The music scene at Lawrence, especially the non-academic music scene, is vibrant to say the least; music-makers from guitar-slamming pop-rock bands to haunting harmonies to shanty singers bringing the high seas to this corner of the world are just a few examples of our campus’ musical diversity. This kaleidoscope of musicians would be incomplete without the numerous DJs that pump life into our weekends and leave us wishing Monday would never arrive. Senior Jose Otero, better known as DJ Jay Nastyyy, does both; not only does he turn each function he helps host up a notch, but also draws from genres of music worldwide. The name “Jay Nastyyy” comes from Otero’s high school years in the South Bronx, where his skill at playing sports earned him the praiseworthy title of “nasty” by his friends, which became the nickname that he adopted as his musical alias.
Though he didn’t start formally DJing until the 2024-25 school year, DJ Jay Nastyyy has been surrounded by all different kinds of music his whole life. From every direction, he was learning something different: his parents would often play old-school beats when he was growing up. Having both Puerto Rican and Caribbean roots, he would often engage with Latin and Reggae music, dominant styles from the region. His best friend, who was originally from Ghana, introduced him to African music genres like Afrobeat. Additionally, studying abroad in Amsterdam — said by some to be the EDM capital of the world — gave him a foot in the door of techno and other electronic subgenres. With all his different experiences in mind, to say that DJ Jay Nastyyy is versed in music would be a total understatement.
DJ Jay Nastyyy’s DJing journey stemmed from both his love of music and his frustration towards the status quo; being a regular partygoer to campus functions, he and his friends would come to find that they weren’t hearing the music they wanted to when attending.
So, he took things into his own hands and has been practicing putting together sets ever since.
Ironically, DJ Jay Nastyyy’s most meaningful musical experiences took place before he started actually DJing. He was on the aux at an Afro-Caribbean Union (ACU) party, around when the organization was starting to gain prominence at Lawrence.
As one of his first experiences on the hosting side of the party, he found meaning in being the one to help create the good vibes at the party, which helped set him on his current path of music-making.
Some of DJ Jay Nastyyy’s most prominent gigs were the ACU’s Y2K-themed party earlier this year — which he remembers to have been “packed to the nines” and had an unmatched energy — and Alianza’s intergalactic social event Welcome to Saturno. Other than these, he has acted as an emcee at numerous other on-campus functions.
DJ Jay Nastyyy draws influence from fellow New York City-based artist Funkmaster Flex, who he has listened to since he was young and describes as being a host and “hype-person” as well as a musical creator.
To DJ Jay Nastyyy, playing music is just part of what it means to be a DJ; he believes that bringing personality to a performance is really what creates the spirit of the party and makes it your own.
He described his style as adaptable, since as both a musician and emcee he finds it necessary to adapt to the environment of each individual function: he doubles down on Afrobeat and Caribbean tracks at his ACU events, for example, and knows that playing at an Alianza party means tapping into his knowledge of Latin music. He also extended gratitude towards his life’s multiculturality, which he believes helps make him such a versatile artist.
After seeing all his achievements as a musical artist, it might come as a shock that DJ Jay Nastyyy only started his craft somewhat recently.
Going forward, he said his goal is to start learning the more technical side of being a DJ, already having commanded the personality and musical knowledge side of the trade.
By completing the trifecta, he believes he can take his music-making “to the next level.” What might that next level be? Whatever that comes to mean for him, the only way left for DJ Jay Nastyyy to go is up.