She’s unapologetically authentic. A social media influencer and one of the hottest DJ’s in North Texas. Ivy Awino, who goes by DJ Poizon Ivy, is notably known as the Dallas Mavericks in-game DJ.
For the fifth year, she can add NBA All-Star Weekend DJ to her list of accolades.
“The NBA’s live production and entertainment arm selects talent from all over the league each year to participate in the NBA All Star festivities,” Awino said. “In my seven years with the league, I’ve been fortunate enough to be selected five times. I’ve DJ’d or hosted every event in the weekend.
For Awino, its more than just being a DJ, its an artform when it comes to choosing the music she will play at games.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
“Research aka Tik Tok,” she joked. “In all seriousness, certain songs are made for certain moments. I premiered a song ‘Rich the kid ft. Lil Tjay’. I purposely played a new AFROBEATS dong for the global fan cam ‘stability’ by Ayra Starr. I just always want to represent as many people as possible.”
She a history with the Mavericks that spans more than a decade. The last seven years a host/DJ and seven years as a ballkid. Born and raised in Dallas, she would have it no other way.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
According to her profile on the Dallas Mavericks website:
Born Ivy Awino in Nairobi, Kenya and raised in Dallas, Texas, Ivy mastered both the piano and cello before discovering her love for yet another instrument; turntables. In 2010, Ivy got her first break hosting her self-titled weekly online radio show, “Poizon Ivy After Dark” on WMUR, Marquette University’s student ran radio station. In a few short years, Ivy rose in ranks, setting off the city’s largest concert stages at Milwaukee’s Marcus Amphitheater and the recognized “World’s Largest Music Festival,” Summerfest, opening for some of the most notorious names in music: Nas, Wiz Khalifa, Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, J. Cole and Juicy J to name a few. She is now one of the most in-demand Midwest DJ talents, performing and hosting throughout the Midwest region.
DJ Poizon Ivy became the first female mixer to grace the airwaves at WKKV-FM as a V100.7 Mix Squad DJ and most recently joined heritage station KKDA K104.5’s mix squad. In 2016, she joined the Dallas Wings as their in arena DJ during the WNBA’s historical 20th anniversary season. As if that wasn’t enough, she became the Dallas Mavericks’ first female team DJ in franchise history, and is the 2nd female DJ in NBA league history to accomplish that feat. Poizon Ivy’s story of climbing from the bottom to the top rung garnered an Lonestar Regional Emmy nod for a made for television mini documentary. An in 2018, she became the first ever female DJ to DJ at an NBA All Star Game.
So what’s DJ Poizon Ivy listening to? The last five songs on her playlist as of this article are as follows:
Burna Boy -- “Different Size”
Sauti Sol -- “Lil Mama”
Bigxthaplug “Texas”
Libianca – “People”
Latto – “Lottery”
