DJ Blass

Vladimir Félix, better known as DJ Blass, is a music producer and reggaetoñero, considered a legend in the dembow genre. He has prolifically penned and recorded such club and festival hits as “No Te Veo,” “Latigazo,” and “En La Cama,” and has worked with a wide variety of urban artists including Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam, Plan B, Wisin & Yandel, and Sir Speedy, among many others. DJ Blass was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico on December 1, 1978. He attended Dr. Rafael Lopez Landrón High School and majored in computer and electronic music. His classmates bestowed him with his nickname. Blass began playing music at 16 by learning piano, and the means and techniques of producing. He showed much promise in the latter, and began producing music professionally at 18. His first mixtape album, @RIA 51: Aliados Al Escuadron (aka Reggaeton Sex, Vol. 1), was released in 1999 and brought his own take on dembow to the masses. In the early 2000s, he moved to northern Puerto Rico and released albums like Reggaeton Sex, Vol. 2, and Triple Sexxx. His first professional opportunity as a producer occurred when longtime urban veteran producer DJ Joe invited him to produce Francotiradores, Vol. 1 for Master Joe & O.G. Black’s debut album. In 2001, with help from Pina Records, Blass released Sandunguero, which sold well in the United States and Puerto Rico and peaked at number one on the Tropical Albums chart and at 10 on the Top Latin Albums list. Subsequently, in addition to performing live all over Puerto Rico and the United States, he created and worked on some of the most successful urban Latin singles — giving the genre a new dimension, his reliance on fusing pop and R&B melodies, and traditional and futuristic rhythms, influenced dozens of other producers and DJs. Sandunguero, Vol. 2 followed in 2004. His content reflects his primary inspirations, derived from folk and African musics as well as vintage electro and rap. In the second decade of the 21st century, DJ Blass expanded from his “sandunguero” style to enter the Christian genre, and successfully produced dozens of Christian reggaeton singers like Funky and Triple Seven, as well as advising other reggaetoñeros on career building. A series of health problems forced DJ Blass to leave the music scene for three years. He re-emerged in 2012 with the single “Pergamino,” that placed on club charts all over the Caribbean and southern United States. Since that time, he has issued more than 16 singles and EPs including 2014′s “Bate Roto (feat. Sensato),” “When the Beat Goes” (feat. Gabriel Angel) with Stu G, and “Duro Bass” (feat. Ma-Less). He was featured on and produced LennyGM’s “Hillana” (feat. DJ Blass and Waqas) and Tomasa del Real’s “Barre con el Pelo” (feat. DJ Blass). ~ Thom Jurek