For the past five and a half years, Geneseo has been graced by the humorous, outgoing presence of Adrian "DJ Guapo" Molina.
Molina is best known from his part-time job DJing at the Statesmen, where an amalgam of townies and college students can be found grooving to his beats.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Molina's hometown is right next to the DJing capital of the world: New York City. He fondly describes his childhood home of the Bronx as "a condominium that looks like a housing project," where he and his older sister, Roseda, were raised by their mother.
Said Molina, "I've always been the man in the family because I was raised by my mom and my sister while growing up." Molina also identifies with his Puerto Rican heritage - both of his parents are from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. "Like quesadilla, but instead it's Aguadilla," he chuckled.
Molina attended the St. Raymond High School for Boys, and it was there that his love of music first began to take shape. As he described it, his first major foray into music was for a ninth grade art project. At 13, Molina produced what he now calls "a disasterpiece of music," creating beats using an MTV Music Generator game, and then crudely recording four hip-hop songs using a dilapidated stereo.
Molina's passion for music continued to grow throughout high school. He recalled having freestyle rap battles with Louie McCroskey of Syracuse basketball fame during homeroom, playing the guitar and lyrically excelling thanks to his flair for poetry. By the time he hit the Geneseo campus, Molina was a well-rounded musical tour de force.
In his freshman year, Molina was involved with WGSU. Not satiated by his weekly slot on-air, he began DJing in a number of venues. While DJing for a fraternity party, a Zeta Beta Xi member dubbed the charismatic disc jockey "DJ Guapo," a synergy of his passion for music and his Puerto Rican heritage. The nickname stuck, and Molina adopted it as his stage name while DJing, even going so far as to mix a split-second audio clip into his remixes.
The popularity of DJ Guapo took off thanks to word-of-mouth, eventually landing Molina jobs at the Inn Between and the Statesmen. Unfortunately, he felt his DJing style was restricted by the traditional music stipulations of the IB, which led to an eventual parting of ways. "I like to be ahead of the curve," said Molina, who gave the example of playing the Asher Roth song "I Love College" as early as October 2008.
Although DJing is his passion, Molina's career of choice is advertising. "I've known exactly what I wanted to do since high school," said Molina, who is currently working full-time in that very field at FTT Manufacturing on Riverside Drive in Geneseo. He also gained experience working in the sales department of Ad-Fax News at home in New York City.
Said Molina of his sixth year in Geneseo, "I feel like I've adapted myself to the Geneseo environment - why not prolong it?" He plans to finish his degree over the summer before entering the advertising industry full-time. Until that day comes, however, the fun-loving DJ will continue to keep the Statesmen entertained.
A buoyant Molina had one final word of advice: "Always tip your DJ."