Kaydee Clinches Title at ‘Spin It Loud’ Finale

Iyke Bede

With four finalists, one stage, and a capricious crowd ready to rake a DJ who didn’t understand the assignment of keeping them hyped, Kayode Akinola, better known as DJ Kaydee, emerged the first winner of Red Bull’s ‘Spin It Loud’ after defeating the only female in the competition, Tomi Garber, who goes by DJ TGarbs.

It was a night of intense battling that tested each finalist’s stamina, dexterity, and quick thinking. The journey to the finale began in December 2024 with TGarbs’ win. It moved to Vertigo Lagos in February 2025, where DJ Shawn (Oresile Oluwaseun) claimed the night, then to Romie’s Block in Abuja for Easter, where DJ Kendrick (Kennedy Ezirim) took the crown. The run continued in Port Harcourt, where Kaydee claimed his own win, setting the stage for the first-ever grand finale.

Staged at Sol Beach, Elegushi, Lagos, the first head-to-head match was between Kendrick and Kaydee, each taking up the red and blue team designations, respectively. The qualifying match, made up of three rounds, required each finalist to work the wheel of steel to a particular genre (mix) each round. The key to winning is satisfying the audience who plays judge. So while great mixing skills are a prerequisite, it also requires them to read the room well.

After three mixes of Woza (amapiano sounds), Faaji, and Lagos Anthem that ended in a tie, an extra round of Big Ballerz (modern high life) saw Kaydee hitting his opponent hard and impressing the crowd with the big hits.

The second qualifying match opened with Shawn flexing on the Dorime (club bangers) mix, followed by TGarbs’ seamless flow from track to track. With a hypeman to back both acts, TGarbs took it upon herself to sway the crowd, emerging from her setup to hit the stage and flex her voluptuous figure to Young Jonn’s ‘Big Big Things’. For the next two mixes, Foreign Collabo and a back-to-back round where each finalist played for a minute before switching over, TGarbs secured her place in the finals.

The final battle between Kaydee and TGarbs followed the same format as the qualifying round, with an additional freestyle round. Kicking off on the limited discography of Davido and Wizkid, their journey to victory began with the 30 BG and Wizkid FC mix. With both matching energies, TGarbs’ skills at transitioning stood out. Kaydee, however, gained more confidence in the second round that introduced the Classic Naija Rewind mix, impressing the crowd with some of the best hits to come out of Nigeria’s music scene in the late 90s and early to mid-2000s: what some might tag the Mavin era.

In the back-to-back round, sensing she was losing the crowd, TGarbs pulled out all the stops, but Kaydee’s closing freestyle sealed the deal. His trick was mixing both global and local sounds to capture the crowd’s attention.

By the time the final track faded out, the verdict was never in doubt. Kaydee had read the room, owned the moment, and walked away with the night in his hands.