JADALAREIGN grew up as Jada Lorraine an hour north of New York City, where she was first introduced to the vibrant world of music in a household resounding with jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop, and world music. From an early age, Jada had always been surrounded by sound. Before she discovered her love for mixing records, she played the acoustic bass and piano in her adolescence, and years later, her first stint in the music industry came, a behind-the-scenes role as a music director at an entertainment blog.
In the mid-'10s, Jada's career kicked into gear. She honed her DJing craft, interned for the pivotal former women and non-binary-focused collective, Discwoman, and began putting on her own parties in an emergent Brooklyn nightlife scene that was still figuring out its identity. The sound she cultivated in those pivotal years interweaved sumptuous house, soul, and jazz—classic records that harken back to her roots—with newer beats that embody the future of Black contemporary dance music like East Coast club and techno.
As a selector and an events programmer, Jada's involvement in New York's scene is part of a broader mission to tell the stories of the origins of dance music, a genre that emerged from Black, Latinx, and queer communities across the Midwest, Northeast, and UK. She also maintains a FUBU (For us, by us) approach to her work. In 2019, her first in-person DJ and production workshop series, Community Skillshare, debuted at Powrplnt. At the height of the pandemic, she collaborated with FIVEBOI and Sam Law to launch an online music production workshop series catered toward marginalized artists, In Session.
In 2022, the program moved to Nowadays, following her first year as the club's booker. Wearing her DJ hat, she also became one of the venue's most exciting residents.
Jada's talent expands further into production, with her past works being featured on respected New York labels Haus Of Altr and Sorry Records.
