What it’s like: How Taiwan’s female DJs put a new spin on a male-dominated industry
If the 2019 Red Bull Music 3Style World DJ Championships in Taipei is anything to go by, women are working twice as hard to make their mark on music industry
A booming voice repeating the phrase, “Keep believing in yourself, keep doing it”, reverberated throughout the club Franny in Taipei as DJ Praktyczna Pani began her set.
Pani, representing Poland, was the sole female among 24 competitors in the 2019 Red Bull Music 3Style World DJ Championships, which took place in Taiwan from January 24 to 27.
“Believe in yourself,” she says, was borrowed from a statement that British actress Kate Winslet made to empower women. This is Pani’s mantra.
After attending a party with terrible music, Pani, whose stage name translates to “A Practical Lady,” thought to herself, “I can do better than that.”
Despite having no experience, she quit her dead-end job, taught herself how to spin, promoted her music and has never looked back.
The tagline on her website is: “I love my work and I get paid for it.”
In Poland there are not many female DJs, and that was one of the reasons she overcame self-doubt and decided to participate in the Red Bull competition.
“We women are shy to show ourselves sometimes, and I thought that maybe my journey can help someone to show up, to change things; to maybe quit their job and do what they like,” she tells STYLE.