NAME: Oscar Nñ
AGE: 28
KIN: Honduras (not necessarily an island but defs Caribbean)
CRAFT: DJ / cultural producer
HOW HAS YOUR BACKGROUND AFFECTED YOUR LIFE / WORK?
I’ve always been visibly queer and definitely the only one in my extended family. So growing up in Honduras, I felt different. When I moved to DC, I got better at hiding my queerness by using my ethnicity as a veil for it so that nothing was ever questioned. I feel like that is a common struggle for many of us immigrant Caribbean/Latinx folks, we sometimes feel forced/safer navigating society assuming only part of our identity. I feel like that’s changing a lot now however though, there are so many dope Caribbean folks at the front lines of everything from activism to art, being intersectional, and actually using their background to uplift themselves and their communities. These are the kind of vibes I’m trying to put out there. Black and brown children are the future and I’m so ready for them to challenge the status quo culture by bringing platanos and rice and peas to the table.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU (UPCOMING PROJECTS)?
Definitely music production is in the works. Planning on releasing some cute stuff soon ^_^ I’m also constantly thinking about how I can take my art practice even further. Like what’s a new skill I can learn/teach myself or how can I collaborate on stuff with as many qts as possible and in all different mediums. There are so many amazing people in the community and I am so down with pushing each other further and like create stuff that elevates us individually but as a community as well. I also feel like the wind keeps blowing South for me so you might catch me in the Caribbean/Central or South America sometime soon living on a beach and working on stuff remotely (lol dreams right?). In terms of Papi Juice, I know that my papis (Adam, Cristobal, and Mohammed) and I wanna take it even further. Like more than just the event in NYC. Pero we’ll see what will happen with that!
Photo: Dan Gutt