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]]>Soaking wet from the rain, UNB students kept the tradition and spirit of Neville/Jones residence alive – by pushing a bed all night to raise money for Women in Transition House.
This year, the annual Neville/Jones house bed push raised more than $11,000. It’s Friday night at 8 p.m. It’s drizzling. The well-lit soccer field sparkles with water particles. Four students are pushing the bed, making a lap, then passing it to another group that is ready for their turn. A local DJ, who has performed on international stages all over the world under the name DJ Nasty Naz, is in charge of the night’s music. Students play football and frisbee, dance and get a bite of pizza in between laps.
There’s still 12 hours to go, 272 laps to push – before they will head to the Boyce Farmers Market.
The 19th annual Neville/Jones House bed push officially ended with a cheque presentation to Women in Transition House representatives.
Originally, Neville/Jones house was an all male residence. Male students came up with the bed push idea to raise awareness about violence against women. They traveled to the UNB campus in Saint John, constructed a bed and pushed it all night – 120 kilometres – to Fredericton. All proceeds supported the shelter.
Last year, the RCMP prohibited UNB students to push the bed on the highway because of safety concerns.
This year, Neville/Jones House reopened its doors, but as a co-ed residence, after taking a year off to renovate the house.
Becky McBriarty, the first female president of the house, said that for her and most students in the house the bed push event was a new experience.
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]]>A DJ, short for disc jockey, is a person who mixes music and plays it for an audience.
Fredericton is home to a DJ who learned the craft because of his love for music. DJ Nasty Naz got his start by working at a radio station in his home of Trinidad before moving to Fredericton on a scholarship from the University of New Brunswick.
He decided to keep his DJ career going even though he says the music scene in the city of Fredericton was a far cry from the Carribean beats he spun in Trinidad.
Naz says he has been influenced from a variety of DJs, but his unique style was crafted on his own.
“My way of doing things is totally different. My mic work, how I interact with the crowd, is different. I’ve looked at many people like Jam-Master Jay, the original DJ for Run DMC . . . all these old school DJs from back in the day, who created hip hop,” he says. “So I’ve looked at their styles and dumped it in with my Carribean, energetic style.”
Naz plays both public and private events but also hits the road on tour with some hip-hop artists like Sean Kingston. At those shows, his job is to perform on the turntables on the stage and to get the crowd hyped by working the microphone.
“I’m not a DJ, I’m a performer,” Naz explains.
“I’m an entertainer. Most DJs just play the track and that’s it. With me, I’m interacting with the crowd.”
Naz counts his success as a DJ not by the size of the venue, but through the looks on the faces of fans.
“It’s the same for a big event as it is for a small event,” Naz explains. “I did a wedding three weeks ago and the bride – with a wedding dress on – was dancing on the table.”
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]]>By the time they get to university, most people think they know what career path they would like to take. But life is a tricky thing and no matter how many plans you make, you can still end up somewhere different down the road.
When Naz Ali started his business career at the University of New Brunswick’s BBA program in Trinidad and Tobago, he dreamed of becoming a Pediatrician or Marine Biologist. Little did he know he would go on to become a successful restaurateur and internationally known DJ.
Back in Trinidad and Tobago he had already started out being a DJ at various shows and this career forced him to come up with an interesting and unique stage name, and so “Nasty Naz” was born! 
Naz decided he would bring his music and culture to the Canadian Maritimes and he moved to Fredericton in 2003, after being offered a scholarship to study business at UNB. He earned an MBA degree and managed to turn his underdog business plan, which he created for an entrepreneurship class, into a successful restaurant. Caribbean Flavas is an award winning restaurant located in Fredericton, owned and operated by Naz and his family.
Naz received a lot of media attention last year when he was invited by the famous singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, to become his personal chef during his Atlantic tour. Naz catered to Cohen and his crew for their entire stay in the Maritimes.
Naz’s dual career has him working 18-hour days, but he’s not complaining. He loves the crazy hours he keeps. Naz says that his two jobs are really more like six. Other than being a DJ and chef, he is also a radio and television personality, artist promoter, production director, marketing promotions manager, and more. He has also worked on tour with artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Snoop Dog and Sean Paul.
Russell Simmons, Naz’s mentor and a music and fashion industry mogul, said that Naz was, “highly motivated, a born winner, full of resilience and faith”. To this day, that memory still makes Naz’s jaw drop. He continuously works hard to stay true to Simmons’ statements.
In Salisha Baboolal’s interview with Naz for the April, 2009 issue of Caribbean Belle magazine, Naz said that whatever path you go down and where ever it leads you “be true to yourself. Find your groove and stick to it; stand your ground and be strong. Sometime’s others won’t see your idea or vision but it’s yours. No one can take that from you – ever! It’s your job to make people see it and believe in you”. Naz is an inspiration to finding and following your dream.
Even with the little downtime Naz has, he still has time to connect with his fans on the DJ Nasty Naz fan page on Facebook. If you would like to learn more about Naz and the people he has worked with you can visit his website, www.djnastynaz.com.
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