Rising Stars: Meet Ryan Joseph Corpuz Pacis (DJ WAY2PAC)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Joseph Corpuz Pacis (DJ WAY2PAC).

Hi Ryan, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers. 
Music has always been something that has piqued my interest; In high school I was interested in music production, this interest  brought me to DJing during my time at Cal State Fullerton. I joined a fraternity at Cal State Fullerton, where I met my two mentors, DJ MAZD  and DJ BRKN . What brought me to DJing was being immersed into the house party scene and listening to Soundcloud mixes by DJ MAZD & DJ BRKN, This That Slap by DJ MAZD and DO YOU HAVE A DONGLE by DJ BRKN were some of my favorite mixes to listen to at the time, it piqued my interest to not only put out a mix as your own art but to be able to control the vibe of a room and connect with people through manipulating music. Around that time, one of the brothers in my fraternity had a DDJ-400 and he knew the basics, so asked him to teach me how to DJ; that’s when I learned your basic 8 Bar mix transition, shortly after I reached out to DJ BRKN because he was a seasoned veteran in the nightlife scene, following the next few months I kept asking questions, watching YouTube videos and invested in my own DJ controller after borrowing another brother’s controller . Learning from DJ BRKN was very insightful, as he is a really good teacher when it comes to explaining things. DJing was so much fun to me and quickly took over my life as my main hobby, I spent hours practicing before parties, and after the parties at home. As time went on, I continued to play for house parties back on my DDJ SB3, I would borrow the laptop of another brother from my fraternity to DJ for all the house parties that I came across. There was one night where DJ MAZD went up to me while I was DJing and told me I was ready and asked, when do you want your first gig? I told him that I didn’t have a laptop, and he just said well, to get one and to let him know. Shortly after I invested in a laptop and had my first gig at Heat Ultra Lounge for Rewind OC. My first gig was nerve-wracking. I was so nervous, but once I hopped on the decks, everything clicked. It’s been over a year since I first started professionally DJing and I’ve learned so much from how to run my own business, networking, marketing, and a variety of different skills. Through hard work in the past year, I was able to get a job working for Power 106 for the street team through GoodMorningGabe, the DJ of popular rapper Blxst, and became a resident DJ & DJ Manager for NoRequestsNightlife.  As far as my future goals I would love to tour the world as a DJ, some of my inspirations are GoodMorningGabe & Miles Medina. I would also want to compete in DJ competitions and support myself through my creative endeavors. DJing was life-changing to me, and I hope through continuing to pursue this career, I can inspire the next person to pursue what they love.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of the struggles on the way were trying to get more gigs, learning to network, learning how to negotiate prices, and how to market myself. DJing has really taught me a lot of how to run a business but myself as well. Before DJing, I was a very reserved person, and I can say that it brought me out of my shell. DJing is one of my main sources of income and that was one of the most difficult things, it takes a lot of work to show your value. As well as growing up in an Asian household, creative entrepreneurship is not something so easily supported by your family, however this motivates me to prove to them that you can make a living off of it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an open-format DJ known for Hip-Hop/R&B, but the ability to maneuver through many genres is something I try my best to provide to the people. Apart from nightlife, I do private events, bars, and weddings. I think what I’m most proud of when it comes to DJing was how much it has grown me as a person. What sets me apart from others is my creativity; every individual has their own interpretation of the world, and it’s a blessing to show my perspective of music when DJing.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Big shoutout to my two main mentors, DJ MAZD and DJ BRKN, who have taught me how to DJ and navigate the nightlife and professional scene. My fraternity brothers’ special shoutout to Larry Ma for teaching my first transition and Ian To for letting me borrow his DJ controller. Some other mentors I’ve met along the way have shaped my path in DJing GoodMorningGabe , DJ of Blxst, who I looked up to when I discovered his SoundCloud mixes; he put me on the path to working at Power 106 for the Street Team.

Big shoutout to DJ Jakob Mesina who has been a mentor and one of my lifelong friends I made through DJing, also shoutout to my brothers Neeko Hsu (DJ Neeks) & Kelvin Velasco (DJ KZY) two lifelong friends I made through DJing and have started a DJ Collective with called Sync Studios.

There’s too many to mention but all the amazing people I’ve met along the way have helped shape my DJing career and have supported me through this pursuit. Big shoutout to the NoRequestsNightlife, RewindSocialGroup and Invasion Nightclub.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/way2pac
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dj.way2pacc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rjcpfosho/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dj-way-2-pac-diamond-bar-4
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/way2pac

Image Credits
@rob.img