DJ Reflex pushes dancehall music in France

Jamaica-born music selector DJ Reflex is helping to establish the dancehall genre in the French city of Poitiers.

He is employed as the main DJ for the popular Buckingham Club where he plays at an event dubbed 'Afrodiziac Party'. He has also performed at clubs all over Europe.

"Dancehall in France is the same as it is in Jamaica, the money pull, the girls wining up ... it's the same. When I'm playing there, I bring Jamaica vibes to France. I push dancehall here and they like and accept it," said DJ Reflex, whose given name is Ilando Henry. "It's a very vibrant town and dancehall is growing here. I want to bring the French and Jamaican artistes together, to bring the culture closer."

DJ Reflex is pushing dancehall and Afro-diasporic sounds as Poitiers positions itself as one of the most attractive cities for young creatives and musicians. The city is a major university town with over 29,000 students, some of whom have international origins.

DJ Reflex grew up in Waterford, Portmore, St Catherine where he attended Waterford High School. He fell in love with music at an early age because of his father.

"I grew up listening to him play music then I fell in love with music. The first place I played music was at my school at the school party in about 2004," he said.

He said he got a major 'eureka' moment when he decided to christen himself DJ Reflex.

"I was sitting down with a friend thinking about a stage name years ago, in about 2005. Then the name just popped in my head out of nowhere and that was it," he said.

He migrated to France seven years ago and finally became bilingual three years ago.

"It was really hard and I struggled a bit to become bilingual. The French language was quite challenging, but I finally did it," he said.

DJ Reflex is also a producer and he has done songs such as dancehall artiste Taurus Ink's Loyalty.