When he was younger, all Richard Robinson wanted to do was play games on the laptop he used for school. But when he realised that the machine was not powerful enough to run the games, he downloaded the Virtual DJ software and started tinkering with it.

This was the beginning of the person many promoters and party-goers have come to know as RicoTheDJ. Robinson has headlined several events, especially during the soca season, where performing at Jamaica Carnival is one of the biggest accomplishments on his resume.

The 24-year-old told OBSERVER ONLINE, however, that this is only the launching pad for the very successful career he envisions for himself.

Here are seven questions with multi-genre DJ and producer, RicoTheDJ:

1. Who is RicoTheDJ?

RicoTheDJ is a lover of music; I love to play music for other people, and I like performance. I am not really a guy who gets on the mic and talks but I like to play with the other aspects (of DJ-ing) and watching people enjoy themselves. I wouldn’t say I am a party-goer, but it comes with my profession. I am a friendly guy, sort of introverted but… I have a different persona when it comes to playing music but overall I keep to myself.

2. How did you get into this aspect of music and entertainment?

I remember back in about fourth or fifth form I got a new laptop to do school work with but it wasn’t powerful enough to run games, so I was looking for something else to use the laptop to do. So, as with most DJs, I just downloaded VirtualDJ and started messing around with it. And then I realised that it kind of had a vibe. I liked DJ-ing, so from there, I was always doing it in some form or another. I started doing it professionally in 2018/2019 but then COVID came around and locked down things. I almost had to start over but that’s pretty much the origin.

3. Is soca your favourite genre to play?

I think it is the favourite by a very, very slim margin, with Dancehall coming second and then I would probably say Afrobeats and Hip-Hop, then it starts trailing off to other genres. But people do know me more for soca, because of all the soca events I have been playing. Once you do one event like that, you tend to get more events of that nature and people kind of start focusing on putting you into that box but really and truly I can play multiple genres.

4. Some may consider this less of an art, what is your opinion on that?

If it were that easy to do and anybody could get into it, a lot more people would be doing it. It does take dedication, skill and creativity. The thing is that artists make art and I think that when we get to a certain level it does seem easy and that’s why people tend to look at you and think ‘oh I could do that’. Song selection is one of the main skills, knowing what to play and when; and what to play after; reading the crowd, learning to assess the vibe of the entire room— there are a lot of moving parts that tend to go into it. I think we all do a very good job to make it look that easy for people to think that they can just get into it that easily.

5. With so many DJ’s in the business, how do you set yourself apart?

A lot of people like to say there is space for all of us, and while there is a lot of space, there isn’t enough for all of us and I think sometimes we need to be honest about that. If you ask any older DJ in the game there is always some younger person coming trying to take their spots and play the biggest shows so you have to stay competitive and ahead of the curve. Think about new transitions, new ways to mix, new ways to control a crowd; play with the elements of the song like the instrumentals and the acapella – like the word changes and stuff. All of that can come together to give your set a unique feel and have your product stand out from the crowd and continue to be in demand because the minute you start getting complacent and people start doing what you do there isn’t a reason for people to go for you.

6. Where do you see yourself in the future as a DJ?

The goals I have in mind are to play at different carnivals in the region, and some internationally like Canada for Caribana; Miami and New York for example, and meet some of my idols in the game, some people I look up to like DJ Jel. I also want to break out into hosting my own events eventually and branch out into music production.

7. Where next can we see you perform?

The shows coming up are all tentative but just follow me for updates on that. You can keep up with me on Twitter @RicoTheDJ876, where I will constantly be putting up my next shows and all my mixes are on YouTube and Soundcloud at RicoTheDJ.