Life & Work with Darrin DJ Chulo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Darrin DJ Chulo.

Hi Darrin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got my start from being a police officer Back in 2015 with Detroit Police. While there, I played on the Detroit Police Basketball team. That’s how I met my homeboys who put in the DJ World. Fast forward to 2016, I bought a Dj Controller to DJ with; never had a dream or thought of becoming a professional DJ. However, I practice endlessly at my house, pretending to DJ like the radio afternoon mixes. Which still never knew anyone in the Detroit nightlife seen, being that I am from Baltimore originally. Fast forwarding again to 2020 “Covid”.

While businesses were shut down, I also knew how to cut hair being that my side hustle outside of policing was cutting hair. That same homeboy I mentioned earlier, I was cutting his hair one day. He saw my now newly acquired turn table sitting across the room. He asked me, “Why you never go on live djing?” which my response was I don’t know. At the time, I wasn’t on social at all. However, I decided to take his advice. Using multiple friends’ social media, I decided to go live on Facebook. After doing so, I went semi-viral.

Shortly after, I was asked to DJ private events, then local bars.

Now, within the last two years, I have easily become one of Detroit up and coming DJs who Also doubles as a police officer.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a difficult road. Especially seeing how hard it is to market yourself in a highly saturated field. I had to network with the right people. I met other DJs who completely saw that I had talent. I have to thank Dj Gcue, Dj Muva Mars, and K Dirty these three definitely put me in a good position. They gave me events and brought me into the clubs to DJ a set. Also introducing me to various promoters and owners.

Which is the hardest part is the networking side of things. Most club promoters or owners do not typically like change or new faces. I feel like most places only care about simply if music is being played. It is frustrating because you can spend so much time practicing and working on your craft and it goes unnoticed because you are not given a chance. Another challenge is being accepted, knowing the right people. There are a lot of people in the nightlife scene who aren’t the most approachable or professional. Trying to find ways to work with or communicate with these individuals is challenging.

Another challenge was building my social media account. Social media popularity is a hard thing to grow. It is extremely difficult building that platform. Having to maintain constant content and being creative sometimes is very difficult along with juggling my career as a police officer on a SWAT team. I’ve learned very quickly I have to take full advantage of my downtime and bring my DJ laptop with me everywhere I go, always looking for new music or old songs I forgot and or thinking of ways to mix various genres.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well, I am more than just A DJ. I also serve as a police officer. I’ve been a police officer for nine years. So I have another profession on top of being a DJ. However, Currently, I am working on making merchandise. I want to take my DJ experience to other avenues. I want to add other things that I enjoy in the market. Such as fashion and clothing. I have been working with various fashion designers and artists to make logos, branding, and developing various styles of clothing. I feel this may be another way to market myself in another way. I have been promoted by a clothing and sneaker store Loose Cannon Flagship.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, my life was different. I was born in the city of Detroit. However, in elementary school I moved to Baltimore. This is where I spent the majority of my childhood. Living in the DMV was different for me. It was fun and very exciting. I always had something I could do or get into. Having the ability to travel to cities like New York, DC, and Philly and experience the different cultures was a blessing. I learned very quickly that every place was different with a unique sound, accent, and way of living.

I was a very diverse kid growing up. In high school, I played all sports Basketball, Football and ran track. I also lived in a Turkish household during my senior year. The reason for this was because my mother and stepfather moved and I needed to graduate from school still. So I moved in with my next-door neighbor. They were a Turkish family. My best friend growing up was a Turkish Kid whose mother didn’t even speak English. But they allowed me into their home and let me finish school until I went to college.

I was very family oriented. I realized how important family was once my mother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. I was 16 at the time. I had to learn very quickly the importance of life and family. I was forced to grow up very quickly because I had to be there for my mother and I wanted to see that no matter what happens to her. Her son will be fine in life because of the way she raised me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @djchulothedon
• Other: Tik Tok Djchulo_thedon