The Oxford Dictionary describes sound as vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear.
Noise is described as a loud or unpleasant sound that causes a disturbance.
A knowledgeable sound and technology team is integral at an event the size of Dreamville Festival where, last year,attendance reached 100,000.
The streets of downtown Raleigh will be filled with sound and festival goers from around the world at this year’s festival, scheduled for April 6,7, at Dorothea Dix Park.
However, people like David Ngoi, better known as DJ Paradime, work in the background to keep the noise away.As a DJ, Ngoi understands the importance of good sound quality. The Greensboro native started his DJ career after falling in love with music by way of his sister.
For the love of music
Initially, he got into DJing for the love of music. However, people inquired about booking him for parties. He began DJing alumni parties during homecoming at North Carolina A&T University.
He graduated to producing mixtapes and built his buzz with collectives like Hall Of Justice, as well as working with artists like Durham hip-hop duo Little Brother.
Through his work, Ngoi met Brian Unger, better known as Nervous Reck, one-half of the Fayetteville rap duo Bomm Sheltuh. Nerv introduced him to the music of his protege’, J.Cole, through Cole’s mixtape, The Come Up, hosted by DJ On Point.
More:Keem Jones: ‘He listened.’ How the Fayetteville rap scene produced J. Cole
Paradime was a regular on the mixtape circuit and familiar with On Point’s work. However, Paradime enjoyed Cole’s rapping ability and contacted him. The pair established a relationship during the early days of Cole’scareer.
David eventually began DJing in the Fayetteville area at clubs like It’z and became a regular DJ at The Speakeasy. When Cole visited Fayetteville, he could be spotted at The Speakeasy with his friends supporting Paradime. He would eventually become the official DJ for Dreamville signee and Raleigh native King Mez.
A pioneer act at Dreamville
The inaugural Dreamville Festival was scheduled to be held on Sept. 15, 2018.However, the first festival did not take place until April 6, 2019. The first act to ever perform at the Dreamville Festival was King Mez, accompanied by none other than DJ Paradime. By this time, his company, Cool Receptions, allowed him to remove himself from the club atmosphere and focus on building his brand and company.
Cool Receptions specializes in event planning, handling everything from entertainment to audio/visual services. However, COVID brought business (and the world) to an abrupt halt, forcing Dime to pivot. His pivot was the founding of the print company, Dime Wraps. Dime Wraps offers large-format print material such as vinylwrapping and event decor.
Making a mark behind the scenes
Though he was on stage at the first Dreamville Festival, Paradime continues to make his mark behind the scenes. David is extremely active during the week of Dreamville Festival. He can typically be seen at events like the pop-up shop, event pre-parties, and afterparties (The Afties).
While attendees are preparing for the festivities, Paradime’s days leading up to the festival are spent ensuring his team and venues are properly equipped, doing site visits, sound checks, and most importantly ensuring his family is taken care of in his absence. His wife is an extremely important component of Dime and his team’s ability to perform adequately.
Often, his family joins him in sharing the workload. His family and giving back are of high importance to Dime.“The best part for me is definitely the community activations prior to the festival”, says the 41-year-old, “The giving back to the community, giving back to hip-hop, giving back to the culture that really gave me everything.”
During the week leading up to the 2022 and 2023 Dreamville Festival, Paradime taughta DJ 101 class on the campus of N.C. State University and again the next day at CAM Raleigh.His class was free and open to the public.
During the 2023 Dreamville Festival, he gifted a young boy a set of studio-quality speakers to motivate him to pursue his career as a DJ.
Ngoi aka Paradime will be bringing back his DJ 101 class for the 2024 Dreamville Festival along with other events.For those events or to contact Dime for booking, follow him on Instagram at @justdime.
Salute to Paradime and every activist getting active. Peace.
Rakeem “Keem” Jones is a community advocate and father of three from the Shaw Road/Bonnie Doone area of Fayetteville. He can be reached at keemj45@gmail.com.
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