Nativesun (US)

With a near decade of experience organizing and playing parties in D.C. Nativesun balances the expertise of a seasoned, respected multi-genre artist while maintaining a constant presence and influence on the city’s electronic scene.
His eclectic and versatile knowledge of club music and reputation of blending House, Techno, Jersey, Baltimore Club, UK Funky, Footwork, Amapiano, and Jungle/Drum & Bass in the same set have led to performances at Nowadays and Dweller Fest while collaborating with a buffet of musicians including Kelela, DJ Lag, Ari Lennox and more.

In 2021, Nativesun launched the Black Rave Culture project with fellow D.C. friends Amal and James Bangura, which led to two critically-acclaimed album releases and appearances at Sustain Release, Slingshot Festival North Carolina and Boiler Room D.C. all in the same year. As a DJ known to be in multiple places at once, Nativesun remains on a mission to bring communities together, move bodies and redefine club music wherever he is.

"If there’s a reason you can hear how fluidly one of DMV’s favorite native sons, [Nativesun], moves from style to style on the mixer and the beats, it’s because he long ago internalized the diversity of local D.C. music culture." - Afropunk

"Call it an edit, a remix, a refix, whatever fits: When a DJ chops a song into bits just to reassemble it, you’re being offered a window into how this person hears the world, or maybe even a glimpse of their consciousness. In [Nativesun]’s busy head space, things feel vast, intimate, metaphysical and multidirectional. Machine rhythms crumple like gum wrappers and sheets of corrugated steel. Human voices blare like angel choirs and car alarms. The beats tend to punch, the melodies tend to tickle, but everything keeps changing position, including your body parts, and that’s called dancing." - The Washington Post

"Nativesun is one-third of Black Rave Culture, who put out a varied, excellent full-length on HAUS of ALTR earlier this year." - Resident Advisor