I feel sexy whenever men stare at me – DJ Linda Jacks

Peradventure you come across her for the first time, you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from taking a second, and even several looks at her.

Linda Jack a.k.a, Sexy .D.J Babylynn, is the number.1 Radio and Club D.J in the U.K and Nigeria. And her Radio show, Babylynn Night Nurse on Naija FM (UK) is the most popular across the board for its time slot.

Her debut single, Pon Kan E La (Lick Something) recorded mid year featured Nigerian music heavyweight K-Solo of ‘Nigboro’ fame. And till date, she has had over 75,000 downloads from her social network sites alone. The single is getting massive airplay in UK, USA and Nigeria courtesy of the D.J associations of the respective regions of which Sexy Dj Babylynn is a member and associate.

Sexy D.D Babylynn has won bagful of awards to her credit which include, Best Radio DJ on Naija FM UK 2009, 2010, 2011, Sexiest DJ (African Pride Magazine Awards) 2011, Best DJ Nominee Peak Awards 2011 Nig. (1st female DJ ever nominated in 6 years), Best DJ Road Show UK (Babylynn Bling Tour) 2010. Road Rockers Awards and Best Female Club DJ UK 2010, 2011 and Clubbing Forever Awards.

In this chat with AKINTAYO OPEOLUWANI & JENNIFER NNANNA, she talks about growing up, her relationship with men, her broken marriage, her career and others.

Excerpt:

Don’t you think you’re too flashy?

I don’t know but I get a lot of attention all the time and I like it. I think it’s just me being myself. I’m really proud of my sexiness because a lot of people think I’m a bit weird because of my dressing. I’m actually dressed toned-down today because I knew we were going to be in the public and didn’t want to create a lot of attention.

So what is it like toning down your dressing?

Wow! I love a lot of attention with the kind of job that I do, being a D.J. A lot of ladies deny that they don’t like attention. I love attention especially when it comes from men.

Linda Jack

Don’t you think it has something to do with the fact that you’re a black woman?

Yes definitely. To me , I love attention because that means I’m making a lot of statement with my style. If no one looks at me then, it means there’s something wrong with me. On my way coming here, I had a lot of people staring and the more they looked, the more I enjoyed it.

But once you’re on your job, nobody sees all that you put on.

There are two sides to me; when I’m at home and not working and when I’m working as a D.J. When I’m at home, I’m laid back because I have to wash plates, cook, clean the house and do everything like every woman does. But when I’m working, I keep it real.

How come you cook when you’re this elegant?

Yes I cook and mop the floor.

Do you have kids?

Yes I do.

Are you a single mom?

Yes I’m a single mom.

How would they feel seeing their mom doing the work of a D.J?

They are used to it now. But a couple of years ago, they didn’t really understand why their mom would get a lot of attention while doing her job. Now, they’re used to the attention and they love it.

Where is their father?

I’m that type that loves taking life easy and keeping it real. I got married at age eighteen. My first son is actually 20years and my daughter is sixteen.

Did you get married at eighteen in Nigeria or in the U.K?

I got married in the U.K even though my parents didn’t approve of it. But I was love struck and went ahead with the marriage.

So what happened?

I think what actually broke it down was my job. He couldn’t cope with me being a D.J and into entertainment. So, he wanted me to choose between him and my job. So, I chose my career because that’s what makes me happy.

Why did you choose to be D.J?

Linda Jack

When I was growing, I was a tomboy. I always liked to do what men do. I’ve never really done what females do because I find it boring. So I’m always out there challenging men and sometimes people find it scary. Sometimes I tell people that they shouldn’t let my eyes fool them because I may look like a female on the outside, but inside I’m a male. But some people took it the wrong way and doubt whether I’m a real woman. I’m a real woman but don’t just have the urge to do what most women do.

What are the challenges of a woman living in men’s world?

It’s really challenging. I get nasty challenges from the male in the industry because I’m trying to do what they’re doing and even do it better than them. And sometimes, when I go to the club with my fellow D.Js, I get more attention and they want me more because I’m beautiful. So they get more attracted to me and the males don’t really like that.

So it must have been very tough when you just started?

Yes it was very tough. My first year was really tough and I almost gave up because…

Did you start under someone or on your own?

I went to a media school and studied everything because that’s what I wanted to do. So the first year was really tough and a lot of male D.Js saw me as a threat. There was a time when some of them were saying that I wasn’t good but that I was using my beauty to get jobs. I wouldn’t lie, I’m a female and when I’m on the beat, I do everything to get to my crowd and fans. They love what I do and I don’t just go there to play music like most male D.Js do. When I’m on the beat, I don’t just play music, I dance to it and make some sexy moves as well.

What was growing up like?

Growing up was really good. But my parents didn’t approve of it when I told them that I wanted to be a D.J. I used to dance a lot but they were not buying it because I really love dancing. And whenever I’m in a club, you wouldn’t see me sitting because I’ll make sure I dance till morning.

What kind of parents would take away their support from you?

I was born in London, so my parents are open minded. After a while, I came back to Nigeria and had my secondary school education. So I had the opportunity to grow up here and that’s why I really like Nigeria because I spent some time here before finally going back to the U.K.

So why did you come back to Nigeria?

Linda Jack

I really love the Nigerian entertainment. And when I was in the U.K, I was always promoting Nigerian artistes. It’s not as if I didn’t play songs of artistes from other countries, it’s just that I was 70% Nigerian. And even in London, America and in the U.K, they knew that I support Nigerien music. But while still abroad, I used to come home regularly . What made me come home finally was like three years ago. A lot of people here already heard about me and they started contacting me and asked me to bring it here. So I decided to bring the swag back home.

With the jungle out here?

I’m prepared for it. I’m very thorough. Don’t let my looks fool you, even my manager will tell you that.

You were once married, now your job is your focus. Don’t the men come?

People ask me all the time. I get a lot of calls and I’m very open. I don’t pretend. There were times on my show in the U.S, we would talk about adult stuffs. I gets calls from single men who want to marry and I meet men all the time. But the truth is that they’re scared because of what I do. Most of them ask me to look for another job. But I can’t do that because I don’t accept a man coming to tell me to leave my job. If you love me and want to be in a relationship with me, you need to love my job.

So what happens if a man doesn’t love what you do?

Then how can he love me? He has to understand that I have to go out by 10pm and come home in the morning with my hair smelling of cigarette because I’ve been D.Jing in the club all night. But it doesn’t mean that I’ve been there messing around, it’s just that it’s my job. When I was in the U.K, you don’t just see me hanging around gossiping, I jump into my car and I’m gone.

But people think bad of females in this kind of business

Yes that’s true. A lot of people and even men think I’m promiscuous. Sometimes when I meet some men, they’d conclude I’d have lots of men in my life. So most of them ask which number they fall to. But whenever I tell people that I don’t do such, they don’t believe me.

So what should we expect from you now that you’re in Nigeria?

You should expect a lot from me because I’m bringing in a lot of things into the industry. It’s no more pushing the females behind closed doors. We’re coming out and I keep telling a lot of females in Nigeria to come out. If any female here wants to be a D.J, they should come out because I get a lot of people asking me to start something where I can train a lot of females on how to do the D.J job.

Linda Jack doing her thing

What’s your real name?

My real name is Linda Jack because I was married to a man from Ogbori in Port-Harcourt. I still use his last name because I love him.

So what are you up to now?

There’s something we’re working on. It’s been approved and it’s official. I’m going to be D.Jing for five days which has never been done in the whole of Africa.

When do you plan to do that?

We’re going to be announcing the date later.

Do you have sponsors?

We don’t have a lot of sponsors showing interest in it right now. So we’re just going to be putting something together.

Are you going to have other D.Js by you?

I’m not allowed to use another D.J . It’s going to be just me for five days......