Your Girl Took Over Nightlife:
DJ Chelli, The Best in the Game
New Jersey nightlife has its icons… and one of the brightest is DJ Chelli. We caught up with her at Centrada, where her sets consistently pack out the room and her presence brings an unmistakable spark to the night. With a style rooted in authenticity and a sound that elevates any space she steps into, Chelli is shaping the energy of the region’s music scene in real time.
But her journey didn’t start under strobe lights or in front of massive crowds. It began at home, in a family where music wasn’t just a passion, but the family business. And that foundation has shaped everything she brings to the booth today.
Born Into The Booth
Chelli grew up surrounded by the art of performance. Her father, Peter Manfredo, founded DoAll Disc Jockeys (now Do All Multi-Media), a company known across New Jersey for DJing with music videos and elevating events with multimedia production. With three older sisters — two of them DJs — her childhood was a rotation of rehearsals, cables, speakers, and packed dance floors. Music wasn’t just something she listened to; it was the environment she lived in.
That early exposure turned into action fast. Chelli began DJing at the age of 14, picking up her first gig at a spot called Bourbon Street. She wasn’t old enough to be inside the venue, but she got booked anyway, and that early taste of the crowd sealed her fate. What started as a spark quickly became a lifelong rhythm. From there, the reps, the nights, and the momentum never slowed.
More Than Music... It's Feels
What sets DJ Chelli apart isn’t just her technique, it’s her intuition. She approaches every set without a predetermined playlist, choosing instead to read the energy of the room and respond with whatever the moment calls for. It’s a style rooted in instinct, confidence, and years of watching her family command crowds with nothing but timing and feel.
Her sound leans heavily into house: warm, energetic, uplifting — the type of music that builds a room instead of just filling it. But it’s not just the tracks she selects that make her memorable. It’s her presence: her vibrant look, her bold fashion, her colorful hair. Chelli brings a charisma to the booth that transforms a DJ set into an experience. You don’t just hear her. You feel her.
A Life Lived at Club Speed
Chelli’s weekends are a nonstop cycle of motion. Club to club. Night to night. Little sleep, lots of music, and even more adrenaline. She thrives in the chaos, bringing the same level of energy whether she’s playing a massive party or an intimate nightlife spot. It’s a grind, but she’s built for it.
Places like Centrada amplify that energy even more. The venue focuses on enhancing all five senses — visuals, dancers, lighting, and immersive sound — and Chelli ties it all together with her sets. “People know her. They come out to see her,” the Centrada team says. Her ability to shift a room’s mood makes her not just a DJ, but the anchor of the night.
A Jersey Original With Global Ambition
Before she was lighting up clubs, Chelli was a singer and songwriter, creating music from the age of eight and performing on a kids’ CD series called “Hip Kiddy.” Those early creative roots show up in her work even today. She remixes, produces her own sounds, and approaches DJing with a musician’s ear, not just a performer’s pace.
Known for her sassy style, fearless personality, and magnetic stage presence, Chelli represents everything that makes New Jersey’s creative scene special. She’s authentic. She’s vibrant. And she’s evolving faster than ever. With a growing list of bookings and a signature energy that people travel to follow, she’s cementing herself as one of the state’s most exciting artists, with a future that stretches far beyond the booth.
Where to DJ Chelli
🌐 https://www.deejaychelli.com/
📲 Follow Her on Instagram: @dj_chelli
🎧 Check out her music: https://soundcloud.com/djchelli