Sophomore Arly Osorio is channeling her passion for music into DJing, blending genres and
cultures to create a sound uniquely her own. Arly has been interested in DJing “for a fat minute,”
as she puts it, but officially dove in late December 2024 when she bought her first DJ board.
Inspired by artists like Azealia Banks and Zach Fox, Arly blends genres to create sets that are
anything but predictable.
“I like to put everything together all at once,” Arly explains. “Some DJs are all EDM, some are
all cumbia. Me? I like to DJ everything.” Arly likes mixing all sorts of genres and styles,
including rap, house, techno, drum and bass, Indian, and Arab music.
For Arly, DJing isn’t just a hobby—it’s a way of bringing culture and variety to Emporia. “I want
to bring, like, the culture that Kansas City has and I want to bring that here. I want people with
an open mind to enjoy new cultures and take it in.”
Balancing school, work, and DJing isn’t always easy. Preparing a set takes time, especially when
Arly’s perfectionist streak kicks in. “Some DJs go completely on the spot,” she says. “But real
DJs have some sort of a plan. They have, like, a specific way they want to go about it. I just like
to have, like, a consistent flow—storyline—through my stuff.”
For Arly, music is about connection and movement. Too often, she notices that people stand
around on their phones when they go out. She wants her sets to change that. “Honestly, if I DJ
and, like, if people are out just Shazamming, like, that’s what I want people to do,” she says. “I
want people to go listen to new stuff.”
“Stay tuned,” Arly says. “It’ll be lit, I promise.”
You can check out Arly’s work on SoundCloud at @arly172 and follow updates on Instagram at
@arly.172 or the ESU Snapchat story.