Martin “DJ Paradise” Santiago knew early on what he wanted to do. Born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bronx, he began learning his craft by following his brother Frankie, who was also a deejay, by the age of twelve. Watching and learning, he began perfecting his skill and developed a passion for disco, followed by genres such as 80’s, Chicago house and electro. Then with the birth of freestyle, DJ Paradise found his niche. While starting off doing house parties and block parties in the neighborhood, it wasn’t long before he was entertaining many on the club scene.

After moving upstate and playing clubs in that area, a fan base began to develop. What started off as an idea with Apollo Records (a record store in Buffalo) and local radio station 91.3 FM, evolved into the Freestyle File radio mix show which aided in the growth of the fan base. While the following was big, once out of college, the show unfortunately came to an end. However DJ Paradise and a few others teamed up and brought the Freestyle File back to life through the power of the Internet. The show ended up being a win/win situation for many around. Not only did Paradise get to mix the music he loved, but also the listeners got a little something as well such as hearing their favorite old school artists as well as be exposed to the new school. The artists also benefited because finally there was a deejay who would play their songs no matter what. And with the theory of wanting to make the fans happy, he managed to get many artists to make an appearance on the show. Artists that visited the show include, but are not limited to, George Lamond, Noel, Nyasia, Safire, Chris Barbosa, Corina, Aby (formerly of TKA), Ayna and Heartbrake.

The File’s popularity was such that one time during a Live365 broadcast, he received a list of places were people were tuning in. That list included countries such as Lithuania, France, India, Turkey, Egypt, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Africa just to name a few. It was an indescribable feeling to know that one simple broadcast could reach so many different people around the world. The radio drew so much attention, that they were mentioned 4 different times in Dance Music Authority (DMA) Magazine by Steve O’Neil (which is who they got the name “Freestyle File” from with his blessings) as it was the same name of Steve’s column.

Although successful at what he was doing, Paradise felt like something was missing and wanted to explore new avenues. By getting together with Buffalo producers the Santana Twins, he began to learn the art of editing. While some may wonder what the big deal is since it’s only slicing and putting it together, to Paradise it was more then that. He would create his own melodies that not only gave the songs a whole new sound and feel, but it had the public hearing those “same old songs” in a whole new light. As his fan base grew with his editing, he would get emails saying how fans would get lost in their own world of music lust.

Some of his most well known edits are by freestyle artists such as Safire, George Lamond, Nyasia, Sweet Sensation, Cynthia and the Cover Girls. His latest edits were for Grammy Winner, Edwin Ramos on “”See You In My Heart” & “Tonight ” performed by Joey Kidd.

Primarily a freestyle deejay, he decided to give editing other forms of music a shot, such as Depeche Mode’s “”It Doesn’t Matter”” (which ended up on a Depeche Mode Remix Compilation) and German band Wolfshiem’s, “”Approaching Lightspeed”” who put the mix of the song up on their website. He is a fan of the pioneers of edits which include: The Latin Rascals, Chep Nunez, Omar Santana, Carlos Berrios and the Blade Runners just to name a few.

When it comes to the freestyle world, Paradise has a few accolades to his credit. Some of which include CD releases of “Ladies of Freestyle 2” on Metropolitan Records and “Banging Beats 2” on MicMac Records.
He also put together an amazing show tape for Safire & Nyasia to use when they are on stage performing.

In 2004, he had a weekly spot on the Latino Mix 105.9 New York City with Diamond Boy Luis as well as Energy 101.1 (Phoenix, Arizona), Latino 96.3 (Los Angeles, California) and 1450 AM (Connecticut).

His last project in 2012, involved good friend and fellow editor, Freddy The Edit Rivera and EDIT IDOL, Albert Cabrera. It was a remake of the classic, THE CARS— most memorable project yet !!! It was an honor 🙂

Although retired, he still has a love for the music, the Edits and is still managing his wife, Nyasia…