| Nikki Shamdasani | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | DJ Lady Tribe |
| Origin | Hong Kong, China |
| Genres | hip-hop r&b reggaeton |
| Occupations | graffiti artist, turntablist, actress |
| Instruments | sampler mixer |
| Associated acts | Murda Mamis, Various Graffiti groups |
| Website | http://www.djladytribe.com |
DJ Lady Tribe is a graffiti artist/disk jockey who is of Japanese, Indian and Hispanic descent. She is also known as "Nikki" and "La Loka". Recently she has ventured into acting, and made several cameo appearances in both music videos, and movies.
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She was born Nikki Shamdasani in Hong Kong to a Japanese mother and an Indian-Hispanic father,[1] but was raised in Los Angeles, California.[2] In her rebellious teen years, she was a graffiti artist who often went to jail. She has often spoken on her rebellious years in many interviews.
| “ | My friends first showed me about tagging and picking up a marker and hitting up the streets. I was tagging on the benches and then next thing you know I was tagging on the bus. It was just addicting, like a drug. Instead of me getting into drugs, I got into tagging. I loved getting my name up. I would get on the bus and go, “Oh there goes my name again.” Next thing you know every bus I took I was up on it. I got in a bus crew called RTDK, it was the most known bus crew…but nowadays, I don’t think that kids should be doing that because you’ll pay for it eventually. | ” |
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—DJ Lady Tribe[3] |
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She has also mentioned her latest arrest and probation for vandalization.
| “ | They did a huge investigation. They came and raided my house. They found like 300 spray cans. I was so young…I had a tag in my phone book with the word Tribe and my own phone number next to it. So I burned myself. It was a misdemeanor, so they gave me probation, no big deal. Slap in the hand, whatever. Then I just kept going. That didn’t stop me at all. So I kept bombing and bombing and bombing. Eventually I got caught in the act. They let me go that night because those cops didn’t know who I was. But then the next day an anti-graffiti squad found out who I was and they started a bigger investigation. Two weeks later they came and raided my pad again. It was a huge raid with at least 20 police cars. They took me in and they gave me a $100,000 bail. | ” |
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—DJ Lady Tribe[3] |
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After having her home raided a few times by the law and receiving probation, she decided to get into music, and started playing with turntables, that she was given at the age of 14.[4] However, it is unknown how she started performing gigs at various venues.[5]
She is member of an all-female hip-hop crew called Murda Mamis[6] which includes DJ Lazy K, Remy Ma, La La, Shawnna, Rah Digga, First Lady El, among others. She was the headline tour DJ for DUB Celebrity Carshow late 2004-2006, appearing in over 30 shows.[7] She was the headline tour DJ for Hot Import Nights 2004-2006, appearing in over 45 shows.[8] She was a DJ on the Pepsi Street Motion tour 2004-2006,[7] as well as various celebrity events.[9]
| “ | I was with a bunch of girls that I made friends with and I felt comfortable, so I was taking shots. I was just having a good time, I didn’t think about anything. Not the cameras, nothing.I only regret stuff that happened off camera that only the people there know about. I apologize for that stuff. I can’t watch myself on TV. I only watched part of the show. Looking at the parts of the show made me say, “OK, I gotta, like, not drink ever again!” I was so wasted after the concert that I was sleeping. Someone woke me up to join the party, and so I started just taking those shots. I get kind of wild, I guess, you know? Not with guys always because I don’t want to look like a hoe. You know what I mean? I wasn’t the one getting the shot taken out of. There were a lot of things I did on this show that I never did before. I’ve never taken a shot like that before. I’ve never done anything like that. When I do something, I do it way out. I know it’s not always good to be like that.[12] | ” |