Just three years into the game, Mississauga, Canada-based Rosegold by any standards has accomplished a ton as a DJ. In addition to kicking off the New Year by spinning for President Barack Obama and at NBA All Star Weekend, Rosegold (real name Dahlia Keisha Palmer), also boasts an ongoing partnership with Soundcloud and recently dropped “Hop Out,” a single she co-produced with her brother, rapper Chillaa (real name Kamal Palmer).
Part of her success can be attributed to a head start from growing up steeped in music in a home that includes a studio. As the daughter of Jamaican-born reggae artist Garnett ‘Terminal DG” Palmer and a Jamaican-Canadian mother (who built the studio!), Rosegold’s fondness for Caribbean music goes beyond appreciation, it’s part of who she is.
More than just a firm foundation, Rosegold’s combo hustle/networking game is no joke, a go-getter mindset that brought to fruition the Soundcloud partnership and a gig as the opener for Jessie Reyez‘s 2018 tour.
Check out our exchange with this rising DJ talent below.
SNOBETTE: 2020 is off to an amazing start for you. You DJ-ed for Barack Obama’s appearance for the Economic Club in Toronto in February. We know he’s a big music lover just based on his annual music playlists. Were you provided with setlist guidelines?
ROSEGOLD: “Thanks so much! For this event specifically, I was given full creative control which as a DJ is the best! Thankfully, I did some research on Obama as he puts out a yearly best-of-music list. Toronto is huge on island music and a lot of the music on those lists were dancehall/reggae tracks so I kind of used that as a reference and then did my own little thing.”
SNOBETTE: You followed up with four different gigs at the NBA All Star weekend in Chicago. Music wise, did you have a theme in mind for the weekend?
ROSEGOLD: “I did! One of the best weekends of my life, honestly. I knew that Chicago was huge on hip-hop (obviously), but no matter where I go, I always bring the Island vibes with me so I knew I would play a lot of dancehall, soca and reggaeton and that’s what I did with obviously, a good mixture of hip-hop as well.”
SNOBETTE: You also having an ongoing relationship with SoundCloud. Can you explain what your partnership with the platform has been? Will that continue into 2020?
ROSEGOLD: “SoundCloud was the very first platform I posted my DJ mixes on when I started DJing three years ago. Since then, I’ve released every single one of my mixes on the platform. Long story short, I go to A3C Festival in Atlanta every year and in 2018, SoundCloud had their own mini-panel/workshop. It was a small room and I took advantage of that and made sure to connect with the representatives from SoundCloud.
“Each year, I host a networking mixer in Toronto and SoundCloud actually came on as one of my sponsors. It actually was the first Toronto event Soundcloud was a part of. Following that, in 2019 they asked me to DJ for their Creator Forum during A3C. And then I was recently asked to speak on their panel and DJ for their showcase in Toronto. Online and offline, SoundCloud has been such a huge part of my career and I’m so appreciative to all of their staff and the entire platform!”
SNOBETTE: Spotify and Apple Music are really dominating the streaming game. Where is the opportunity for SoundCloud?
ROSEGOLD: “I think what makes SoundCloud different from the other platforms is that it’s totally free to be able to upload and to stream (unless you want to purchase Pro, of course) and it’s so seamless to be able to search and discover new music. Especially as a DJ, SoundCloud allows us to easily upload mixes to their platform and share across the world whereas it’s not as easy to do so on other platforms at the moment.”
SNOBETTE: Aside from playing specific events, what are some of your music goals for 2020?
ROSEGOLD: “Without giving away all of my little goals and aspirations, one of my main goals for the year is to produce fire records and put out catchy songs that will make people dance and remember for time and time to come. I also hope to be able to collaborate with some other dope producers like WondaGurl, FrancisGotHeat, TankGod, Sonic and some of my favorite artists (crosses fingers).”
SNOBETTE: What are the current rules when it comes to what a DJ can/cannot play as an opener?
ROSEGOLD: “One main rule and one thing that drives me up the wall is when I walk in to a party and the opening DJ is playing new hits that just came out that should be saved for a later time. Obviously, everyone has their own style when it comes to building a party and opening and you can play whatever you want, however, you should NOT be playing ‘Big Drip’ or ‘Pop Smoke’ at 11:00 PM in the club, you gotta lead up to the bangers!”
SNOBETTE: You’ve DJed for some major corporate entities. What advice would you provide on making sure you’re compensated fairly?
ROSEGOLD: “Always make sure that you’re issuing invoices and sending out a contract/signing a contract when taking a booking. My main thing recently has been, every single person gets an invoice and a specific contract no matter how many times I’ve worked with you or how long I’ve known you for because you just never know. You have to cover your back for sure.
“Also, always take 50-percent deposits upfront prior to your name being posted on any flyers or promoted anywhere to make sure that if for whatever reason the event does not happen, you still have money in your pocket in case you had to turn down any other bookings that might have been on the same day.”
SNOBETTE: You were the opening DJ for Savannah Ré and Jessie Reyez’s tour in 2018. What was your most important lesson-learned from the tour?
ROSEGOLD: “I was!! Hands down, one of the biggest highlights of my career and I’ll forever be grateful to Sav and her team and Jessie and her team! Most important lesson that I learned time management and how kindness truly goes a long way. While on tour, I literally trained myself to be able to do a full face of makeup in 15 minutes just to make sure that I never made the team late or made anyone wait on me because each night we had a specific sound check time and then a call time for the show.
“I also just tried to help out wherever I could whether that be finding food spots or asking if anyone needed help with anything etc. This definitely goes a long a way and I’m so thankful that this was my first tour especially since this helped build the amazing friendship that Savannah and I now have!”
SNOBETTE: I know you just dropped ‘Hop Out,’ a single you wrote with your brother, a rapper and producer whose name is Chillaa. Was that your first time working together on a song?
ROSEGOLD: “Yes! So ‘Hop Out’ is the debut single from my debut album that will be coming out later this year and was produced by myself, Chillaa and ZL.
“My mom built a recording studio in our basement about 12 years ago so although this is the first song we’ve released together, there’s definitely a vault of some crazy songs my brother, sister and I used to make back in the day. We actually found some the other day lol! Chillaa will be co-producing all the songs on my album so there will be many more to come.”
SNOBETTE: You have an album coming out. What can we expect with the project?
ROSEGOLD: “I do have an album coming out and I’m super excited! All I will say is that, the format will be different from other albums that we are typically used to and all of the beats will be produced by myself and Chillaa and we will be bringing on some other fun collaborators. That’s all that I will say for now, just stay tuned!”
SNOBETTE: For your recent birthday party, you had a Beyoncé-themed birthday cake. What Bey songs are signatures of your sets?
ROSEGOLD: “I looooove Beyoncé and that cake was the best surprise, like ever! ‘Countdown’ is one of my favorite Bey songs and like I said, I’m huge on dancehall and reggae music and that song blends so perfectly because of the high tempo so I probably play that song at least once per set Lol! Also, I know it’s not Beyoncé’s song, but ‘Everybody Mad’ by OT Genesis, the Homecoming version might get slid into my sets every once in a while and I may or may not know and do the whole routine from behind the DJ booth Lol!”
SNOBETTE: Were you able to grab any of the Adidas x Ivy Park collection?
ROSEGOLD : “So, sad story, I was able to get four items from the Ivy Park Adidas collection and nothing fit. I was and still am very sad and literally had to mail everything back to Adidas. However, I have two Beyoncé Homecoming phone cases, a Beyoncé Homecoming sticker on my laptop and recently found an official Balmain x Beyoncé Homecoming t-shirt so I’m good, I’m all Beyoncé’d out, Lol.”
SNOBETTE: When you’re spinning outside of Toronto, what songs do you play to rep your city?
ROSEGOLD: “Definitely a lot of Chillaa, of course! One of my other favorite artists from Toronto is Lil Berete, I tour with him as well so definitely a lot of Lil Berete is in my mixes. Other than that, the island vibes totally represent Toronto so that gets thrown into my set one way or another when I travel for sure.”
SNOBETTE: Your entire family is seriously musical. I love that it was your mother who built the studio in your house. What three artists/groups would dominate the Palmer household soundtrack?
ROSEGOLD: “This is an awesome question but super hard. We listen to a bunch of different music but at any given time in our house you’ll probably hear Vybz Kartel, Drake and Beres Hammond (or any other old school reggae on a Sunday morning).”
SNOBETTE: You originally planned to be a teacher. What was the moment or series of moments that caused you to pivot into a career in music three years ago?
ROSEGOLD: “So I was in school to be a teacher while also starting my DJ career and tried to juggle both at the same time but obviously, one was more interesting to me so I spent more time on that. At first, I was just DJing for fun until I realized I could make it into a career and those moments were quite quick when I came home and told my mom I’m dropping out of school to focus on my career as a DJ.
“It became hard travelling and studying and not sleeping and I had to make that decision because school was very expensive and until this day, I am still actively paying it off but I’m very happy that I pivoted and made this decision!”
SNOBETTE: In addition to your mixing and song selection skills, style is an important part of what a DJ brings to a party. How would you describe your current look?
ROSEGOLD: “My style is very all over the place to be honest. But one thing you probably won’t catch me in very often is high heels. So, my style is anything that I can wear my sneakers with. I’m also the type of girl that will wear a $20 outfit with a pair of designer shoes. That’s my style!”
SNOBETTE: What three sneaker silhouettes are at the top of your rotation at the moment?
ROSEGOLD: “My camo Prada sock shoes; Balenciaga Track 3 sneaker and they aren’t sneakers, but my Louis Vuitton combat boots. I’ve been actually over-wearing them!”
SNOBETTE: Your Instagram feeds reveals you get busy in the kitchen. What’s your specialty? What Toronto restaurant can create a plate almost as good as yours?
ROSEGOLD: “Food is literally my everything! When I’m bored, the first thing I want to do is eat and that’s just my idea of fun. My specialty is definitely my mac and cheese and my rosé pasta with chicken Parmesan and anyone around me could tell you the same thing! To be honest, I’ve yet to find amazing mac and cheese in Toronto, but for chicken parm, my favorite is from a restaurant called Sugo in downtown Toronto.”
