Cambridge has spawned another monster in DJ HECTIK, whose “Reggae vs. Reggaeton” night Sundays at Club Europa is turning into a phenomenon. “I wanted to have an urban party without the ghetto crowd. I’d been going to clubs for years and I’d just get bored, it was always the same music.” The Puerto Rican/Dominican Hectik took a trip to Puerto Rico when he was 13, and it persuaded him to be a DJ. “I knew I could bring a hip-hop vibe to reggaeton. Reggaeton DJs would just mix. I bring a battle style to it: cut it up, double up, bring it back.” He started DJing in sixth grade and has never looked back. After a brief foray into basketball,DJ ELLIOT NESStaught him all the battle tricks in the books. Then: reggaeton. “Reggaeton is blowing up because reggae got too fast. They’re now bringing all those old reggae riddims back because they’re slower, they’re more like hip-hop. And you can’t play hip-hop in a club anymore, it doesn’t work.” On Hectik’s cuts and mixes, a cappella rhymes tag-team with boom-chik beats for a party vibe that keeps any crowd moving. “To have a great party you need a great vibe, and that’s what we do.”
Hectik started 235 Entertainment to run the night, and he has help from two other mixmasters: DJ GERA and DJ DRES. And he still has time to rock mixtape after mixtape. The latest is called Boston’s Reggaeton Generals with DJ SAM SMOOVE. It pummels stores everywhere this week. “If anyone thinks reggaeton is a fad,” Hectik says. “I got news for you.”
David Day hosts Free the DJ Wednesdays at ZuZu and spins Fridays at Enormous Room.
Email the author
David Day: circuits@squar3.com
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