Benihana, the restaurant chain founded by his Japanese
father, Rocky Aoki. Raised in Newport Beach, California—
and now domiciled in Las Vegas, where he is a resident DJ
for four clubs in the Hakkasan Group—he began building
his own brand in 1996 , when he founded his company Dim
Mak, which produces records, events, clothing, and more.
Many of his projects are collaborations with a dizzying array
of artists and brands, running the gamut from Linkin Park
and K-pop band BTS to Samsung and Diesel. He plays a stag-
gering 200 or more shows a year, yet nds time to oversee
his charitable foundation, a restaurant chain, Pizzaoki, and
a itness program, AOKI Bootcamp, all contributing to his
$ 30 million annual earnings. Health-obsessed, he’ll hit the
gym for a workout whenever he can (sometimes even after
his DJ sets). “Music has allowed me to collaborate with the
world—all of my shows have been the conduit,” he says.
“Working with artists in dierent countries, we create some-
thing brand-new together.”
There is one oft-lamented problem of the EDM world: It’s
long been a boys’ club. Women have yet to crack into any of the
highest-paid lists. But things are changing.
Raised on the South Side of Chicago in the 1980 s, Honey
Dijon identied as female from childhood. Her parents let
her take charge of the record player in their basement dur-
ing family parties. Soon, she was sneaking out to those clubs
where house music was just getting big. After she moved to
New York in the early ’ 00 s, her erce look and her sound—
old-school soulful house meets techno—caught the attention
of Riccardo Tisci, Kim Jones, and other in¢uential design-
ers. Now she produces the music for many of their runway
shows and parties. In the process, she’s become an adored
gure in the fashion world. Based in Berlin and New York,
she released her rst album, The Best of Both Worlds, in 2018 ,
and launched a namesake line, Honey Fucking Dijon, with
Comme des Garçons—a capsule collection encompassing
graphic tees and accessories. House music, she has said, con-
nects—transcends, even—music and fashion: “It’s always
been about the possibility of a more beautiful life.”
Also on the fashion side of things, there’s Mad Marj, aka
Marjorie Gubelmann, 50 , the high-energy socialite bred in
Palm Beach and Newport. In 2012 , she revolutionized her
comfortable life as a gala-goer and Park Avenue mom when
she enrolled herself in Scratch DJ Academy, a spin school in
New York. Soon, armed with her playlist of pop favorites—as
well as her ample jewels and proper dresses by Oscar de la
Renta and the like—she became a regular DJ for luxe brands
such as Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana, Tory Burch, and Tiany &
Co. “I would never have imagined that in my 40 s, and now
my 50 s, I would be having this much fun doing something I
absolutely love as a job. It transformed me,” she says. “It’s a
fucking freak show that this is happening—in the best way.”
Few people would have predicted that Paris Hilton, 39 ,
the hotel heiress and ur-reality-TV gure, would be crowned
Female Breakthrough of the Year, as a popular French radio
station declared in 2014. Hilton’s transformation into a DJ has
been an evolution. After years of highly paid party-hosting
gigs, she decided “to take it to the next level” and become
“the one controlling the whole party.... I thought that would
be more fun,” she explains. Always passionate about music,
the self-described “huge tech geek” studied the craft hard. In
2013 , she earned a coveted residency at Amnesia, a rare feat
for a female American. The summertime party at which she
performed, Foam & Diamonds, became one of the island’s
most successful events, running weekly for ve years, even
as she grew her multibillion-dollar fragrance, apparel, and
accessories empire. More recently, Hilton’s sets have also been
crowd-pleasers at Tomorrowland and other of the most popu-
lar EDM festivals, putting the haters and the doubters to rest.
She laughs when she says, “People are like, ‘Wow, you know
what the hell you’re doing.’ ” QENTERING A VENUE LIKE
USHUAÏA OR HÏ IBIZA IS AKIN
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