Head Spins: DJ Elle (With a Free Mix For Download!)

​A Sunday afternoon barbecue on South Beach is probably not the best place to interview a DJ, especially if the spinner's been knocking back mojitos for a couple hours before you pose your questions. Then again, this is the Magic City, and a large part of its allure comes from the fact that pleasure almost always supersedes business. But after a curiously slurred preliminary, everybody sobers up to get to the matter at hand --to let it be known that we've gotta another hot chick head spinner in our midst. Her name? DJ Elle.

That's right, Miami's lured down another New York DJ. She's been shuffling back and forth between the two cities for a while now, but this time it looks like we've got her for keeps. Elle's first Miami spin was at Buck 15, which put her right in sync with the all the right locals. And since January, she's been holding court every Thursday at the Catalina, where she switches off with Miami's own Self Born.

But Elle wouldn't have been able to buck it at Buck 15, or anywhere else for that matter, if she didn't have the right kinda Big Bad Apple pedigree. Her first good turns were in such fabled hotspots as Limelight and Tunnel, and from there she held residencies at Gallery Bar, Gold Bar, and Sway. And though the lady's been tagged open format by default, she says, this chick's really most partial to hip-hop, be it new (Young Jeezy) or old (Nice & Smooth). And in one of her sets, there's always the unexpected -- like E-Z Rollers, a British drum'n'bass three-piece Elle features on her kickass mixtape Soundtrack to a Heist: The Best of Guy Ritchie.

That was one killer mix -- of course, anything that mixes classics and crime is going to get listeners going good. And the skills behind that mash make it apparent that DJ Elle seems to be well on her way. Pity the poor fools in NYC who let her get away.

DJ Elle's Current Top Five:

1. "Swag Surfin'," F.L.Y.
2. "Life of the Party," Jackson 5
3. "Cheap and Cheerful," Fake Blood
4. "Be Worried," Swizz Beatz and Nas
5. "Hit it on the Road," The-Dream

MP3: DJ Elle - Live on Collins Avenue (DJ mix)