But when I walked in, the first person I saw was DJAYSLIM.
He was queuing up hit after hit: “Assurance” by Nigerian star Davido, then “Case” by fellow Nigerian Teni. When his turn at the decks was over, we got to talking, and I learned that he has been playing African music in the Bay Area for close to two decades.
In 2001, DJAYSLIM, whose real name is Martin Mwangi, left Nairobi, Kenya and moved into his sister’s place in Oakland. Her boyfriend at the time was a DJ. Mwangi had never considered DJing, but his deep love of music…
