Marvelle Brown speaks the universal language of music

It should come as no surprise that Marvelle “Yoshi” Brown would choose a career that involved music. Known locally as DJ Yoshi, Brown plays music and entertains crowds at various events, gatherings and fundraisers. He has entertained at local events and has even appeared at such well-known events as the Essence Festival in New Orleans as well as the Super Bowl media party.

A native Shreveporter, Brown grew up in the Cooper Road neighborhood, which he said was “the second-largest black community, next to Harlem. It was like its own little town, just about.”

Music was an ever-present element in Brown’s early life. “My dad was a DJ,” he said. The elder Brown had done some DJ’ing in high school and returned to that work eight to 10 years later. Shot in the back just a month before Brown’s birth, “he started DJ’ing while he was in a wheelchair.”

“Family gatherings, family reunions, my dad used to DJ on Sundays at the neighborhood park, Cooper Road Park. He would DJ for free on Sundays just to give the neighborhood some entertainment.”

The younger Brown would dance while his father played the music. Brown used to watch The Box music channel and learned the dances from the music videos, “even tried to replicate what I saw to the songs that my dad would play and try to demonstrate that. He would play the songs at the park, and I would do the dance.”

Music was a staple in Brown’s family. His grandfather hosted a gospel radio show, but was mainly a guitarist, while his mother was “a really good dancer, too.”

Moving into the world of DJ’ing was a logical next step. His father showed him how it all worked. With a Radio Shack mixer, he showed his son how to fade one song into another. Although he did no mixing or advanced DJ’ing then, Brown helped keep things going whenever his father went on a break.

So what were Brown’s musical influences?

“I was very, very influenced by the Grambling Marching Band,” he said. “My favorite part of a football game was watching the band at halftime. I would replicate the announcer and call out the dances that the band would do.” Brown even joined the band in middle school and high school.

Today, DJ Yoshi plays music at various events and venues. “My duty is to entertain the client’s guests. Basically, you’re an entertainer, to give people a good time by using music,” he said. “I like to remind people of the best time of their life and let them relive that while I’m playing a series of songs. I want to take them to a moment (in their lives). I hardly get any requests. Everybody is OK with everything I play just because I think about reading a crowd.

“When you’re a DJ, you’re definitely an entertainer as well. You play music, and you entertain. That’s the uniqueness about DJ’ing.” It’s more than just playing a songlist. “It’s the way that your brand or your charisma sells music to crowds.

“If I play a song such as ‘Let’s Groove,” I can see how the crowd’s reacting to that. I would probably play another song that’s around that era that has the same beats per minute, the same tempo of that song.”

What is the appeal of DJ’ing to Brown? “I like to create,” he said. “It comforts me to know that I can play a series of songs that I want to play, and if there’s an audience out there that can appreciate it, it’s like having magical powers, and people will show up to watch it.”

Today, DJ Yoshi is branching out, extending his DJ’ing talents beyond the Ark-La-Tex.

Just recently, he worked his musical magic at the Essence Festival in New Orleans. “The Essence Festival is probably the largest summer festival in this country. It’s put on by Essence Magazine, and it’s only the best of the best. It’s top tier. This is where you go to see all of the greats in one weekend, from Aretha Franklin to Ludacris. The first time I saw Prince perform was at Essence Fest. I saw Janet Jackson perform at Essence Fest. I interviewed a lot of celebrities at Essence Fest. It was definitely an opportunity for me that I was one of the first DJs to be a part of Essence Fest. The DJ lineup is amazing!

“That’s what I set myself out to do. I’m not running down just to be the first to do something. I’m running down to be the first to show other DJs that this is an opportunity for you. I’m just going to plant the seed, and you become the water and let it grow.”

He also appeared at the Super Bowl media party. “The Super Bowl host committee hired me to represent the city of New Orleans as a DJ for the media party for all the media that was going to be there, like Fox News and ESPN.”

Locally, DJ Yoshi has shown off his talents at such fundraisers as the Eye Ball for the Louisiana Association for the Blind at Live! Casino-Hotel and Over the Edge to help Shreveport Common and The Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana. “I’m so thankful to be a part of such a great fundraiser (as Over the Edge), and I’m looking forward to it every year. I had no idea how cool that event was,” Brown said.

Wendy Bescotter, executive director of Shreveport Common, had nothing but praise for Brown’s contribution to the fundraiser, hosting a block party in front of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. “We were very blessed to get him,” she said. “He is the dearest man you have ever met. He showed the kids how to be a DJ. Even with a hundred people in it – people came and went – it never really felt filled up, (but) he acted and worked it like he had 5,000 people. Just a really good guy.”

“I don’t DJ just to play the latest music,” Brown said. “I DJ to play the most familiar music. There’s a time and a place where DJs can play music just to get people to go crazy, playing the latest songs. We didn’t have an outlet to hear that song, that when you heard it, you’d want to hear it as often as you could.

“Playing new music is cool,” he admitted. “I rarely play that music. I’m into the oldies. The demographic that I play for is from 5 to 75, but at the same time, my comfort zone is the demographic from 35 to 75.

“Whether it’s soft rock, pop, whatever it is, I just like to play music.”