Performing at Madison Square Garden, the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium, and DJ’ing a birthday event for rapper Meek Mills’ son has become normal for a Dover teen.
Sophia Clayton, better known as DJ Sophia Rocks, is a 14-year-old prodigy turntablist who has rocked those three major gigs in just the last few months.
A freshman at Caesar Rodney High School, her next big performance is practically in her backyard — at Firefly Music Festival in The Woodlands of Dover on Saturday. DJ Sophia Rocks takes command from 1:45 to 2:30 p.m.
The festival’s 10th anniversary is Thursday through Sunday. More than 100 acts will perform and the headliners are Halsey, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Dua Lipa.
DJ Sophia, who performs DJ techniques such as scratching and juggling beats, will make her Firefly debut as the first act on the Pavilion Stage on Saturday. That stage primarily offers EDM artists and has hosted big acts over the years like Sophia’s mentor DJ Jazzy Jeff, as well as The Chainsmokers and Cheat Codes.
The ninth grader also is the youngest artist tapped to play the festival this year. Her show at Firefly will mark her first time visiting The Woodlands.
“When I found out that they reached out to us, I was really excited because I was always like, ‘I DJ for all these places [that aren’t] in Delaware … ,” she said. “I live five minutes away. So I’ve been really anticipating this moment. I’m really excited that it’s coming up, that I’ll be able to perform in my home state.”
DJ Sophia performed at Madison Square Garden for the fourth time in April. Two weeks ago, she worked New York Fashion Week and an after party.
This CR Rider also has DJ’ed for lots of birthday parties over the pandemic for kids of celebrities, including former Miami Heat legend Dwayne Wade, R&B singer Chris Brown and rapper Lil Kim. The first two parties were in California, while Lil Kim’s was in New Jersey.
Firefly and Sophia give back to Caesar Rodney
But the young DJ is a Delawarean at heart and she bleeds blue and gold for her Riders family.
DJ Sophia and her family partnered with Firefly to sell Saturday passes at a discounted price of $75 (compared to the current price of $125) for Caesar Rodney students, faculty and family to attend her show Firefly. Deadline for those tickets was last weekend. Proceeds will benefit students in need at the school.
DJ Jazzy Jeff ‘bubble-wrapped’ Sophia: He blessed her for her exceptional skills
Principal Sherry Kijowski said the school is considering using the funds to buy caps and gowns or winter clothing, or pay for a field trip for students who can’t afford them.
Kijowski said her goal is to always make sure the close to 2,300 high school students feel they’re in a “safe space,” something a school environment is supposed to offer. For example, the school has a washer and dryer students in need have used to make their lives a little easier.
The principal said she is thankful to Sophia and her family for stepping up to help fellow students.
“Sophia is very humble. Sophia is not one to go around and brag about her accomplishments,” Kijowski observed. “And there are quite a few.”.
Sean O’Connell, vice president of programming for Firefly producers AEG, said the idea for this charitable cause came up after he got to learn more about the CR freshman.
“I love the initiative that Sophia is taking with her DJ career and when I called to discuss the possibility of her performing, I learned a little bit about her and the fact that both of her parents work in education,” O’Connell said in a statement. “I thought that we could help get some of her peers from school into the festival to support her and cheer her on.’
“I asked if there was a cause she wanted to donate the money to, and I love that she wanted to support local families,” he added.
Friends finally get to see her live
DJ Sophia said it’s great that she gets to help others, while also making the festival more accessible for her peers. This will be the first time her friends get to see her play a big show in Delaware, she said.
Her friends aren’t able to travel to see her work her magic in a live setting, she said. And she’s pretty low-key about being a DJ at school because she said she prefers to be normal and keep her work life and school life separate.
Despite gigging at MSG four times in front of thousands of New York Knick fans, the pressure of performing at home has felt different to her, at least so far.
“I don’t normally get nervous for my events. But I think I’ll get nervous to this one because there will be people I know,” DJ Sophia confided.
During our interview, the young DJ, who’s typically calm and cool, started knocking on wood on a tabletop in her house for good luck, as she attempted to explain the gravity of performing live in front of her school peers.
“I don’t want to jinx it. But what if like the turntable turns off? With strangers it’s like, ‘[Whatever], the turntables are off.’ But with my friends, [they’ll be] like, ‘What happened in the middle your show?!’” Sophia explained.
But it’s not likely Sophia has much to worry about. She’s not your average 14-year-old DJ. Her dad is longtime DJ Dave Clayton. Sophia fell in love with the art while playing on her dad’s turntables at age 2.
She worked her first professional gig (which was small) at age 6 in Dover, and at age 11 she played the main stage at NY DJ Con in Time Square in 2019.
During the pandemic, she began to explode, with lots of bigger opportunities, including celeb birthday parties, lining up.
In 2021, she was invited to DJ Jazzy Jeff’s home in Bear to celebrate an event for Women’s History Month. The event featured women DJs handpicked by DJ Jazzy Jeff to do at least an hour-long set. Jazzy Jeff officially gave Sophia his seal of approval at the event, her dad said.
Followed on Instagram by DJ Premier
Nearly two weeks ago, Sophia ran into the legendary DJ Premier (Primo) at New York Fashion Week, an event she was working.
According to press materials, the runway featured lots of children and family of celebrities.
“(DJ Premier) came over and took a picture with Sophia and chatted real quick,” her dad recalled. “His son was in the fashion show. He said ‘[Let’s] definitely connect.’ ”
Primo now follows Sophia on Instagram (@DJSophiaRocks), along nearly 60,000 accounts.
Sophia said she doesn’t take for granted the opportunities that have come her way. She’s kept her head down and has worked hard to get to this place.
At the same time, she explained the major events she’s worked and celebs she’s met have become pretty regular for her. “It’s just kind of normal. When I met Premier, I had to wait like two days until I really realized like, ‘I met DJ Premier.’ He’s not just a random guy. He’s really, really big,” she said.
“But in the moment, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, DJ Premier.’”
‘It’ll really be cool’
With Firefly a few days away, DJ Sophia is still practicing her set. She said the challenge with doing nearly an hour set is trying to find over 70 songs you can blend together to make a cohesive experience.
And she’s not playing every song from front to back. She might use one song because there’s a cool part in the beginning. Then she might blend that with a song that has a crazy part near the end. Meanwhile, she has to make sure the songs will keep a similar rhythm when she’s cutting to the next.
Even at 14, she’s up for the challenge. This is why she’s representing Delaware at Firefly.
“It’ll really be cool to meet my supporters in the community and in person that live here in Delaware, in real life, not over social media,” she said.
And there’s another perk to playing Dover. “I can go back to my bed and sleep tonight after I’m done.”
Firefly Music Festival returns to The Woodlands (599 Persimmon Tree Lane, Dover) from Thursday to Sunday. For more information, visit fireflyfestival.com.
Andre Lamar is the features/lifestyle reporter. If you have an interesting story idea, email Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com.
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