OPENING DAY BLOCK PARTY

Born and raised in New York’s the Bronx, HECTOR ROMERO’s DJ experiences include playing legendary venues like Red Zone, Limelight, Palladium, Save the Robots, the Roxy, Cielo, and Output. Over the years he has evolved into one of New York City’s prime ambassadors of house music, bringing his unique soulful and Latin-inspired house vibe to venues around the world. With 40-plus years of experience, this career jock is now throwing his musical diversity and eclectic taste as a sought-after A&R force in the music industry – under his belt are various mix compilations that he has curated, including King Street’s Soulful House Journey, Nervous and Records’ Weaving Genres Vol.1 & 2, projects that showcase Romero’s abilities as both a DJ and an A&R exec. He attributes his business savvy to having worked with industry legend Judy Weinstein during his 20-plus years at Def Mix Productions. This is where he matured as a record executive working alongside Grammy Award-winning DJs David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, and Satoshi Tomiie. Those relationships taught him essential lessons about the equal importance of a great beat and a great song. Currently Romero acts as A&R director of Orianna Music, a Latin Electronic boutique label owned and operated by Sony Music, a position he truly loves. Although New York is still his home, he spends a great deal of time traveling, and can be found stirring up dance floors in Italy, Greece, Japan, Spain, Canada, and various parts of the world. @hectorromero

With a career that is rooted in Black music history, storied venues, spectacular pairings, and momentous events, JOI CARDWELL stands alone as a vocalist, songwriter, producer, gay icon, and maverick who has always walked a path all her own. Her professional career started at “Amateur Night at The Apollo,” where as a college freshman she won five times. From there she claimed her spot in the pop/R&B producer Kashif’s (Whitney Houston) girl band The Promise at a cattle call audition, and sang her way into an Arista recording contract after one song at the piano for music industry icon Clive Davis. After leaving Arista, another fateful audition with Sony recording artist Lil Louis led to the classic album Journey with the Lonely, which spawned the No. 1 records Club Lonely and Saved My Life, along with the flawless Do U Luv Me and Dancing in My Sleep, securing Cardwell’s place on the dance floor for the next 20-plus years. As a solo artist, she was the center of New York indie house label Eightball Records, where she created two albums, The World Is Full of Trouble and Joi Cardwell, each producing four singles, an additional two No. 1s, and six top tens.  Trouble, Jump for Joi, You Got to Pray, Run to You, Found Love, Love and Devotion, Soul to Bare, and Power showed the world that Cardwell could play with the big boys and make them shake it to her very own groove. With the demise of Eightball, she took control of her publishing and master catalogs and released the nu-soul gems Deliverance and The Plain Jane Project to let the world know that she had more than one trick up her sleeve. In the same vein, she hooked up with Towa Tei to create a “Luv Connection” and guest starred with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials on The Creator Has a Master Plan, performing at the world’s finest jazz festivals, including Montreux, North Sea, and Nice Jazz. Riding the worlds of dance and soul, Cardwell manifested more hits: What it Feels Like, Be Yourself, Only You, What’s Freedom, Change the World, and We Can Do Better, to name a few. As a brand, she has successfully aligned herself with powerhouse companies that include Reebok, Starbucks, Sony Pictures, Nestlé, AEI/DMX, NEC Computers, NY & Company, Target Stars on Ice, Audi, Levi’s, and many others. Her music has been featured at fashion week shows and in international commercials, film, and television, and has been recorded internationally by other artists such as Towa Tei and Toshi Kubota in Japan and by Czech idol Martika. Cardwell is the recipient of a 2013 IDMA Winner best house/garage track, multiple ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards, and two GLAMA best dance artist awards. She can also list platinum and gold records, 20-plus Billboard chart toppers, and a 2016 top 100 greatest dance artist of all time distinction from Billboard magazine. Cardwell recently completed a Juris Doctor degree and plans to practice law in the field of economic and social justice, including intellectual property rights management.

Upon his arrival in New York City via Atlanta in the 1990s, TEDD PATTERSON established himself as a rising star in the underground dance music scene. As the in-house record promoter at Emotive Records and then at Liquid Groove, Patterson helped both labels become established as ones to watch, and while doing so began his own journey onto the main stage, representing house music worldwide. After numerous guest spots at some of New York’s most famous clubs – such as Limelight, Club USA, the Tunnel, Save the Robots, and others – Patterson was handpicked by Leslie Doyle for the “Magic Sessions” alongside all-stars Louie Vega and Tony Humphries. His specific sound made him a pivotal player at the party and exposed him to a worldwide audience. Legions of fans followed as well as the release of the Sessions Twelve (The Magic Sessions) compilation on Defected Records. His signature party, “Vibal,” earned him a 13-year residency at the award-winning club, Cielo. Patterson served his loyal fans in New York while making time to headline at some of the world’s best clubs: London’s Ministry of Sound, Berlin’s Panorama Bar, Pacha Ibiza, and Montreal’s Stereo, and he created a massive following in Italy, where he still returns each year. As a DJ, producer, and remixer, Patterson has made equally impactful appearances on celebrated, taste-making labels like Defected, Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Stereo, Junior, Unquantize, and Rekids, to name a few. His collaborations with Pete Heller, Eric Kupper, and Iberian heavyweights Chus & Ceballos have become house classics. Stateside, he is a reoccurring player at Ladyfags’ Battle Hymn party in NYC, often in rotation at Brooklyn's House of Yes, and a few other New York underground hot spots. He’s a fan favorite when his Horse Meat Disco family comes to town, and is a sometime-featured player at Glitterbox. @teddpatterson

TONY TOCA, aka TONY TOUCH, is an icon in hip-hop, house and Latin music genres and a true innovator who has revolutionized the DJ game over and over again. From his legendary albums and mixtapes – which include the original 50 MC’s parts 1, 2 and 3, featuring some of the hottest emcees in the game such as KRS ONE, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Wyklef, M.O.P, Big L, Mos Def, and many more – to his skills on the 1’s and 2’s, Toca became recognized on the streets and in the industry as the real “Mixtape King.” Today he is one of the world’s most recognized DJs, with appearances in Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Russia, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, Switzerland, Italy, Cuba, and more. He began as a B-Boy during the rap music era of the early 1980s and was heavily influenced by pioneers like the Rock Steady Crew, Grandmaster Flash, Red Alert, Louie Vega, and Jam Master Jay, then quickly shifted his interests toward the turntables and evolved his mixtapes to record releases. In 2000 he released The Piece Maker on Tommy Boy Records, an album that sold nearly 500,000 units worldwide and featured legendary artists like Big Pun, Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Gang Starr, and more. Since then, Toca has released The Piece Maker 2 and 3, featuring such artists as Fat Joe, Sean Paul, Snoop Dogg, and Ruben Blades. Toca is also known to represent the Latino community to the fullest; it’s the result of growing up with salsa music at home and hip-hop influence in his lifestyle. In 2005 he inked a deal with EMI Records and revolutionized the game once more with his platinum-selling Latin compilation album, ReggaeTony. Its hit single, Play that Song, featured Nina Sky and B-Real of Cypress Hill. Other featured artists included Tego Calderon, Ivy Queen, Zion y Lennox, N.O.R.E, and Voltio, just to name a few. EMI moved quickly to release ReggaeTony 2, which featured more heavyweight appearances. Toca has for nearly two decades hosted Toca Tuesdays on Sirius XM and is soon to release ReggaeTony 3. His latest release is The DEF TAPE (Def Jam Recordings), which serves as a companion album to the Paramount+ documentary Mixtape, which Toca co-produced. @DJTonyTouch