How Asia’s women DJs are turning the tables in a male-dominated world

By the time she was forced to relocate to Manila in 2021 after a devastating typhoon, she was already developing her own sound. She was heavily influenced by the fast-paced energetic bass and jungle music that emerged from the UK in the 1990s, layering it with traditional music from the Philippines.

Banzon, whose artist name is Ezzrei, organised her first bass music night in Manila in 2023 because the clubs, which she describes as having a “monopoly” on nightlife, would not let her play the music she liked. Her night became a success and famous DJs started offering to play for free. According to Banzon, 39, the number of bass music nights has increased across the Philippines over the past five years.

The odds were stacked against Banzon playing an influential role in the country’s nascent bass music scene. Globally, the genre of drum and bass has the lowest proportion of women signed to labels, at only 5 per cent. Banzon experienced what she calls “cultural erasure” when the men she worked alongside refused to acknowledge her central role in platforming bass music in Manila.

“In a space where there’s a history of oppression, starting anything as a woman is a difficult reality,” she says. “But the movement caught on and I’m really proud. I’m building a legacy.”

Banzon is now part of a regional network of female DJs who have bypassed traditional gatekeepers to build their own following. In late May, she travelled to Hong Kong where Li Meng de Bakker organised a collaboration between her own bass collective Feed the Dragon and Banzon’s Continuum Bass.

“That night was so special for me,” Banzon says.