This Urban Life: Fatima Cocci

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The skinny on DJ Fatty.

Fatima Cocci (ak.a. DJ Fatty) gives Latin music lovers something to dance about.

Image credit: Marshall Franklin Long

Recommended by the Editor

By: Megan McCarty | February 2011 | From the print edition

Fatima Cocci isn’t the world’s most polished DJ—and she’ll tell you so herself. “I don’t have turntables and vinyl; I’m not technical about it,” she says. “It’s more about the music. I think people appreciate the selection I play versus the fact that I can scratch records.” (Which, to clarify, she cannot.)

Armed with only a laptop packed with Latin American music, “DJ Fatty” has found a loyal following on area dancefloors. When we meet at gigi’s café in Uptown, she gives us a taste of her extensive song collection, playing classic salsa from the ’70s such as Puerto Rican singer Héctor Lavoe.

Fatima isn’t Latino though. (She’s half black, half Italian.) Nor has she always liked Latin American music. But after many nights out, she began learning—and loving—salsa, cha-cha and meringue. Nearly six years ago she began dancing and then fell into DJing a few years later after becoming a regular at La Bodega, a now-defunct Lyn-Lake tapas bar. Week after week she’d bring La Bodega’s bandleader CDs until he finally offered her $20 to bring her own iPod and run the show for a night.

That gig stirred up a successful DJ night at Picosa in St. Anthony Main, and after the restaurant closed, Fatima’s regulars supported her in a “call this manager, here’s a suggestion, talk to this guy” rally. Now she can be found at Cantina #1 in the Mall of America every Thursday night.

Dancing and DJing weren’t always on her radar. After growing up in Roseville, Fatima packed her tanks and tees to attend college in Florida, where she studied biology with intentions of going into dentistry. But before she finished her degree, a friend proposed collaborating on a real estate business. So Fatima returned to Minneapolis, reacquainted herself with a heavier wardrobe—“I didn’t own a pair of socks for six years”—and learned the real estate ropes.

Since she’s moved on from that business, 31-year-old Fatima recently added “model” to her list of professions. Flipping through the home shopping channels, you might see her—slight smile, hand on hip—modeling Suzanne Somers sweaters on ShopNBC. That young mom portrayed in the Target or Best Buy flier? Also her.

When she’s not DJing or modeling, Fatima teaches private dance lessons and classes at the Social Dance Studio in Minneapolis, where she also hosts dance parties twice a month and is a member of their traveling performance team. And if that’s not enough to fill her days and nights, she also teaches a series of dance classes at Century College and Normandale Community College. If you’re exhausted just reading about it, imagine cha-cha-ing it.

Some of Fatima’s favorite people, places and things

Fatima loves supporting local restaurateurs. “In Florida you drive and there’s just chain, chain, chain, chain, chain. And here you can drive for blocks and just see independent restaurants.” Of those restaurants, Fatima credits Jasmine 26, al Vento and 112 Eatery as a few of her favorites.
For a high-end look on a thrifty budget, Fatima browses the racks at Opitz Outlet and Buffalo Exchange.
Not only did Fatima get engaged at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, but her favorite painting, “The Carpet Merchant” by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is housed there.
To combat winter weather woes, Fatima cross-country skis with her fiancé along the paths at Theodore Wirth Park and on Lake of the Isles.
Cuban pianist Nachito Herrera, who is often paired with a bass player and a drummer for regular shows at the Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, pulls Fatima to his concerts again and again. “His level of musicianship is phenomenal,” she raves.
Whether she’s in Minnesota or Florida, working in dance or real estate, one fondness stays the same with Fatima: her love of local hip-hop artist Brother Ali. “He’s my favorite local musician.” Pause. “No, he’s my favorite musician period.”

Brother Ali

brotherali.com

Jasmine

26 E. 26th St., Mpls.; 612.870.3800 

al Vento

5001 34th Ave. S., Mpls.; 612.724.3009 

112 Eatery

112 N. Third St., Mpls. ; 612.343.7696 

Theodore Wirth Park

1339 Theodore Wirth Pkwy., Mpls.

Nachito Herrera

myspace.com/nachitoherrera