DJ Lisney runs the deck at Safari Rally parties

It is four days of action, on and off the road in Naivasha; and while rally drivers command the roads, action off the road is anchored by a local act, DJ Lisney. 

Picked from hundreds of elite deejays from across Africa, who had tendered for the WRC Safari Rally deejaying slot, the versatile mistress of the decks, is on top of the world.

Her first session was the official opening ceremony that started with Kenya’s national anthem. After four days, her last act will be on Sunday.

“Not your ordinary deejay,” her tag goes, and she is not.

DJ Lisney, whose real name is Lindaliza Felix, is one of the directors of the Elite Sounds Company, that was awarded the tender to run the audio-visual solutions for the WRC Safari Rally event.

“I am honoured to have been picked as the official WRC Safari Rally deejay, a spectacular world-class showcase that has attracted over 30,000 spectators and that is being followed by millions from across the world,” Lisney says, confirming that her team of 18 people, was already at the WRC Safari Rally main arena ready to thrill.

Her team includes four electronic and sound engineers, four seasoned deejays, her managers and people working on logistics.

International gig

“This is the best feeling ever. It’s an international gig. It’s my best show that I know will propel my deejaying credits to international heights. When I sent out my application last year, I was excited to be shortlisted among the top four.

“Later, I was informed that my company, Elite Sounds, had won the gig. It was a very competitive process that had top companies from across Africa make a bid.

“Since then, my team has been preparing for this moment,” she says.

Making its comeback after a 19-year hiatus, the rally is expected to net 825 million viewers online and attract 1.5 billion online impressions, according to the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed. 

“I will be playing music that will appeal to as many nationalities, who will be following the event from Kenya. We also want to give it an exotic touch. Expect the best,” says DJ Lisney.

Previously, an industry that was ruled by men, the turntablists business is becoming a field where women are stealing the show across Africa.

The continent’s female deejays, include deejay Lisney, DJ Pierra Makena and King Mellow, DJ Zinhle, DJ Lady Lea, and DJ Roxxi from South Africa, Nigeria’s DJ Cuppy and Soupamodel, and DJ Nyce from Ghana.

Respect female deejays

DJ Makena became a continental sensation after she took the African sound to the United Arab Emirates and the US.

Now, she is one of the African deejays championing the call for sanity and recognition of players in the craft, where women have had to fight for gigs.

“The word female only came into the deejaying space recently. For years, this was a male-dominated agenda. Now, it is not about male or female, but what one brings to the table. Days, when female deejays were being intimidated, are over,” says Makena

She added that event promoters and fans have come to appreciate and respect female DJs. 

“Showbiz is a complex affair and it is true, that physical appeal sometimes plays a role in getting that attention. Besides that, it takes good branding for one to be accepted and appreciated,” says DJ Lisney.

Worldwide, Black women are now dominating the space that once featured only Spinderella and Jazzy Joyce, as the only Black female deejays.