JUAN GOMEZ

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Juan Gomez is a multi-faceted artist—DJ, photojournalist, musician, rights advocate, and event coordinator—who currently resides in Oakland, California. A self-proclaimed child of hip-hop, he has garnered all of his experiences and research to demonstrate, musically, the far-reaching effect hip-hop has had in African music.

As a DJ, he’s been recognized internationally as a championing voice for both old and new popular music coming out of the African continent. Along with the countless events he has done in the West Coast, he’s also held down popular DJ residencies in both Ghana and South Africa, has done guest DJ appearances in Nairobi, is the primary curator for the Digging4gold archival music blog and photo project, and is the creative director for the UMOJA African Festival in Oakland.

As a photojournalist and researcher, he has worked with archival institutes in Ghana to document the musical linage of Ghanaian highlife, with much of his work focused on the syncretistic nature shared among African music and current musical trends from the Caribbean, Latin America, and the West. His work has been featured in several exhibitions and music magazines throughout London, South Africa, and the US.

Juan was on Next Level Team Zimbabwe and returned to serve as videographer in Cambodia, Guatemala, and Australia.