Kigali’s end-of-year celebrations just got louder. The city is preparing to welcome one of the Caribbean’s most electrifying exports, DJ Puffy, for a New Year countdown performance this December. The Barbadian-born disc jockey and producer, known offstage as Andre Parris, is no stranger to global acclaim. In 2016, he became the first Caribbean DJ to win the Red Bull 3Style World Championship, cementing his reputation as a genre-blurring turntablist who fuses Soca, EDM, and dancehall into an infectious groove. ALSO READ: Wahinduye Ibihe: Chryso Ndasingwa to celebrate faith in Brussels concert His visit to Rwanda comes a year after his previously scheduled 2024 show at Intore Sundays was canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. This time, organizers say the stage is set, and the energy will be worth the wait. “DJ Puffy is one of the biggest DJs globally who rarely performs on the African continent,” said a representative from Taurus Entertainment, the Canada-based company co-producing the event. “After hosting him in Halifax in 2023, we wanted to bring that same energy to Kigali. This won’t just be a concert — it’s a full celebration of Caribbean culture right here in Rwanda.” ALSO READ: Spinny and Friends second edition to stage in Kigali The event will mark DJ Puffy’s second appearance on African soil, following his performance earlier this year at Nairobi’s Marquee nightclub. Kigali’s edition, organizers add, will feature a star lineup of local DJs who will open the night before Puffy takes the decks for the countdown set. Details on the exact date and venue are expected to be announced soon. Born in 1991 in Barbados, Andre “Puffy” Parris grew up in a musically inclined household. His mother, Denise Williams, was a singer from Grenada, while his father, Curtis Parris, shared the same passion for sound. Puffy started DJing at the age of seven and got his nickname after dressing up as Sean “P. Diddy” Combs for a school event — a moniker that stuck long after the costume came off. His big break came in 2010 when he filled in for a missing DJ at a local event in Barbados. His spontaneous set caught the attention of entertainment entrepreneur Matthew “Fewwture” Ashby, who would go on to help him launch a global career. Six years later, Puffy was standing center stage in Santiago, Chile, crowned the world’s best at Red Bull 3Style. Since then, he has become one of the Caribbean’s leading musical ambassadors, blending regional rhythms with international club sounds. His remixes for Soca star Machel Montano, including “Waves” and “Showtime,” have pulsed through carnival circuits from Trinidad to Toronto, while his single “Bangalang,” featuring rapper Teff Hinkson, earned airplay on BBC Music. Puffy’s talent has carried him to some of the world’s biggest stages — from Rihanna’s Fenty X Puma pop-up in New York to major carnival festivals across the Americas. He has performed alongside artists such as Rick Ross, Omarion, J. Cole, and Jeremih, and remains the only DJ to ever hold both the Red Bull 3Style and Culture Clash titles. As the year draws to a close, the city’s music lovers have one more reason to step out, raise a glass, and dance into 2026 with the kind of energy only DJ Puffy can command.
