Born and bred in the San Francisco Bay Area, CAZU (he/him/his) is an open-format DJ who is “passionate for bringing joy, cultivating community, and creating moments of human connection through feel-good music.” He has over ten years’ experience of playing at various venues and events all over California, as well as in New York City, Honolulu, Chicago, the Pacific Northwest, and has shared the stage with performing artists. Corporate clients have included Bloomingdale’s, National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), San José State University, Stanford University, and University of Washington’s School of Public Health. His soulful musical curation is his personal form of self-care and therapy, so he’s not afraid to put the work in and dig deep to find the perfect tracks to blend and set the vibe.

He finds joy in expressing himself and his enthusiasm through various genres and eras, such as hip-hop, pop-punk, K-pop, Japanese city pop, emo, funk, and much more, and by fusing together new and familiar tracks to get you nodding your head, listening, and moving your feet without realizing it. A few of his favorite mixes and biggest inspirations are DJ Neil Armstrong’s “Bittersweeet” (2003), DJ Mark Marcelo’s “ScRuNcHiEs AnD hEaDbAnDs: The 90s RNB Mix” (2008), and DJ Lazyboy’s winning set at the 2019 Red Bull 3Style USA National Final.

As a scholar and educator, he is a contributing writer to the education text, HipHopEd: The Compilation on Hip-Hop Education: Volume 2: Hip-Hop as Praxis & Social Justice. Through his work in higher education for the past 15+ years, he has incorporated Hip-Hop into his work through conducting various workshops, events, and conferences that develop the lens of social identity, and connect students to social action, through the elements of Hip-Hop.

When he’s not DJing, CAZU enjoys traveling, cuddling & playing with his dog Koko, catching up on the most recent Marvel series on Disney+ or watching Star Trek, playing chess, going to concerts and music festivals, attending comic and anime conventions, doing escape rooms, and collecting designer toys.