Our Daily Show LIVE From Chamber 40th! Big Papa G
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ALTON - For years, Greg Horta - better known as DJ Big Papa G - has brought his uniquely fun spin on music trivia to several events around the Riverbend.
Horta spoke on Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com about his rise from being a DJ in the Bronx to one of the region’s most-booked entertainment acts.
He said his love for meeting community members took him on a different path from the typical DJ.
“I’m a community guy,” Horta said. “When you start off as a DJ, you either club DJ … and then you have the wedding DJs. I stay away from all of that, so I love doing community events, corporate events.
“I get to meet a lot of people, and I just love it because when you’re doing these types of events, you can play all types of music and people love that.”
Horta said he was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City. He was heavily influenced by his experiences growing up of seeing local DJs - some of whom grew to be prominent names in the hip-hop scene - preside over massive nighttime schoolyard gatherings, playing music as Horta watched and listened from his home across the street.
“I learned a lot from that, I learned from friends, and then I got to learn how to DJ with turntables and all that,” he said.
After moving to the Riverbend region about 17 years ago from New York, Horta rediscovered his passion for music and got an offer to host a trivia competition.
A week before the event started, the organizer asked if he’d be willing to do a round with music, given his DJ’ing background. Horta came up with an idea for “TV theme songs,” and the event organizer liked the idea so much, they asked him to do 10 more music-themed trivia rounds.
The result was a whole new formula for music trivia events, for which Big Papa G is well-known today.
“That all started 12 years ago now, my first-ever music trivia - and because of that, that’s where Big Papa G kind of blew up,” Horta said. “I was a DJ, but now I was known for the original - I call it the original Big Papa G Music Trivia Experience. Why? Because it’s not your regular trivia, it’s all music-related, and also, it’s about having a good time.
“It’s not about walking out of a trivia night and you’re like, ‘I thought I went to college’ … it’s all about having a good time. You may hear a song that you know the words - I want you to sing along, I want you to get up and dance, so I added a Dance Contest and it’s just tons of fun."
Big Papa G is currently fully booked for events, including lots of upcoming music trivia and music bingo. Starting in January 2025, he said half the money he makes from each event will go towards his daughter’s college fund.
To learn more about Big Papa G and his Original Music Trivia Experience, visit bigpapag.com or see the full interview at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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