ABOUT

Pioneering Lebanese Australian DJ, radio presenter, live performer/percussionist, and event curator, MzRizk has always had a powerful affinity with music.  MzRizk is a self taught, community emboldened, creative chameleon that was raised on a seemingly incongruous yet wholly satisfying sonic diet of Arabic, Boogie, Jazz, Heavy Metal, House, Techno, Hip Hop, Disco, and everything in between.

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Cutting her teeth with bedroom recordings of her own imaginative radio show, a then child Rizky fell irrevocably in love with the idea of sharing the joy of music with her family, her community and the world. Before too long, the autodidactic DJ MzRizk was born and emerged as Melbourne’s latest DJ initiate, catalysing the beginning of an abundant career that would span the rest of her life. Now, five years into her renowned community radio show Boogie Beat Suite on PBS 106.7FM and with over a decade of worldwide DJing under her belt, no one would dare mention the Australian DJ scene without dropping Rizky’s name. 

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Internationally acclaimed acts like MF Doom (RIP), Fatboy Slim, Common, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Badbadnotgood, The Internet, Moses Sumney, John Morales, Common, Public Enemy, Sampa The Great, Jill Scott, Maxwell, Evelyn Champagne King, Snarky Puppy Habibi Funk, Nabihah Iqbal, Osunlade, and countless more are commonplace amongst the hugely impressive list of artists MzRizk has opened for and the unstoppable DJ sees no future where this list ceases to expand exponentially.

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MzRizk has played Glastonbury twice in the past decade and has travelled the world with her music, bringing her eclectic sets to  Beirut,  Soul In The Horn, Mobile Mondays and Yallah! in New York, the Woo Hah Hip Hop Festival in Tilburg and Soundwave Croatia. Back home, her devoted Australian fans have followed Rizky’s DJ journey from Big Day Out Boiler Room (2012) to Sugar Mountain (2018), plus standout festival slots at WOMADelaide’s Artist After Party (2015), Splendour In The Grass with Sampa The Great (2017), Groovin’ The Moo (2017), Piknic Électronik (2018), Golden Plains (2018), Laneway (2019, 2020), A Festival Called Panama (2020) and Strawberry Fields (2022); each set sending the crowd into a frenzy with her nuanced and mad respected selections. Other sporting, arts and cultural events like the Australian Open, NGV Friday Nights, Melbourne International Film Festival, Darwin Festival, Perth Fringe Festival and Women of the World Festival have all been graced by MzRizk’s unrivalled artistry. In 2023 MzRizk performed at WOMADelaide and 24 Festival with Tarabeat x MzRizk, a live performance collaboration that merges the worlds of classic and contemporary Arabic music, they will be performing live in Beirut, Lebanon in 2023. 

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In tandem with her prolific DJ performances, MzRizk is a highly sought-after event producer and curator who uses her platform to advocate for MENA (Middle Eastern and North African), SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African), communities and their intersections. MzRizk has collaborated, curated and produced events with the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, City of Melbourne, City of Yarra, and Arts Centre Melbourne among others.  The hip hop, jazz, Arabic, soul and boogie savant has made a lasting impact on the communities she so proudly represents, as one of the scene’s most intuitive and knowledgeable selectors. 

MzRizk thrives on leading collaborative work that bridges the gap between music, culture, art, fashion and film. Spearheading ongoing projects and community-focussed events such as Rizky's Block Party, Habibi Hafla – Middle Eastern Music Party and Hip Hop High Tea has catapulted MzRizk to the epicentre of Melbourne’s rich and diverse cultural conglomerate. It is from this exact vantage point, that Rizky draws organic and enduring connections with multidisciplinary industry leaders into her orbit. These connections have seen MzRizk being booked for over five years straight to DJ the City of Melbourne’s NYE celebrations and curate their coveted fireworks soundtrack in 2020, as well as design the sound for the Adelaide Fringe award-winning theatre show DIRT and Multicultural Arts Victoria's TAKEBACK! among others.

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In 2020 MzRizk presented and DJ’d multiple venue launch events at the opening week of the Biennale of Sydney, with her sound and installation piece exhibited at the National Art School and Carriageworks. An incredible milestone achievement, the three hour celebratory journey of classic and contemporary Arabic music paid homage to Lebanon and the Lebanese hospitality she so passionately lives and breathes. Multicultural Arts Victoria Diasporas Project, Resonance was a collaboration between six artists that showcased exclusively for a single evening at the Melbourne Museum. Tea carts were produced by MzRizk and her team as a tribute to the street vendors in Tripoli, Lebanon. In addition to the complimentary tea, MzRizk gave a live performance of Arabic music, and worked with Chef Tom Sarafian to present a buffet of Levantine cuisine as a sign of Lebanese hospitality. MzRizk invited different members of the community to participate including OK POP UP! to manage and serve tea.

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In the last decade MzRizk has garnered widespread acclaim as Melbourne’s leading champion of underrepresented music, and one of the city’s most respected cultural connectors. Bringing people together in unity through her wildly eclectic sets and curated events is what MzRizk does best, and no matter how refined her palette, she is constantly evolving, learning, growing, shifting with the times and being discovered by new generations of music lovers. That is the sign of a true artist.