ABOUT DJ SHAE (Shannone Holt):
Music has been Shannone Holt’s first language since before she could write her own name. At just two years old, standing on a chair in her father’s church, she discovered the sacred power of sound—how a voice could open hearts, shift emotions, and lift a room into something beyond itself.
Born in Nashville to a doo-wop singer turned pastor and a pianist schoolteacher, Shannone grew up with music not just as background, but as prayer, expression, and lifeforce. Classical piano at six, violin with the Flint Symphony Orchestra at eight, and national drama tours by ten laid the foundation for a lifetime of artistry. Each new city—New York, Hamburg, Stockholm, Cape Town —became another teacher, another vibration shaping her eclectic and expansive soundscape.
As a teenager in New York, she fell into the heartbeat of Classic Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, and Country. By 2005, she released her first solo EP and journeyed across the U.S. with her guitar and piano, performing everywhere from intimate coffeehouses to large auditoriums. When her voice was chosen for the 100 Percent Human PSA, the path opened into a successful modeling career—appearing on Project Runway Season 5, VH1’s Model Employee, Power, Billions, and walking five years at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. She was featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Instyle, and Essence, as well as campaigns for Clinique, Nivea, and Hanes offering her the chance to travel, expand her creative expression, and connect with people and cultures all over the world.
Though her path led her through fashion and global travel, Shannone’s soul never stopped listening for the deeper call of sound. Her modeling travels across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas became a deeper initiation into the music of the world. She absorbed rhythms, mantras, chants, and tribal beats that transcended language and spoke directly to the spirit. This calling led her back to music—this time as DJ Shae. She built international audiences through WordUp FM and carried her open-format style to clubs, bars, and luxury venues across the U.S. and Mexico, from The Waldorf Astoria and Cipriani, to The Pierre, The Four Seasons, Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, and even Carnegie Hall.
In 2022, she was commissioned to produce the soundtrack for the National Museum of African American Music’s award submission, blending history, artistry, and spirit into a single sonic offering.
Now rooted in Costa Rica, DJ Shae channels her journey into transformational Ecstatic Dance experiences. Her sets are portals: weaving Deep, Progressive, and Disco House with Afro beats, tribal rhythms, shamanic drums, healing mantras, and Solfeggio frequencies. Her intention is not simply to entertain, but to awaken—to guide dancers into release, remembrance, and connection.
DJ Shae is not just a DJ. She is a storyteller, a space-holder, and a frequency shifter. Each set is a ceremony of sound, each rhythm an invitation to return to the body, the heart, and the truth of being alive.
