Photo by Mel Russell III
DJ Nu Stylez
DJ Nu Stylez
DJ Nu Stylez has been showing Milwaukee a good party for decades. A turntablist known to blend multiple genres seamlessly, Nu Stylez is a veteran of his craft; he has been the tour DJ for Digital Underground in the past and has hosted DJ meetups in Milwaukee where he’s cultivated an intergenerational community that champions mental health and taking care of one another.
Everything started for Nu Stylez when he joined an after-school talent program in grade school. Originally his aspirations were in hip hop, as he explains. “This was around the time there were a lot of rap and singing groups like Another Bad Creation (ABC). There was an instructor by the name of Koby McDaniel who was putting together groups like these here in Milwaukee, and one of them was Product of Intellect (POI). He needed a DJ even though I wanted to be a rapper at the time and said that although he didn’t have a place for me as a rapper, I could start with getting behind the microphone.”
In fact, McDaniel was the one who coined DJ Nu Stylez’ name. “I ended up being the guy behind the keyboard and the mixer for POI, and I was starting to really like it,” he added.
As a teenager, Nu Stylez worked at a record store called Scratch Pad where he’d learn more of the business side of DJing. “That place was the real foundation for who I am today,” he continued. “I got to see a lot of different DJs who were older than me and who were completely crushing the scene like Doc B and Fresh G. What was so cool about growing up in my era was how there were so many dope DJs you could learn from at one time. That was what really made me who I am.”
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Nu Stylez had his first club gig when he was 14 or 15 with a collective called Power Mix Productions. Then he’d go off on his own, getting into the DJ battle scene and gigging more frequently. “I started batting a lot of the older cats, and that’s how I got the notoriety,” he recalled.
He was also involved with the rave scene, which would ultimately become the catalyst for him touring worldwide with alternative hip hop group Digital Underground for about seven years. Nu Stylez shared, “I had a friend who was promoting parties who one day told me he was going to bring his favorite band, which ended up being Digital Underground, who I loved myself…I used to draw their album covers all the time as a kid."
“He brought them like a year later and I was scheduled to open for them. I was late for the gig but so was DU … so even if I came on time, they would have never seen me play. The promoter told me I had 45 minutes, and while I’m playing, little did I know that Shock G was sitting right behind me. I turned the room from house music to hip hop, and Shock G started rocking the microphone as I’m chopping the beat, and man…the rest is history.”
The DJ meetups Nu Stylez hosts, known as the Midwest DJ Link Up, are all about bringing the community together and making folks feel included; typically they’re at Bodega Nightclub on Water Street. He brings several decks and invites DJs of all different styles to come play. “Milwaukee has always had a strong DJ community as far as other cities go; people come here and see that we really stick together. I wanted to make sure I’d bridge the gap between the newer and older generations since I’ve always felt like I’m in the middle. We touch on issues that DJs don’t always talk about like excessive drinking or feeling like you have to be drunk to have a good time, or when suicide happens in our community. We want to always be there for each other.”
He’s also one half of the duo show Treat Yo Self with Swade Trackz, in which they play all throwbacks. In the summer they shoot for four shows a month but lately they’re limited to just one a month, which currently is Sunday Funday at Mangos Cafe. “We won’t play any music that’s not 10 years or older,” Nu Stylez said. “Swade Trackz is one of the illest DJs I’ve ever seen and he keeps me on my toes.”
On what he wants to see more of in the Milwaukee DJ scene, Nu Stylez said, “There needs to be more diversity. Milwaukee’s a place where you cross a different area and it’s a different demographic, which sucks because it builds borders and walls. It really shows when you go out in the nightlife because it limits you with what you can play. I’m not sure what that’s going to take, but generally when we do our gigs, we get a diverse crowd.”
For 2023, DJ Nu Stylez is planning an outdoor festival called SetXSet where DJs do 15-minute sets back-to-back for about four hours. Treat Yo Self have the goal to get at least 100 people out to their Summerfest show, so keep an eye out for them. Visit Nu Stylez’s website at nustylez.com.
