Sergio Jimenez, A.K.A. Latin Prince, was born and raised in Nicaragua, where – starting at the tender age of seven years old – he started visiting the radio station. There, he watched in fascination as DJs spun salsa and meringue side by side with American disco, funk, and R&B. He fell in love with music and DJing then, and that love never faded.
In 1979, Jimenez’s mother sent him and his siblings to live with family in Oakland, California to get them out of harm’s way during the Nicaraguan Revolution. There, through all the culture shock, he adjusted and fell even farther in love with American music, specifically hip hop and R&B.
Latin Prince has said, “I fell in love with the music, and I felt like I needed to find a way to somehow show people the love I have for the music.” His outlet? DJing, of course. He has been DJing for over twenty years now.
Starting with weddings and small events, Jimenez honed his turntable skills. He started playing out in clubs in Oakland when he was still under-aged, at just seventeen. Soon, he was playing at some of the hottest night clubs in the Bay, including Sound Factory, The X, Giovanni’s, and Club Mirage.
Then he got the attention of some of the people running 106 KMEL, and he was offered spots on the air, fulfilling his life-long dream of working in radio. After five years at KMEL, in 1997, Latin Prince moved to Los Angeles to work as an associate producer at HITS Magazine. From there, he moved to working as Director of Rap Promotion at MCA Records.
After MCA closed down, Jimenez launched his own promotions company. Since then, he’s continued to promote others’ work, as well as his own. While he’s worked a lot of jobs in the music industry and wears a lot of hats, DJing will always be Latin Prince’s first love, and he doesn’t plan on quitting any time soon.
