DJing is more than playing music for a crowd longing to dance and let loose; it is also about creating inclusive spaces and reading the crowd. Ashley De La Torre, who DJs under the moniker Mo Mami, has been spinning records professionally since 2019. The Pilsen resident first debuted after curating and throwing parties with Babes Only, a woman-owned not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, empowering, and educating women and is known for hosting workshops and parties throughout the city. Evanesica Thompson started the organization in 2016 as a space for herself and women in Chicago to find a greater and deeper connection to the city.
Mo Mami started as a party hostess for Babes Only before Thompson asked her if she’d ever considered DJing. Thompson first started blogging as EvieTheCool in 2011 before starting the Babes Only venture and becoming a DJ in 2015.
“I [had] never seen a woman DJ up there until I met her,” Mo Mami said about Thompson. “Seeing her gave me the representation that I could do it too. From there, I got curious, started making beats, and immersing myself in the scene until one year in 2018, I got a DJ controller for Christmas and never looked back.”
With Thompson’s mentorship and lots of practice under her belt, Mo Mami, twenty-eight, soon began to DJ bigger events from Wicker Park Fest to Lollapalooza. Her sound captivated audiences in cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and New York. Her mixes have been featured at places such as at WNDR Museum in Chicago and at Blind Barber in New York City.
In May, Mo Mami DJed at Pilsen’s first-ever Margarita Fest, where her signature blend of worldwide influences shone in her set, dazzling her audience and immersing them in an unforgettable music experience.
“I knew I wanted to be there to be a core Latin influence and then I built around that and took it around the world from Latin America and expanded out,” she said.
This summer, Mo Mami has hosted two of her monthly Fever Dream Worldwide rave experiences: in June at The Giant Penny Whistle, and in July at Navy Pier. Over the Fourth of July weekend, she was the main DJ for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.
This weekend, Mo Mami will perform at Miche Fest, a Latinx festival (now in its sixth year) at Oakwood Beach, among a lineup that includes DJ Jade, DJ Mochi, and Mamicana.
“I consider myself a global girl. I like to play different languages, vibes, and tempos. I like to go around the world, especially being rooted in Chicago. A lot of my songs are rooted in the ghetto, tech, juke, house [genre] That is where I feel comfortable,” she said, “I want people to come to my set and feel seen no matter where they’re from.”
Mo Mami further established herself with her brainchild, Fever Dream Worldwide, a concept that came to her after an intense dream during the 2020 pandemic. She wanted to open the space back to BIPOC, LGBTQ+ people, and others to capture the essence of being youthful. These raves are dance parties held at venues in Pilsen that provide a safe space for those who are looking for a community-oriented rave experience.
“Fever Dream was the trickiest thing I could think of,” Mo Mami said. “The concept itself came from this desire to bring this underground free, Black, Brown, queer, and electronic sound back to the South Side and Chicago in a way that Europe commodified the underground.”
Offering a warm welcome to people of all cultures and identities doesn’t stop in the DJ booth. From wearing a keffiyeh during her Margarita Fest set to opening up and moderating a mental health panel for Babes Only, her role as an activist played an important role before her career as a DJ, dating back to high school.
“I remember I went to my first protest downtown with some friends,” she said. “I believe it was for an incident that happened to someone named Tamir Rice. Something about it just spoke to me.”
Mo Mami initially aspired to become a lawyer to help those who needed it most. Now, her mixes help people unwind and dance.
“I always say that I think I help more people than I ever could have as a DJ, than I would have as a lawyer,” she said. “When Im DJing, there are 500 people in the room who are relying on me for a good night from whatever kind of day they had. To me, that’s a responsibility I hold with so much pride.”
Photos by Layla Brown-Clark.
Layla Brown-Clark is a Morgan Park journalist passionate about telling arts and culture stories about the South Side.
