July 23, 2025
Musical Explorer: A Profile of DJ Dehaney
By John Myers
By Vera Vislocky
Music is a huge part of DJ Dehaney’s life, and always has been. Today, as a 15-year-old attending Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, she dedicates her time to playing the tenor saxophone and clarinet. In middle school she used music as a comfort, relating the sad lyrics to situations in her life. Growing up she recalls enjoying music with her dad, noting that it was a different vibe back then. According to DJ, “When I’m really stressed out, I like to think back to simpler times, like when I was little, and my dad would drive along the beach to get to my little school. We’d drive by the little markets and tourist areas of Jamaica and everyone would play reggae music.”
DJ first picked up the tenor saxophone in eighth grade because she thought it was cool and it had the most range out of all of the saxophones. Her teacher then urged her to pick up the clarinet because historically in jazz, the best saxophonists played both the saxophone and the clarinet. A lot of jazz music is written with that in mind. She prefers to play and listen to music in the privacy of her room. She describes it as a place where she expresses a lot of her creativity.
Her life has always mainly revolved around music, and her music tastes have evolved over time. She discusses her music taste expanding, especially compared to when she was in middle school. One of her good friends, Elijah, stressed how much more sad and depressing the music she listened to in middle school was and how that reflected how she acted. Today she listens to a wide variety of music that evokes many different emotions. “Previously I mostly listened to artists like Tyler (the Creator) and genres like rhythm & blues and reggae, but since developing my craft as a musician, I’ve listened to a lot more instrument-focused music and of course jazz music. ”
Not only do the genres vary with the music she listens to, but so do the languages the lyrics are in. “I listen to songs in almost every category and I like to listen to a lot of music in different languages. For example I listen to Brazilian music like bossa and funk. I listen to Konpa and Goyad from Haiti, I listen to afro beats and also a lot of reggae and Jamaican music. I don’t necessarily have a preference for languages, but I often gravitate towards a different language in a song because the cultures give off a different vibe. I never really have a favorite song or genre—it changes periodically—but at the moment I’m listening to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald. ‘When I Get Low I Get High’ is a current favorite.”
DJ is still exploring her interests and making progress musically through her instruments. Seeing how passionate she is about her craft and music in general reveals her driven personality. One day in the future, she will probably look back at her early high school years just as she does now at her middle school years. She’s bound to be plenty successful, musically and in anything else she chooses to pursue. In the words of her friend Callia, “She dedicates a lot of time towards her academics (studying, doing homework, practicing, etc.) while also keeping a healthy balance between those and her own rest and personal time.” DJ seems to have things figured out, maybe even better than some adults. And if things do get tough for her in the future, she’ll always have those fond memories of listening to music with her dad to look back on.
