The selector
DJ & performer
Open-format sets for concerts, festivals, brands and private events.
Hear the soundAbout / The person behind the records
More than
the music.
DJ. Producer. Remixer. Music editor.
From Inglewood, Los Angeles.
Thirty years of moving people through music.
Music first.People always.
A lifetime in music
30 Years behind the turntables.
DJ QwessCoast was born and raised in Los Angeles and came up in Inglewood and Leimert Park. He has been a DJ for thirty years, and he is also a producer, remixer, music editor, host and songwriter. His debut single, “Hands Up High” featuring Inglewood Pizzle, came out in 2020.
His international tours include the Stevie Wonder Song Party Tour, Nas & Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives, Morgan Heritage, Omarion and Lloyd. From 2009 to 2011 he worked with Nas & Damian Marley as tour DJ, sound engineer, and backline, stage and production manager, on the Distant Relatives world tour and at Rock the Bells. From 2014 to 2016 he was Omarion’s tour DJ.
He has worked full-time in entertainment since 2002. His company began as Fred Cool Entertainment in 2002 and became QwessCoast Productions in 2011, growing from a one-person operation into a full agency. In 2018 it became Elevate Culture Presents, a live event production and marketing agency, where he is CEO. His event and media production work includes Nike, Sprite, the City of Los Angeles, USC Trojans Football, the LA Rams, Premier Boxing Champions, Showtime and Fox Sports 1.
His cultural event work began in 2011, when he co-founded Recapolooza at Venice Beach. In 2017 he co-founded the West Adams Block Party. In 2018 he co-founded the G-Funk Allstars with DJ Battlecat and Fred “Freedem” McNeil Jr., and he helped reimagine, rebrand and co-curate the Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival, leading its growth through 2020. Elevate Culture Presents has also curated the Mid City Art & Music Festival, the Obama Street Naming Festival, the Inglewood Black History Festival and Santa Monica Juneteenth.
He is the author of A Great Day to Be a DJ, a book and curriculum, and works as a DJ educator and mentor. In 2022 he founded Elevate Culture Corporation, a separate nonprofit that helps small businesses launch and grow. It has issued more than 80 grants and runs workshops, pitch competitions and business development programs.
He is also a Certified Holistic Health Coach. He owns and operates Haus of Grams, a licensed cannabis delivery and retail business; serves as CFO of the Black Los Angeles Cannabis Council (BLACC), which works for equity, policy reform and economic opportunity in the industry; and is a co-founder of Dilioo, an on-demand and livestreaming OTT platform.
Learn the room.
Born and raised in Los Angeles; came up in Inglewood and Leimert Park. Thirty years of reading the people on the dance floor.
Take it worldwide.
The Stevie Wonder Song Party Tour, Nas & Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives, Morgan Heritage, Omarion and Lloyd.
Build the culture.
Recapolooza, the West Adams Block Party, the G-Funk Allstars and Leimert Park Juneteenth, and A Great Day to Be a DJ for the next generation.
Los Angeles archive
Where the roots run deep.
The work continues
One point of view.
Many ways to move.
The producer
Music & ideas
Producer, remixer and music editor: records, edits and collaborations rooted in music.
Explore the workThe educator
Teach & build
DJ education and mentoring, the A Great Day to Be a DJ book and curriculum, and festivals and live events through Elevate Culture Presents.
See the workBooking / The next room is yours.
Make the
room move.
Festivals. Brands. Private celebrations.
Community gatherings, wherever they are.