A homecoming headline set, an on-air reunion with an old DJ partner, a new Southern Brothas single, and a free Halloween block party in downtown Durham
Long before the Dangerous World Tour, DJ NABS was a kid from Durham in a band uniform on the campus of North Carolina Central University.
This month he returns to the nest. The NCCU Alumni Association presents The Legend DJ NABS Mixtape '26 Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel Raleigh-Durham Airport at Research Triangle Park. The party runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and it is the only homecoming alumni party that sends money directly to NCCUAA scholarship funds. The NCCU Alumni Association is led by President Nikki Davis.
The Durham Years
For Youtha Fowler, music came before the turntables. The young musician played saxophone at Brogden Middle School and he would go on to become drum major at Durham High School (now DSA) his junior and senior years. NABS picked up the turntables during his tenth-grade year and never put them down. After graduating from DHS, he enrolled at NCCU in 1986 and spent both of his years there as a member in the Marching Sound Machine. In 1988 he moved to Atlanta and enrolled in another HBCU, Morris Brown where he gained a scholarship as a member ofthe Marching Wolverine. He stayed on the decks when he wasn’t on the field, deejaying parties, and winning DJ battles across the city, the most famous being against DJ Toomp at Piedmont Park for the name he still carries to date.
The rest of the story is on the record. In 1992 he became Music Director and tour DJ for Kris Kross on Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour. In 1996 he launched In the Lab with DJ NABS on Atlanta's Hot 97.5. Two years later, Columbia Records released the first double vinyl record, In the Lab with DJ NABS: The Live Album. He went on to spend 25 years with So So Def Recordings, and in 2024 his hometown proclaimed May 16 DJ NABS Day and he was also named Homegrown Hero at Bimbé the same year.
Mixtape '26 is built around the music he played through all of it. The NCCU Alumni Association is promising records from the 80s through the 2000s and a packed, late-night room.
Friday Night On-air at WNCU
The reunion starts on the radio. Before NABS left for Atlanta, he and Travis Gales spun together around Durham, NABS as DJ Nabisco Disco and Gales as Travis "Gangsta" Gales. Gales is now a regular voice on WNCU 90.7 FM, NCCU's own station. He hosts Morning Jazz on weekdays and the Friday Night Funk R&B Mix Show, three hours of 70s and 80s funk, R&B and party records.
On Friday, Oct. 9, from 7 to 10 p.m., NABS and his band The Southern Brothas join Gales in the studio. Durham listeners can tune in at 90.7 FM, and everyone else can stream at wncu.org.
The NCCU DJ Reunion, Same Hotel, Across the Way
On Saturday night the two old DJ partners end up under one roof. “Gangsta” Gales is on the decks for the Alumni Affair, and Nabisco holds down Mixtape '26 in the ballroom next door. Anyone who came up on both of them can walk from one party to the other.
“Before anybody called me NABS, I was Nabisco Disco, and Travis was right there with me. Now we will be spinning together again over 40 years later on homecoming night. Durham has a way of bringing it all back full circle.”
DJ NABS
“TSB Thrillah” and a Halloween take over
Friday, October 9, The Southern Brothas (TSB) are set to release "Thrillah," a new single featuring guitarist Travis Jackson. TSB is the Durham-based band NABS formed, mixing R&B, soul, hip-hop, and country to create The New FUNK. "Thrillah" arrives as the first single from the upcoming project TSB EP3.
The single sets up Halloween. TSB THRILLAH Block Party takes over CCB Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 7 to 10 pm, and admission is free. The date falls on the second night of Durham FRINGE, a new 10-day festival presented by the Carolina Theatre for its centennial celebration. From Oct. 30 through Nov. 8, artists will perform in storefronts, alleyways, and open spaces across downtown Durham. The theatre itself opened in 1926.
Durham DJ and actor Showout the Entertainer hosts. DJ Shout, a longtime friend and DJ brother of NABS, takes a turn on the decks. Breakout brother duo, Say Jack will also be performing with their youth group. Other performers to be announced. When the plaza wraps at 10, the night moves to Spring Rolls Durham for the official After Dark Party, which runs until 1 a.m.
The October Schedule
Fri., Oct. 9, 7–10 PM: NABS and The Southern Brothas guest on the Friday Night Funk R&B Mix Show with Travis Gales, WNCU 90.7 FM
Fri., Oct. 9: “Thrillah” by The Southern Brothas, featuring Travis Jackson debut
Sat., Oct. 10, 9PM–1AM: The Legend DJ NABS Mixtape '26 Homecoming, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, 4700 Emperor Blvd., Durham. Tickets through the NCCU Alumni Association
Sat., Oct. 31, 7–10 PM: TSB THRILLAH Block Party, CCB Plaza, downtown Durham Free
Sat., Oct. 31, 10 PM–1 AM: Official After Dark Party, Spring Rolls Durham