{"id":312268,"date":"2026-08-03T08:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/312268\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T08:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T08:32:11","slug":"life-work-with-camille-horton-of-new-york-voyage-la-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/312268\/","title":{"rendered":"Life & Work with Camille Horton of New York \u2013 Voyage LA Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Today we\u2019d like to introduce you to Camille Horton.<\/p>\n

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My journey as a DJ started in 2018 while I was a student at the University of Virginia. I was part of a student-run hip-hop collective called SHHO, where I initially served as the Social Chair. I helped promote our events, grow our audience, and build a community around the collective.<\/p>\n

SHHO was also home to several incredibly talented DJs who took me under their wing. Being surrounded by them inspired me to learn, and they taught me the fundamentals of DJing. As I gained more experience, I started getting booked outside of SHHO, playing college nightclubs, fraternity parties, brunches, and other campus events.<\/p>\n

In 2021, I moved to New York City alongside several other members of SHHO, and together we founded the DJ collective MadChapel. We knew that if we wanted to establish ourselves in the city\u2019s music scene, we\u2019d have to create our own opportunities instead of waiting for them. One of our biggest breaks came when Jade Bar in Bushwick offered us a residency. It was our first opportunity to produce recurring events from the ground up in a new city. <\/p>\n

In 2023, MadChapel had our final showcase headlined by Matt Ox alongside artists we\u2019d collaborated with throughout the collective\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n

At the same time MadChapel was growing, I was also evolving as an artist. My sound has changed dramatically since I started DJing. In college, I primarily played hip-hop, occasionally mixing in house and club music because that\u2019s what fit the events I was playing. After moving to New York, I became known as an open-format DJ with hip-hop at the center of my sets.<\/p>\n

But electronic music, especially bass music, had always been my biggest passion. Long before I moved to New York, I was digging for dubstep, UK bass, trap, and global sounds, building an eclectic music library even though there weren\u2019t many opportunities to play that style publicly in Charlottesville, Virginia. Most of the gigs I was booked for didn\u2019t call for it, so I spent years developing that side of my artistry behind the scenes. But of course, in NYC, there was room for this sound. <\/p>\n

Eventually, I decided to take what felt like a real risk. I started turning down gigs so I could focus on bass music and dubstep. That decision completely changed my career. Today, my sound is rooted in 140 BPM bass music, blending dubstep with hip-hop, club, trap, global bass, and other influences to create high-energy sets that are both dynamic and genre-defying. I\u2019m a resident of Never Normal Records, where I also curate the **1Mil Realities: Soundsystem Curators** show on The Lot Radio.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had the opportunity to perform across the country and at local NYC venues including Brooklyn Paramount, Avant Gardner, Elsewhere, Bowery Ballroom, Silo, and Brooklyn Monarch. I\u2019ve also had the privilege of directly supporting artists like Zeds Dead, Koan Sound, Levity, Ternion Sound, Plastician, Canabliss, Kaivon, Wreckno, and Nicholas Craven.<\/p>\n

Alright, so let\u2019s dig a little deeper into the story \u2013 has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you\u2019ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn\u2019t been a smooth road.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges I\u2019ve faced has been navigating the bass music scene as a Black woman. Shocking, I know. Most people I\u2019ve met have been incredibly welcoming and supportive, but there have also been moments that remind me I\u2019m still an exception in many spaces.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been backstage in green rooms where people assumed I was someone\u2019s girlfriend or manager rather than one of the artists on the lineup. I\u2019ve also had people suggest that opportunities came my way because of my race or gender instead of the years I\u2019ve spent developing my craft. Comments like that are frustrating because they erase the countless hours I\u2019ve invested into learning, practicing, digging for music, refining my sound, and building relationships within the scene.<\/p>\n

For a while, I genuinely wondered how you\u2019re supposed to respond to those assumptions. If someone has already decided that every opportunity you receive is because you\u2019re a token, then there is really no way to prove otherwise. The logic becomes impossible. The only way to avoid that accusation would be to never DJ at all, which obviously makes no sense. It\u2019s also very uncomfortable to talk about without sounding whiny, but like, it\u2019s also very real. Misogyny is very, very real, and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve experienced more in my DJ career than in any other part of my life, which is disappointing. <\/p>\n

Eventually, I realized there isn\u2019t much to say. The people who say that are essentially asking for my invisibility or holding me to an impossibly high bar that no one else is expected to clear.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t argue someone out of an assumption they\u2019ve already made. The only thing I can do is continue showing up prepared, continue honing my craft, and let my sets speak for themselves. <\/p>\n

Outside of music, life has brought its own challenges as well. I\u2019ve experienced significant loss within my family over the years, and there have been periods where grief completely drained my creative spirit.
It\u2019s hard to even prepare for a performance when I\u2019m trying to get through sudden bad news. <\/p>\n

Balancing those personal hardships while pursuing a creative career has been one of the hardest parts of my journey.<\/p>\n

DJing has kinda become a therapy for me. Creative catharsis and shared experience with other people in a contained space with the sole goal of positivity (and ass shaking). <\/p>\n

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Hip hop is how I got my start in DJing. Even though my sound has evolved dramatically over the years, hip hop remains the foundation of how I think about rhythm, groove, and storytelling in a set.<\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t see hip hop and dubstep as separate musical worlds. To me, they\u2019re in conversation with one another constantly. I\u2019m not afraid of a good dubstep flip of a hip hop track or even playing it in its pure, unedited form. I<\/p>\n

Part of that perspective comes from how I think about the history of both genres. Hip hop and dubstep both emerged from Black diasporic communities, both were born in underground scenes before breaking into the mainstream, and both have gone through huge sonic evolutions. Old heads of each genre debate if the new sound is accurate or invalidates the music\u2019s roots, especially when the OGs and music progenitors are still alive and active and often not reaping the rewards of their cultural contributions.<\/p>\n

Sonically, I hear far more similarities than differences between dubstep and hip hop; the emphasis on rhythm, low end, sampling, and soundsystem culture creates a natural dialogue between them. Cyphers and MCing. Shout Grime for being the lovechild kinda. I also like to blend all aspects of bass; it\u2019s not unique, but it has to be done delicately, I\u2019ve noticed. An EDM crowd and 140 crowd sometimes expect different things, but I want to make it work. I want to play all the bass, all the time. And I want it to be good. <\/p>\n

I once got to play in front of 2000 people, and I was very intentional about that set. Preparing for it for months, I landed on tracks that I felt fully represented how I look at dubstep. <\/p>\n

Are there any important lessons you\u2019ve learned that you can share with us?
Build. <\/p>\n

Your creative career doesn\u2019t have to be nonstop action and rewards, and honestly, it\u2019s not supposed to be. You need to build your craft just as much as you need to build your career. The \u201cdowntime\u201d, the \u201cboring\u201d parts that no one sees? That\u2019s what truly matters. <\/p>\n

I respect producers a lot for that; they sometimes work on a track for months before they release it and get the catharsis they desire for their efforts. They are builders by trade and extremely essential to the music ecosystem. Being a DJ is constant catharsis and affirmation; an hour of spinning for 50 people is seeing them react live to your creative choices and getting to see your impact live. It\u2019s frankly addicting at times. But you don\u2019t get those moments without the \u201cbuilding\u201d, the learning, the trying, and honestly, the failing. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s very appealing to move somewhere and want to join the most popping part of your scene. But that can be hard or impossible depending on what metrics you have to meet in order to get involved. Like my friends and I did with MadChapel. I think doing the most you can with what you have at that current moment is important. Don\u2019t wait for everything to be perfect or to align to do your stuff. I have huge respect for those who are builders; their own parties, their own music, their own labels, their own substacks or creative outlet. If you love an artist and they don\u2019t come to your city, bring them! If you play a genre and there are no collectives dedicated to it, make one! It\u2019s easier said than done of course, but it\u2019s worth it to invest in yourself. The other important part of building is growth and being okay with what progress can look like. It can sometimes be soooo slow. It can also never grow to what you want it to be. But you dared to turn your dreams into reality, and that is, as corny as this sounds, the most important thing. <\/p>\n

Contact Info:<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/p>\n

\"Smiling<\/p>\n

\"DJ<\/p>\n

\"Concert<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/p>\n

\"Stage<\/p>\n

\n Image Credits
Yohance Barton
Emily Guzinski\n <\/p>\n

Suggest a Story:<\/a> VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it\u2019s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
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