Join us for a dance into the sunset to house, future beats, and other lovely sounds presented by resident DJ Cecil and friends.

Rich Medina is a DJ, producer, spoken-word poet, archivist, and journalist known for his work across hip-hop, funk, Afrobeat, and house. His spoken voice has been featured on releases by King Britt, Phil Asher, De Lata, Antibalas, IG Culture, and Nathan Haines.

Medina grew up in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, where he grew up in a Baptist church that his grandfather helped build and was a deacon in. His grandmother was the choir director. He started DJing as teenager and played prep basketball at Lakewood High School, where he graduated in 1988.

Medina graduated from Cornell University in 1992 with a B.S. in Marketing, Management, and Black Studies. He played varsity basketball during his time at Cornell, and briefly played semi-pro basketball (United States Basketball League) for The New Jersey Jammers and was traded to the Jacksonville Hooters. His basketball career ended after a shoulder injury.

Medina moved to Philadelphia in 1992 to take a job in sales at Procter & Gamble. In Philadelphia, he began his career as an artist, DJ, and producer, where he met artists such as King Britt. Over the course of his career, he has produced for Jill Scott, J Dilla, and Bobbito Garcia, among others. He is a member of the hip-hop organizations Rock Steady Crew and the Universal Zulu Nation. He was also a contestant on the first season of the reality TV show, Master of the Mix in 2010.

As a DJ and event producer, Medina has organized Lil’ Ricky’s Rib Shack party at APT in the Meatpacking District in Manhattan from 2001 to 2010, and has been a resident DJ at the club, Le Poisson Rouge. In 2001, he also helped set up the ongoing “JUMP N FUNK” party series, honoring Fela Kuti and celebrating the cultural legacy of Afrobeat music.

He has given lectures at scholarly venues including TEDxPhilly in 2011, and was a Pew Fellow in 2021. His music journalism has appeared in outlets such as Complex (magazine) and The Fader.

A portion of his personal record collection lines the listening bar at Dante’s HiFi bar in Miami, where he is musical director. The bar is inspired by the Japanese jazz kissa.

Resident DJ:
Cecil (thePeople, SKIN Worldwide)

DJ Cecil’s music has delighted listeners and warmed up dance floors all over the world. Notably talented as a musician, recording engineer and producer, Cecil’s deep love for music stems from a childhood soundtrack of old jazz and gospel records, an adolescence inspired by hip hop’s golden era, and the fine tunings of studying classical piano.

However, his arrival to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 90’s would set the stage for something much greater; a path that would soon position him as an integral part of a burgeoning and beautiful soulful house music and dance scene. His passion for music is contagious; as he cleverly fuses house with the beautiful nuances of jazz, soul, hip hop and deep world rhythms. The result is a refreshing and colorful dance floor experience, that keeps the body at attention and the heart tenderly in tune.

Pulling from the influential rather than the derivative commercial end of the record crate, DJ Cecil continues to be guided by his genuine love of music.

Guest DJ:
Abs One

Abs One began his musical journey as a teenager in the East Bay area city of Richmond, Ca, where he fell in love with the idea of creating a soundtrack to life through the elements of hip hop culture. With a style curated and inspired by the sounds of the world, he plays music that invokes movement and emotion. A fixture in the Sacramento music scene for over two decades, rapping, singing, song writing, producing, lead resident dj and musical director Abs is also a member of the esteemed Twelves Wax dj crew. You can see Abs One play a weekly residency at some of the most popular venues across North America.