Frankie Needles

Frankie Needles, multitalented DJ, TV host, radio personality, public endorser… FRANKIE NEEDLES is that man. A native New Yorker of Washington Heights, Frankie Needles nurtured his love of hip-hop with his first turntables and has since been perfecting his craft. As a young Latino, Cuban-Jamaican Frankie Needles was exposed to all genres of music, ranging from hip-hop to old-school salsa, funk and R&B. His musical influences include icons LL Cool J, Fat Joe, Run DMC, Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Phil Collins, Diana Ross, and Prince, among others.

As an entertainer, he connects with his audience on a cultural level and represents Latinos with positive messages like his trademark “Latinos Stand Up! I always take the opportunity to represent the Latino culture, he says. We can party and have a good time, but we must never forget the power we have as Latinos in this country!

In 2001, exposure in the clubs led to his introduction on-air as a popular mix show deejay at WEDR-FM 99 Jamz, South Florida’s top radio station for the hip-hop and R&B community. In 2003, Frankie Needles became the host and resident DJ of the international prime-time live music television show targeting urban Latinos, “The Roof” aired on mun2 (MOON-dose), a division of Telemundo-NBC. Frankie Needles is a pioneer in the reggaeton movement taking the world by storm, Frankie Needles has been a driving force in the development and exposure of the genre by inviting artists to perform on the show, interviewing them and playing the music to an audience, developing an extensive database of incredible guests for his shows…

Building a solid reputation in the music industry, Frankie Needles has traveled all around the world as guest DJ and as an ambassador of the Latin-Urban culture, in Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa (Japan), San Pedro Sula (Honduras), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and throughout the United States in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and New York City.

A charming personality and hype energy facilitates his personal relationships with some of the biggest recording artists in the game. Some include Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes, Sean ’ P. Diddy’ Combs, Tego Calderon, Ivy Queen, Baby Bash, and Sean Paul. High-profile DJ sets include a birthday party for Russell Simmons, an NFL Super Bowl Super Ballers Weekend party for Sean P. Diddy Combs, a New Year’s Eve party for producer Jermaine Dupri, and a Black Film Festival special event for producers given by producer/artist the Neptunes to name a few.

A personal career highlight was performing a DJ set during a sold-out Summer 2003 reggaeton concert headlined by Latin hip-hop star Tego Calderon at New York’s Madison Square Garden, along with Don Omar, Ivy Queen, and Daddy Yankee. That was major, Frankie Needles remembers. Reggaeton has been bubbling up from the streets for a minute, but to sell out the Garden? It just shows the power of Latinos to take a musical movement to the next level.

In 2005, Frankie Needles became the first host of Clear Channel’s Hurban initiative; WMGE-FM Mega 94.9 Latino & Proud. Most recently, Frankie Needles partnered with Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs and Pitbull in the launching of Bad Boy Latino.

Look out for the Frankie Needles DVD and in the future a clothing line with none other than his legendary trademark LATINOS STAND UP!

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