007 MOBILE SOUND SYSTEM SELECTOR DJ KITT

by Lesley Hayles
(Kingston, Jamaica)

THE BIOGRAPHY OF DJ KITT

DJ Kitt was born Shomani Hayles in Alexandria, St. Ann to mother Novelette Crawford and father Stephen "Bunny" Hayles.

He discovered his love for DJing at the age of 13 when he saw his older brother Stephen "Ali Patch" Hayles playing the sound system, Bass Odyssey, which is also owned by their father. It's the family business, the business of music that is, therefore it was inevitable that Kitt was going to be apart of it at some point.

Growing up in the small district, where the sound system was based, he was influenced by the likes of the greats such as Squingy, Lenny Hype and Glama G, leading selectors in this genre and dominating every clash they entered. He was constantly watching them practise and listened to how they used their techniques to conquer in the dancehall.

It was his move to Duhaney Park, a community in Kingston, in 2003 to live with his father that he finally got the chance to hone his own talent. His father would set up the sound's console in the house so that he could practice spinning and mixing. He looked up to Ali, who helped him by guiding him and teaching him certain maneuvers on the turntables.

In 2004, he had a short stint in Miami, Florida where he worked in Aquarius Records, which was owned by relatives, playing music for customers. After returning to Jamaica, Ali Patch decided to teach Kitt all that he knew so that Kitt could be better equipped to join the family business fully because previous selectors just wasn't cutting it.

Kitt debuted alongside his brother at the popular night club, The Jonkunoo Lounge at the Hilton Kingston as Bass Odyssey The Next Generation. The name change in the sound system was due to several factors but mainly due to the fact that as the younger selectors who were taking over the family business, they wanted to stand out and appeal more to the younger crowd who were now attending parties regularly.

His first friend he met during his frequent visits to Kingston before living there was Richard Lancelot Brown aka Domie, who started promoting his own parties from his days attending the prominent Meadowbrook High School. Being best friends, Domie would always book Kitt to play at every event he was involved in, giving Kitt the much needed promotion as a newcomer on the scene. This catapulted Kitt's career especially in the uptown circles. He has made a name for himself as well as with the sound system.

He has made several mixtapes, some by himself and others with Ali Patch as The Remix Twins. He got a reoccuring gig at Escape 24/7, a popular hot spot in New Kingston, as a resident DJ, several nights per week. He has played in every parish in Jamaica, toured the US and the Caribbean but missed out on tours in Europe and Asia after catching Chicken Pox.

Even on radio, Hot 102 FM in Kingston, Jamaica gave him listenership across the island every week alongside his brother. Several guest appearances on the popular cable stations HYPE TV and Juice TV brought a new approach as viewers could now put face to voice. Bass Odyssey The Next Generation teamed up with the top booking agent in the country, Ms. Sharon Burke of Solid Agency and Richard Roache, who got them on shows like Fully Loaded, the launch show of Caribbean TV station Tempo, bmobile School Tours and road shows, ATI Live and overseas gigs.

In 2008, the family decided to cut the sound system name short from Bass Odyssey The Next Generation to TNG MUZIK, first making mixtapes to promote the new name.

Kitt even began venturing in other areas of the business by starting a production company with Ali Patch called TNG Productionz, producing his own music for several artists, including his older sister Sandy Starr and other young acts in his community.

DJ Kitt also has a knack for designing as he has done flyers, t-shirt designs for Bubba James Clothing and many graphics for TNG MUZIK's logos, mixtape cd covers, stickers and business cards. He formed Young Society Entertainment, an event promotion company with a friend Aaron "Bubba" James and even staged parties such as Addiction, Social and Love Spell to much success.

His future endeavours include the launch of Symphony, his clothing line and his own production company called Kittonie Recordz which has already seen him signing Daro as his main artist.

This young, talented man has much to offer and will deliver. DJ Kitt is a legend in the making.

For bookings, contact:
Richard Brown
Pure Class Entertainment/STOC Events
richieb36@hotmail.com
1-876-351-1836

Lesley Hayles
Bass Line Entertainment Services
lesley.hayles@gmail.com
1-876-414-2660

djkitt1@hotmail.com
1-876-467-1897

http://worldareggae.com/reggaeyard/soundclash-2011-kingston-jamaica/

http://yuhseeyou.com/2011/11/06/ricky-trooper-dj-kitt-take-champion-title-for-guinness-sound-of-greatness/