Passion, sexuality, and unrelenting fight are just some of the traits that makeup the aura surrounding DJ Short-e (aka Rynita McGuire). From her childhood in the system, to breaking free and discovering the rave scene of California in the mid 90s, she is a woman determined to become one of the biggest DJs in the country. All her life she's been on a mission to prove to the world that no one, no matter how they look, is ever what they seem.

Short-e was born with a birth condition called Arthrogryposis. This rare physical disability causes the joints in her arms and legs to become incredibly stiff and the grip in her hands becomes weaker. To compensate for the lack of reach or ability to grip, she taught herself to use her mouth for a lot of things, including painting and DJing.

Rynita has been into music her whole life. Her mom plays guitar and Rynita started singing with her at a very early age. This musical introduction spurred her to explore further into how she could express herself through music. She always wanted to be in the music industry in some capacity. When she was about 7, she got her first tape deck boom box and started making mix tapes of her favorite songs from the radio. She even mixed the tracks or put them in a set-list order to convey a message of her feelings at the moment. From then on, the seeds of Short-e's future artistry had been planted.

The edginess that is now so visible in Short-e's persona grew from her unrelenting desire as a girl to prove she was more than a wilting flower. "Despite my disability, I’ve lived my entire life like any other hard-core chick. I did everything all the other kids did. Sometimes I think I pushed the envelope even further to prove I was just as tough as or tougher than anyone gave me credit for."

In 1999, Rynita met one of the biggest influences of her musical career, Dave Albers, in which she quotes this situation... "One day he (Albers) came over with a brand-new set of turntables still in the box. He set them up at my house on a table so I could reach them. Then he showed me what buttons did what, gave me a handful of records, and left. Dave knew that by leaving it in the room - something I was obviously interested in - would make me want to try. And he was right. That night I played on his turntables all night. I didn’t sleep a wink. I use a wooden kitchen spoon in my mouth to turn on the lights and things in my house that I cant reach. So I grabbed that and figured out that I could use it to reach all the buttons and knobs that were out of reach for me. It was so exciting! I was doing the very thing I dreamed of doing at age 7, but even cooler than a radio DJ because I was using turn tables." Short-e is now an experienced spinstress working diligently in the cutthroat, dog-eat-dog world of DJing.

She's come a long way since her days of spinning with a wooden spoon. "I use a bendable typing wand mouthstick that I ordered from a rehab catalog now. The wooden spoon was a good springboard, but it just slid across the records. The mouthstick has a rubber tip so I can back cue, scratch, and torque the records. It grips the records much better too. If you can’t do any of these things, then you can't really spin."

DJ Short-e headlined her first party in December 2000. She displayed such a performance that night, she was quickly catapulted into a high-demand performance schedule. She started playing as often as 4 nights a week. Only 6 months after her debut, she was scouted by C-Pop Media to play the largest free music festival in the world, The Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF known now as Movement). She played 2nd Stage DEMF 2001, followed by many other events and festivals such as Electro Rock III, Bass Invaders, and the 25th ADA anniversary on the capitol steps.

You'll want to keep your eye on this amazingly talented artist!

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