Loira Limbal
aka DJ LAYLO
Loira Limbal is a filmmaker, DJ,
and activist. Since 2001, she has been producing and directing a
documentary entitled Estilo Hip Hop, which chronicles the revolutionary
Hip Hop movements of Brasil, Chile, Mexico, and Cuba. She has traveled
throughout the United States and Latin America, conducting speaking
engagements at schools, youth centers, prisons, and universities about
hip hop and social justice.
Limbal has worked at various
community-based organizations including The Point CDC, The Dominican
Women’s Development Center, and Sista II Sista. In 2006, she founded
The Reel X Project, which is a social justice and creative filmmaking
space for young women of color in the Southwest Bronx.
Limbal
received a B.A. in History from Brown University and is a graduate of
the Third World Newsreel’s Film and Video Production Training Program.
She has received awards from the Bronx Council on the Arts, Open
Society Institute, Royce Fellows Society, and the Lisa Sullivan Fund
for her work combining arts and activism.
As DJ Laylo she is a
pleasant surprise in any music scene. Her unrelenting commitment to
good music and rocking the crowd has earned her a reputation for being
able to give any venue a house party vibe. Born in Puerto Rico to
Dominican parents, her musical selection reflects her upbringing in New
York City. DJ Laylo effortlessly blends Hip Hop, Soul, Salsa, House,
Merengue, Reggae, and Afrobeat to the delight of partygoers everywhere.
She is the co-founder and resident DJ at Liberation Lounge NYC.
Her
love of music and turntables, has led her to branch out to DJing for
hip hop groups. She is one half of hip hop duo Eli Efi and DJ Laylo
which blends banging beats, politics, and a global perspective. Eli Efi
is a well-known hip hop pioneer from São Paulo, Brasil. In 1988, he
founded the politically charged rap group DMN and went on to record
five albums receiving praise from the hip hop community and music
industry alike. The group was nominated for best video and best rap
group at the MTV Brazil Video Music Awards, best rap song of the year
at the Hutus Hip Hop Awards Festival, and won best music video at the
São Paulo Shorts Film Festival. In 2004, he left DMN and now continues
his musical career alongside DJ Laylo.
Together, they bring hip
hop back to a place where MCs rocked alongside DJs to move the crowd
but with an international flavor with LF rhyming in Portuguese and
Laylo always finding a way to blend some Samba or Salsa into the brew.
They have performed throughout the United States, Brasil, Mexico,
Colombia, and Chile and have shared the stage with U.S. based artists
such as Styles P, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Jeru da Damaja,
Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Lord Finesse, CL Smooth, Welfare Poets,
Hurricane G, David Banner, among many others.
Websites:
www.myspace.com/djlaylo
www.myspace.com/liberationloun
