A scratching
wizard and pioneer of English-and-Spanish mixing, fusing rap and Latin
beats, heating up the turntables and radio mike while producing his
own albums and breaking new acts, Miami's DJ Laz is keeping the dance
floors hot and the temperature just keeps rising.
Laz (a.k.a. Lazaro
Mendez), a South Florida native, has been wearing many hats on the
music scene since the age of 15. He began scratching, mixing and deejaying
at local clubs and at (then) dance station Hot 105 (WHQT FM) before
joining the morning show team as a DJ at Power 96 (WPOW 96.5FM). In
addition to radio and club gigs, Laz had an intense desire to produce
his own artists and make his own records, and in 1991 he signed a
record deal with Pandisc, releasing his first CD DJ Laz featuring
the highly successful single, "Mami El Negro" which debuted in the
Billboard Top 100. DJ Laz was one of the first albums to spawn the
early evolution of Latin Bass - the machine-gun beats of bass with
the syncopated tropical voice of Latino music. Soon to follow were
his subsequent smash hits Journey Into Bass and King of Bass in which
he profiled the yet to be discovered talent of Trick Dog and Celo,
Hallucination and Daddy C. "I love finding and giving new artists
a shot. . . it helps to keep me going in different directions musically
speaking" remarks DJ Laz. His fourth release, Cruzin', called "the
ultimate party album", combines bilingual raps with true Latin rhythms
and live instruments in an innovative style he calls "merengue swing"
and is his biggest hit yet. Cruzin' contains the smash single "Get
Your Ass Off The Stage" showcasing superstar rap artists Luke and
Kinsu.
As the most popular
DJ at Power 96 today hosting his own afternoon radio show, as well
as being a club promoter for Zippers and spinning at Roxy, both Ft.
Lauderdale nightclubs, DJ Laz knows how to get people into the party
mood. He has always been innovative with his production ideas and
he can test his projects with live club audiences. He has re-mixed
songs for Luther Campbell, 2 Live Crew, Will Smith and Gloria Estefan
and is currently collaborating with Puerto Rican producer DJ Nelson
on an upcoming release. In addition, Laz is president of his own record
label, Limp-A-Lot, and is currently working on his highly anticipated
fifth CD for Pandisc.
DJ Laz is a man
of two cultures, two languages, and one passion – music. How does
he handle the many roles of his successful musical career? Laz responds,
"I like balance. I enjoy producing, being a DJ and performing as an
artist. . . I would hate it if I had to choose only one."
|
DJ
Laz Extended Bio
