In a city where hip-hop and EDM dominate the dancefloor at most clubs, DJ Jazlyn Rich has reaffirmed R&B’s place within the Las Vegas party scene—with a little help from her friends.
Since 2019, the 25-year-old has held down Simp City, a trendy R&B bash that has drawn in the likes of Bryson Tiller, Keyshia Cole and Mario over the years, and will celebrate its four-year anniversary at Zouk Nightclub on December 16.
Simp City has popped up all around town, from Brooklyn Bowl and the former Hard Rock Hotel to Drai’s Nightclub, where Rich recently performed a pivotal set of her nostalgic ’90s and 2000s blend.
“I celebrated my 21st birthday at Drai’s … now I have a DJ set there at 25 years old? As a woman of color? Born [and] raised in Las Vegas?! Get out of here!” she posted on Instagram.
Rich, who early on practiced with DJ controllers in her bedroom and at the Blend DJ Institute, comes from a long line of music lovers.
“My grandpa is a jazz drummer, and my mom and dad really loved R&B, so that’s where my heart lies,” she says, smiling. “I always remember music being played. You wake up on the weekends, the parents are cleaning the house. There’s music being played, all the vibes are there.”
When her father, Chris Richardson, a UNLV basketball alum known as “C. Rich,” died, Rich altered her DJ name to J. Rich to honor him. “I try to in any way that I can,” she says, adding that it’s also the impetus behind the annual toy drive she hosts.
If he could see her now, he’d surely be proud of the breakout year she has had. In October, the DJ organized her own event called Nostalgia, a pop throwback dance party, featuring songs from the soundtracks of retro TV shows and movies, at 24 Oxford. The party drew nearly 400 people and will return in January.
And earlier this year, Rich DJ’d Usher’s afterparty at On the Record’s Vinyl Parlor. “I remember going up to him and just telling him, ‘Thank you so much for everything that you’ve done for music,’” she says. “There wouldn’t be a lot of what we have today without [him].”
As a DJ, Rich is at an early high point in her career. But as a Las Vegan, she’s far from forgetting the hometown that made her. “In high school, I was never really that social or believed in myself, so the fact that I have genuine support here in my own city … It really means the world to me,” she says. “I don’t want to let them down.”
Being a Black, Mexican and Filipino female artist, Rich’s success means more than anyone could know. There’s a pressure to prove oneself, she says, but “that just fuels me to want to do more, and for all those girls that look like me, too,” she says. “There’s not many of us out here making these kinds of moves.”
SIMP CITY 4-YEAR ANNIVERSARY December 16, 10 p.m., $35. Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.
J. RICH soundcloud.com/jazlynrich.
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