/ Sexy & Successful: DJ Kayper

by Anokhi Admin

Sexy & Successful: DJ Kayper

Jul 29, 2013

DJ and BBC Asian Network Radio Presenter

British-born DJ Kayper is the happening thing on the desi music scene. Her sound is an effortless blend of Bollywood, bhangra, hip-hop and scratch techniques. BBC roped her in to host a radio show on its Asian Network in 2006. The DJ Kayper Show has now gone on to become one of the station’s biggest exports with a global audience, featuring pop artists like Nelly Furtado, Estelle, Sway and Jay Sean. DJ Kayper, whose real name is Kaajal Bakrania, started DJing as a young girl. She saw her two older cousins and brother practice on the decks, and would sneak around playing until one day, the boys were actually impressed and surprised by what they heard. And so it began. She made her first serious premiere as a DJ at London’s Ministry of Sound. DJ Kayper also ran an immensely popular weekly night of hip-hop & dancehall called Ebonics in London, UK in 2003, enjoying the creative control she got in managing her own brand, artists and marketing. In 2004, DJ Kayper became the first female to win the Vestax Juice DJ Competition in UK, snagging an official sponsor in Vestax. She has headlined at some of the world’s most renowned nightclubs, including London’s Bar Rumba, and New York City’s SOB’s, The Knitting Factory and Joe’s Pub. She has also made international rounds with performances in Mumbai, Malaysia, Johannesburg and Ibiza. She is a double-nominee in the Best Club DJ at the 2008 and 2009 UK Asian Music Awards. Watch out for her new album, “Live from the Attic,” which is coming out this year (2010).

Q&A

Zodiac sign: Leo.

Relationship status: Single.

Best way to unwind: Cook, chill with my friends and drink red wine over a game of Brixton Blackjack.

Fave Bollywood movie: Maine Pyar Kiya. I used to make my mum watch it with me and then rewind the tape and watch it again.

Favourite Hollywood movie: Way too many to choose from. Does La Haine count, even if it’s a French film?

Favourite book: The Manual by The KLF.

Guilty pleasure: Jennifer Aniston movies.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be and why? I would be able to do what Sabrina the Teenage Witch could do when she would click her fingers and she’d be dressed or just imagine where I want to be, click my fingers and I’m there. It would save so much time.

What is on your iPod? Pretty much everything from The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Prefab Sprout to Wu Tang.

Something quirky about yourself no one would know: I wear socks with Disney characters on them.

Best personal feature and why: Everyone always says I have nice hair and I think that’s because I don’t dye it or put many products in it.

Best feature on the opposite sex: He’s gotta be tall! Is that a feature? If not, he’s gotta have a nice nose. Nothing worse than a dude with a big schnozzle!

Celebrity crush: Leah Remini, but I’m not a lesbian!

If you had to choose, would it be Romance or Hot Sex? Hot Sex.

Three things you can’t live without: My Laptop, Blackberry, Food!

Most memorable professional moment: I’m still waiting for that moment. I’m never satisfied.

Most valuable life lesson: Sometimes you have to be fearless in order to get ahead in life, but there is a fine line between being fearless and being reckless. However, the most important thing to remember above anything in life is that without your health, you have nothing.

Motto you live by: Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.

_{BY: TAMARA BALUJA / PUBLISHED: 7TH ANNIVERSARY SEXY & SUCCESSFUL ISSUE 2010

(PHOTO COURTESY OF DJ KAYPUR & JAY GATZBY OF KOMPOSIT ENTERTAINMENT)}