With almost two decades of musical entertaining in one form or another behind him, calling Cayman’s newest ‘sound boy’ DJ RKM new might not be the best choice of words.

Rion Mohammed as he is known to close friends and family, recalls collecting Chinese Laundry dub mixtapes at a very early age in Trinidad and Tobago. He says his passion for music started then at the age of 10, and when he was 11 years old he moved to Cayman.

His passion for music led him to join Earl LaPierre’s Steel Band where he excelled and formed a duet with Nicholas Bell that went on to perform at every major hotel and event on Island for the next decade.

After attending college in Toronto, DJ RKM remembers getting his first taste of spinning at his brother’s night club, known as Club Chameleon, which was located in the Strand.

“My cousin ‘Deon on the side’ was the house DJ for the club. At the end of the night he would let me spin for the last hour or so and I really took it upon myself to learn the trade. To him I am forever grateful because his style of playing every genre really influenced me early on,” says DJ RKM.

He is now the resident DJ at Barolo Lounge inside Eduardo’s Italian Restaurant on West Bay Road. Spinning the best in Hiphop, Top 40, House, Dance Remix and Soca.

“I must publicly thank the owners of Eduardos, Denis and Raffaele for giving me the chance to showcase my talents at Barolo and I cannot forget to mention influences such as Selecta Renegade, Operator TNT, Mr. Rea, DJ XS and Billy Corduroy. The latter of whom really helped me to get started by giving me a lot of music. To them I am forever grateful. They are all wonderful DJs.”

DJ RKM spins all genres of music and can be found party rocking at the Royal Palms Beach bar every other Wednesday night for Industry Chill and every Friday and Saturday at the Barolo Lounge.

He says that part of the joy involved with providing the sonic fuel for a celebration is watching people come alive with feeling and animation as a result of hearing their favourite tunes. “It can be extremely rewarding and quite exhilarating to affect others in such a direct way and it is almost always positive.”