‘The look of a wise old man, the spirit of a rebel’: Remembering Hong Kong icon DJ Kulu and his legacy through the eyes of friends and fellow artists

Wearing the hats of a DJ and a promoter, he’d been blowing up the Hong Kong club scene with his lively funk-meets-jazz beats since then—and has served one electrifying performance after another until the very end. Just last month, he was blasting his set at Hong Kong’s biggest music festival, Clockenflap.

“Be it through his music or his personality, Kulu had that special gift of lifting people up and ultimately making them feel better,” writes Clockenflap co-founder Justin Sweeting to Tatler. “It’s basically implausible to be anywhere within Kulu’s radius and not have a smile on your face. I’ll never forget when Kulu pulled me aside during my early days to offer up words of genuine encouragement and support, and he did that for so many people across so many generations. An ever-present in the creative community. He will be missed but never forgotten. We can but all aspire to such a life well lived, with such fullness and sincerity.”

If not performing, Kulu was often seen walking around one of his favourite jazz clubs in town, Salon 10.

“DJ Kulu had the look and manner of a wise old man and the spirit of a rebel. He was fiercely independent,” founder of Salon 10 Ahlaiya Yung writes to Tatler. “Kulu had run a kind of jazz club in Scotland way back in the days, and watching what I do with Salon 10 in Hong Kong reminded him of what he was doing in Scotland. That was the foundation of his appreciation and support for Salon 10 and its live jazz programs.”

Yung continues: running a proper jazz club is only possible with passion and dedication because the financial rewards are often very small to nonexistent. A “healthy dose of rebelliousness is required to keep going”, and DJ Kulu knew it perfectly. 

“He would show up at almost every live jazz show and support as a resident DJ,” Yung adds. “He would sometimes bring his cameras to photograph musicians up close and would sometimes socialise with the musicians after the shows. I think in a way, the musicians would see him as an unofficial ambassador of Salon 10’s jazz programming and Hong Kong’s jazz scene.”

DJ Kulu also inspired a younger generation of DJs. Arthur Bray, co-founder of the music collective Yeti Out, music director at FM Belowground and DJ shares with Tatler: “DJ Kulu bridged the worlds of music and style through his own unique disposition I remember first witnessing his sets at Kee Club circa 2012, blending jazz, house & all things rhythmic and soulful. An amazing selector but also a true gentleman who was a key figure in Hong Kong’s nightlife, he was never too cool not to hang out with you at the corner of the bar or light up your cigarette even on nights he wasn’t playing.”

Friends, fellow creatives and music institutions also shared their special memories with him on social media. 

Join Hong Kong’s Jazz and DJ community to celebrate the life of DJ Kulu at the Big Top at the AIA Carnival on January 21.