Papi Juice

Papi Juice is a collective consisting of three members: Adam R, Mohammed Fayaz, and Oscar Nñ. Adam and Oscar are the co-founders and resident DJs, while Mohammed is our illustrator and creative director. The name Papi Juice came up the week before our first party. We were scrambling to come up with a name, and we wanted something that was cheeky and fun but that also alluded to Adam and Oscar’s Caribbean backgrounds. So we were spitballing names and then Oscar said something about including the word ‘papi’, and then Adam said, “Papi Juice!”

You know what’s hilarious? We all met because of Tumblr! Even though this might hint at how old we are, we all met in 2011-2012. Adam and Oscar also met because they had a mutual friend but they had been following each other on Tumblr for a while. And then, Oscar and Mohammed met on Tumblr, which led to Oscar inviting him to the first party, which Mohammed instantly fell in love with. A few months later, the Papis asked Mohammed to design the fifth flyer, and he eventually joined the team.

First things first, we actually don’t believe in using the term ‘safe space’! For queer or trans people of color, safety is never a guarantee, so we rather talk about our spaces as ‘intentional’ rather than safe. We’ve known this for a while, but this was only further exemplified by the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in 2016.
Anyways, we decided to create this intentional space because we were tired of going out to traditional gay male/queer spaces and feeling like they weren’t for us. We’d all always loved nightlife and when we were little queer babies, these spaces were so exciting. But after a while, we all realized that they weren’t really for us or, at least, they didn’t feel like they were. This feeling also extended to art spaces. Adam and I initially bonded about creating our own art/music space while gallery hopping in Chelsea. We then went to a bar and, after a shot of tequila with our friend (who was the bar manager at the time), we were signed up for a party the week after.

One of our favorite things to hear is how so many friends, relationships, and even collectives came together after having met at Papi Juice. There have also been times, like after big social tragedies, that friends have mentioned to us how important the space is to them and how happy they are that they can come and experience it.

Mohammed: My constant inspiration for the flyers is the beautiful crowd that comes through. Party flyers in New York often have a noisy, internet aesthetic to them, and I love that our flyers look as colorful and vibrant as the actual event does. If you’ve never been, it’s the perfect introduction as to what to expect, and if you’ve been many times, it can invoke the good vibes of the party. It’s important that our bodies are front and center in natural ways—folks dancing together, touching one another, kissing, flirting, or even rocking solo because it’s like that too sometimes. I don’t have to look far when sitting down to make the next one: it’s all our beautiful skin tones in conversation with fabric, hair textures, accessories, and color that creates the full look.

Oscar: That’s so hard! Honestly, my set changes almost for every party, so I don’t think I could pick three songs that I never not play. When the party started, I know I’d play at least one Selena track and people would love that. But now, it just depends on the vibe. I remember closing out our last big party in August at 5 am with I Am Blessed by Mr Vegas and that was iconic.
Adam: There’s no guarantee these are on every set I play but it’s pretty likely you will hear one of them. I'm Every Woman by Chaka Khan, Finally by CeCe Peniston, and pretty much anything by Kaytranada.

Because they feel like these stories are not relatable to mainstream society. Even though, with the recent successes of Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and Moonlight, we know that queerness is not the only story we’re telling, and that crowds are actually able to relate to the complexities of our identities.

We could write a whole dissertation about this (laughs). But we’re just going to say that our experiences living in New York City are so different from a lot of people in the United States – especially folks living in smaller towns or in the South. In New York, there’s a big community, whereas in smaller places, these communities are just starting to come together. It’s exciting to see that because it shows that there’s a change coming!

We’re not sure that in 2018 we need to talk anyone out of their choice of racism, transphobia, or femmephobia. We’ve come to this political climate where folks have an entire world of knowledge and resources available to them – even Teen Vogue will help you work through your racism if you want to. Ultimately, these are not our people, not our allies, not our community (despite what the media will tell you every Pride). We’re uninterested in proving our humanity to anyone.

Come through! Our next party is actually this Saturday, October 20! It’s our last one of the year, so it’s bound to be a big and happy one. One question for you is, when are we playing a METAL party in Spain? Some of us have never been and we’ve heard that the paella is to die for (smile).
In terms of where we see Papi Juice going, we’re actually just working on it. We’d love to travel to as many different places as possible and have parties there as we meet our global queer familia. There is nothing sweeter than being in a new city and finding your folks, especially under the backdrop of the dance floor.