DJ Biggs Brings Katarock Sound Into Jamaica's Latin Music Groove

DJ Biggs, born Ohene Blake, has spent four decades working in music and remains an active figure in Katarock Sound, the respected sound system started in the late 1990s by DJs Kat, Minor Bag and Cliff. The brand later gained wider recognition alongside the late selector DJ Quincy.

Today, Biggs helps keep the Katarock name visible with Florida-based entertainer DJ Desmond. His own journey began in Guyana when he was 13, before his work took him through the United Kingdom, the United States, including Florida, and eventually back to Jamaica.

At the recent Cinco de Mayo event, Que Rico La Fiesta in St Andrew, Biggs leaned into reggaeton, reparto, salsa and bachata, adding another chapter to his role in Jamaica's expanding Latin music space.

Biggs said his serious introduction to Latin music came in 2016 while he was deejaying in Florida. At the time, he played at venues such as Caribbean Tease Restaurant in Lake Worth and Lobster Bar Sea Grille on Las Olas Boulevard. Florida's large Caribbean and Latin population, he said, created steady demand for reggae, dancehall and reggaeton.

His connection with Que Rico in Liguanea grew from routine travel between Jamaica and Fort Lauderdale. Before flights, he would stop there for a quick meal, and because Latin songs were already part of his set list, he tried new selections at the venue without charge to see how the staff responded. Their feedback helped him widen his catalogue. When Que Rico later became a dedicated Latin venue, the owner asked whether he could play there.

On mixing Latin music with dancehall, Biggs does not see the blend as difficult. He began as a dancehall selector and first added Latin tracks into those sets. Now, he often reverses the approach, building the night mainly around Latin music and folding dancehall into the mix.

He links that compatibility to African-retained drum patterns he hears in both dancehall and Latin styles, similar to what is heard in Afrobeats. For him, that shared rhythmic base allows dancehall and reggaeton to work naturally together.

Biggs said he is familiar with the wider range of Latin music, but reggaeton and reparto are his strongest areas. When playing for Jamaica's Latin community, he also depends on salsa and bachata. He noted that salsa has a newer, more energetic and sensual offshoot known as salsa choke.

Reading a room, he said, starts with a lesson passed on by his DJ mentors: a selector cannot depend only on current top-10 records. Those songs may earn an immediate response, but they are not enough to carry a full set. Instead, he reaches for international hits that have proved over many years that they can move a dance floor.

Research also shapes his preparation. Biggs keeps track of popular songs and uses information from his favourite waitress at the restaurant, who tells him which nationalities are present, the balance of women and men, and the age group in the venue. From there, he chooses from folders of Cuban, Colombian, Dominican, Panamanian and Mexican music.

He also pays close attention when another sound is playing. If a competing DJ uses a song, Biggs said Katarock Sound avoids repeating it because the second play rarely gets the same reaction. He added that requests have to be handled carefully during a set.

Asked whether Latin music is gaining ground at parties beyond Cinco de Mayo events, Biggs pointed to TikTok trends and the international profile of acts such as Bad Bunny, who appeared at this year's Super Bowl, as well as Shakira's theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also said Latin songs rank among the most-streamed music on YouTube.

Food culture is helping, too. Biggs said items such as tacos and quesadillas are becoming more popular locally, and Latin restaurants are exposing customers to fresh music while they dine. Even when Jamaicans do not understand the lyrics, he said, the rhythms still connect with them.

On technology, Biggs no longer plays vinyl. He said he has moved with the times, although an apartment in the United Kingdom is still packed with his old records. He does not miss carrying crates of vinyl, something he did while travelling by train to play with Soul Connection between ages 17 and 19.

Still, those years taught him the value of sorting records by rhythm and understanding beats by ear. Biggs said modern software is useful, but some DJs now rely entirely on what a computer identifies as the beat and cannot count beats for themselves. As a classically trained musician who played piano and violin, he said his rhythmic grounding is different. Even so, he acknowledged that technology has made his work as a DJ much easier.