Jayceeoh. Or you could refer to him the same way he refers to himself:  a DJ’s DJ. Heck, call him Frank for all we care. But from now on, this spin daddy from Cali owns one more title that you don’t: SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix. 

“I’ve worked towards this moment my whole life, it means so much to me. But it took a lot of hard work to get here.” 

Festival or club, black or white, raging or intimate – Jayceeoh translates his superb turntable skills into one hell of an experience for any crowd. Because once you give him a set and a mic, the audience belongs to Jayceeoh.

After perfecting his art for 16 years, this LA native possesses the ability to spin any kind of genre into his set. Whether it’s hip-hop, electro, dubstep, disco, rock, funk, soul, Skittles, or even raggae – Jayceeohh will find a way for you to get down. Or up?

Jayceeoh attended Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. And you’re supposed to give a shit, 2013_5_14_Jayceeoh__MG_7216 1because this also happens to be the same learning establishment that graduated rap phenomenons Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. Early in his career, DJ Jayceeoh was privileged enough to even work with one of hip-hop’s legends, Talib Kweli. On top of placing first place nationally at the McDonalds Flavor Battle Finals in January 2011, DJ Jayceeoh was selected by Sony/RCA Records recording artist Sammy Adams to be the official DJ on his tour. He is the creator of the Super 7 Mixtape Series which has has been critically acclaimed for its seamless transitions between DJ eras.

The International Party Rocker (as coined by the show’s host Amanda Seales) – is all about stage presence. If your lingo is popping, you could call it swagger.

In the final competition, Jayceeoh took advantage of his ability to control the lighting & visual aspects of his performance. Right off the bat, Jayceeoh put in a request for some real “explosives” (CO2 blasts). He was the only DJ that provided props for the audience (glowsticks). With a meticulous attention to detail, it was obvious he’s become fluent in creating an experience for his audience. After all, the challenge was to “craft your perfect show.”

The final challenge was a heated battle between Jayceeoh, Chris Karns, and Incrediboi. Although Jayceeoh expressed to me his confidence from the start, he knows that out-performing those two DJs was no easy task.

“Chris is beyond talented, and we became really good friends over the course of the show. All the remaining DJs just respected each other – every person has their own unique tone and style.  DJ Incrediboi impressed me right off the bat. By the final three – I knew the competition could go three different ways.”

Jayceeoh’s song selection in the final set was poised and powerful – opening with Antidote by Swedish House Mafia & Knife Party’s. The crowd really went nuts on the next drop, when Jayceeoh threw Flux Pavilion in the mix (an artist that Jayceeoh is personally fond of). Finishing off the show with Lost In Space by Deadmau5 & Avicii’s everlasting Levels…it became quite obvious why he won.

For the judges, it was a mix of his two-handed scratching, smack-talking, high-energy, and live looping/sampling. In english: he delivered the whole package. On top of a $250,000 prize package, Jayceeoh will also become SMIRNOFF’s official DJ for the year to come.

“Winning the producer remix challenge  really opened my eyes to the potential ahead. Im working on a lot of new things and have a lot of things in the works. This whole experience was unbelievable, and it gave me the boost I needed to finally take this to the next level.” 

Want to keep up with DJ Jayceeoh? Follow him on Twitter, but more importantly – listen to the tracks below. And check out his Soundcloud

SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix Episode 10: ‘The Master of Your Mix’ [3 Way DJ Showdown]

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Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s that moment you have all been waiting for: the final episode of SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix. With 3 contestants remaining in the competition, only one DJ can emerge on top with the $250,000 prize and the glory of being dubbed ‘Master of the Mix’.

It started with thousands of DJ’s across the country but tonight, only 3 remain. We have: “The Battle Champion” aka DJ Chris Karns, “The International Party Rocker” aka DJ Jayceeoh, and finally “The Breakout Star” aka DJ Incrediboi. Throughout the extent of the program, these disc jockeys have proven time and time again that they deserve to be in the final round.

The stage had been set for the final challenge titled The Master of Your Mix. Each contestant was given 10 hours to craft their very own “perfect show” with the ability to pick and choose their set-list, lighting schematics, and set design. The DJ’s were also granted the opportunity to use other instruments outside of their turn tables as a way to win over the crowd’s support. With the help of a few professional art, lighting, and plasma directors, the remaining participants were asked to put on the show of a lifetime.

While creating their set-lists, each DJ left the studio intermittently to meet with the set designers. It was at this moment when the viewer was granted a real glimpse into how experienced each DJ was in putting on their own unique concert. It seemed that Jayceeoh and Chris Karns knew exactly what to do in this situation, mapping out the set design to flow perfectly with the tone and style of the songs they had chosen. The least experienced of the three however, Incrediboi, had chosen to take a minimalist approach to his set. He had claimed the show wasn’t about the bells and whistles that come along with putting on a concert, but that it was just about the music. Would this prove to be a fatal error for DJ Incrediboi? Well, you are about to find out…

To kick of the night’s festivities, one of the show’s judges, DJ Kid Capri, played a live set to show how it should be done. However, in this blogger’s opinion, all three contestants out-shined the experienced DJ and put on one hell of a show.

Chris Karns was the first DJ to thrown down. He opened his set with one of our favorite dubstep anthems ‘Bass Cannon’ by Flux Pavilion. He proceeded to win over the crowd’s support with aptly chosen songs and flawless transitions between genres. A true highlight of his set had to be when he whipped out his drum machine and replicated his very own version of ‘Bulls on Parade’ by Rage Against the Machine. It gave us goosebumps.

Next to the stage was DJ Incrediboi. This latin-vibed, angler of the LP had one of the most unique set-lists of the night. Touching on every genre possible, Incrediboi dropped jams that even the judges had never heard before. Personally, we loved his use of ‘Dont You Worry Child’ by production masterminds Swedish House Mafia. Unfortunately, his decision to forgo the help of the set designers came back to haunt him. The crowd and the judges themselves were quite aware of this. They were rather upset with his decision to take a minimalist approach.

After an intermission that included a set from another one of the show’s judges, DJ Mia Moretti, DJ Jayceeoh was ready to take the stage. This man certainly knows how to put on a show, and he took full advantage of the opportunity to craft his own set. In our opinion, this was the best set of the three. He kept the Flux Pavilion theme going with his incredible use of the song ‘I Can’t Stop’. It was nice to see the DJ’s relying heavily on EDM to get the crowd going. His two handed scratches, song selection, live looping, live sampling and even his smack talking won over the judges support.

After it was all said and done, the judges decided that DJ Jayceeoh had put on the best set. He was now crowned with the title of SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix! His prize package included $250,000 in cash, a 1 year contract as Smirnoff’s official DJ, a customized “Pimp My Turntables”, a Rane 62 mixer, and a feature role on the forthcoming album from Just Blaze. It has been a wild ride this year on Smirnoff’s Master of the Mix and we had a fantastic time watching the show and supporting all the DJ’s. Although we were sad to see our girl Tina T go so early, we were truly happy to see a winner that was worthy of his prize.

Congratulations to DJ Jayceeoh. You killed it brother.

SMIRNOFF’s Master Of The Mix: Episode 9 Recap [And One Sick Dubstep Remix]

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from this week’s episode of SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix, it’s that DJ Loczi is a name to remember. After all, you know what we’re really about around these parts. Our true love is EDM, so it makes sense why we loved DJ Loczi. He was the first DJ in the show that really caught our attention (other than DJ Tina T of course), which made us even sadder to see him go.

This week, the DJ’s were faced with the challenge of remixing a song from Estelle, titled ‘Do My Thing’. Judge Amanda Seals awaited them at a recording studio that was owned by legendary raggae group, Inner Circle. They were faced with the task of remixing the track and making it into a new piece of music, all while keeping the integrity of Estelle’s work.

Sounds simple, right?

Considering his adeptness in production, this was Loczi’s competition to win. DJ Jayceeoh went first, and won the competition outright. DJ Incrediboi had a dynamic spin to the track as well, but many of the judges felt like his performance fell flat. Chris Karns had a super-creative, drum and bass remix that was a little soft in our opinions. But, it left Estelle speechless.

In our opinion, Loczi shouldn’t have been eliminated. But that’s why we’re not judges. Or vegetarians. Because Loczi made one crucial error that cost him the victory, and he knew it too: he never touched the turntable. The DJs were required to bring their remix to life on stage, and (technically), our boy failed to do that.

We were officially all in on DJ Loczi after last week, and he proved big things with his dubstep remix of Estelle’s song. But his timidness on the turntable got his record scratched, and it was happy trails for the happy-go-lucky DJ.

The Final Battle

DO NOT miss the finale of SMIRNOFF’s Master of the Mix, as the Final 3 square off for a grand prize of $250,000. But this week, we have a winner of our own.

So please give a warm round of applause for DJ Loczi.