I'LL BOAT YOU (NYC House Music Boatride)

Who they are

• Mr. V

  5 bookings since Sep 2023

  often with DJ Beloved, Bucie, Delilah Montagu, none of them here that night

• 

  Hector Romero

  New York City · 14 bookings since Sep 2023 · Nervous Records rooftop house

  “Picture the summer 1983…In the Bronx, NY a block party, also known as a street jam, is in full effect.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Picture the summer 1983…In the Bronx, NY a block party, also known as a street jam, is in full effect. A 13 year old kid steps in front of the turntables and starts playing a combination of Latin, House and Hip Hop music. The crowd goes wild and quickly the neighborhood nicknames the young kid ‘Baby Hec’ Romero. As his notoriety and age grows, he finds himself playing at the premier Latin Dance Club ‘La Mirage’, and doing nights at the hippest street club the ‘Devils Nest’. The very same club where friend Louie Vega got his start. Soon after that, "Baby Hec" Romero (a name that has taken years to shed) found himself DJ-ing at some of New York City’s legendary clubs and underground spots such as Save the Robots, The Red Zone, famed Palladium, and the Roxy. In 1994, Judy Weinstein recruited Hector Romero to work at Def Mix Productions and assist in the creation of Definity Records, an imprint Weinstein and partner David Morales was working on launching. Hector found he was not as interested in Remixing or Producing but he loved the balance between the creative DJ and the businessman. A&R, and working on the business end of Music, was a better fit. Weinstein took him under her wing and taught him the technique of good business management. The longtime business arrangement garnered him the position of Label Manager of Definity Records the Def Mix imprint. Romero has found a balance by playing records at spots such as Filter 14 in NYC, Stereo in Montreal, Locomia in Portugal, and in other clubs around the globe. Mixing different types of music together is his "sound" and it is this mixture that has again increased his celebrity with the Club Culture throughout major European Cities, Canada, and the USA. A natural progression within the Def Mix camp gave Hector Romero his most recent business opportunity as a participating partner in Satoshi Tomiie’s upstart imprint SAW.RECORDINGS. Weinstein, also an investor and a believer in the duo team, is working closely with Romero to strengthen his profile as a DJ through the Def Mix Tours. With Romero’s business savvy, the success of Tomiie & Romero’s dream company is insured. As one of the creative forces of SAW, Hector brings to the team his experience as label manager, and his A&R and negotiation abilities. As a DJ, Hector Romero continues to play on weekends and will be joining the others at Def Mix in a Spring through Fall 2002 world tour.
  Discography ↗
  Their RA profile lists Default Records, SAW Recordings and Orianna Records.

  often with Robbie Lumpkin, Charlene Incarnate, Silk Mason, none of them here that night

• 

  Rimarkable

  New York City · 30 bookings since Sep 2023

  “Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist. She is a cultural architect, an Afro-Puerto Rican powerhouse who has been shaping the sound and spirit of dance music for more than two decades. Brought up in Detroit, sharpened during childhood summers in Chicago, and thriving in New York City, Rimarkable embodies the full spectrum of the Black diasporic tradition—gospel, funk, soul, jazz, house, and techno, all transformed into electrifying soundscapes that ignite dance floors across the globe. Her story begins in the sanctified heat of a Pentecostal church, where her mother, a classically trained pianist and music minister, saturated her childhood with gospel harmonies and discipline. Summers in Chicago exposed her to the earliest pulse of house music, embedding in her DNA a rhythm that would later define her life. By 1997 she was on the decks, and by 2006, frustrated with the industry’s barriers and biases, she became her own producer, turning resistance into innovation and claiming complete autonomy over her craft. Since then, Rimarkable has built a singular career that bridges worlds. She has shared stages with legends including George Clinton, Madonna, Erykah Badu, Louie Vega, Honey Dijon, Roger Sanchez, Pete Tong, and Francois K, while simultaneously cultivating underground spaces that honor community, authenticity, and radical joy. Her long-running events in Detroit, New York, and San Francisco have become touchstones for dancers and DJs alike, curating nights that are as spiritual as they are explosive. In 2021 she joined the storied Defected Records family, cementing her place among global house music royalty. As a host of the weekly Defected Radio Show, she now reaches millions of listeners across more than 170 FM stations worldwide, bringing her distinctive voice and impeccable taste to an international audience. Beyond the booth, Rimarkable is a celebrated educator and thought leader. She serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, and instructor at Waajeed’s Underground Music Academy, where she teaches her groundbreaking course series, “The Alchemy of DJing.” This work frames DJing as both art and ritual, blending technique, history, spirituality, and cultural analysis into a visionary curriculum, with raw truth and resources for navigating the scene as a business. She has presented versions of this lecture and workshop in Nairobi, Berlin, Yale, and the Queens Museum, underscoring her mission to expand dance music’s role as a vehicle for healing, liberation, and collective power. Rimarkable’s artistry is rooted in more than beats. It is about presence, justice, and transformation. Whether unleashing a thunderous techno set, layering vocals over soulful house grooves, or leading students through the metaphysics of rhythm, she approaches every arena with the same intent: to elevate. To remind us that music is ceremony. To preserve the roots of dance music while pushing it fearlessly forward. With releases on labels including Classic Music Company, Big Love, Club Bad, and her forthcoming imprint Betty Jean’s Dream, Rimarkable continues to expand her sonic universe. Each project is a testament to her philosophy that excellence, dignity, and artistry are not optional but essential. Detroit is her foundation, New York is her canvas, and the world is her stage. To experience Rimarkable is to step into a revolution of rhythm, where every beat is an invitation, every set is a sermon, and every dance floor becomes a sanctuary. This is more than music. This is Rimarkable.
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗Discography ↗
  Deep House on 1, Tech House on 1 and House on 1. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on Catharsis (1) and Raisani Records (1); their RA profile also lists Defected Records, Planet E, Nervous Records, Liberate and 6 more. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Last at H0L0 in Sep · often with Todd Edwards, Griffin Maxwell Brooks, Ksenyeah, none of them here that night

• DJ Romain