[RDA Records, Soul Clap Records, Lisa’s Kickback]
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Papa Lu was exposed to a vast and diverse selection of underground music which he gladly absorbed at a young age. Finding himself instantly drawn to a thriving Hip Hop scene at the time, he realized his passion for music, and dove right into the business of throwing parties right out of high school. He worked with classic artists of the true school era like Digable Planets, Digital Underground, Gang Starr, Kool Keith, and many more. During that time, several house music pioneers like Mark Farina, Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, etc. were making waves at the same venues he was holding his hip hop parties. From that exposure, he made a quick transition into producing house music events like his Night Moves party at Monarch SF. His love for music and natural talent for booking events rapidly developed into an exciting career of discovering new artists and bringing new sounds and talent to the Bay Area through his parties. After completely immersing himself in dance music it was only a matter of time before Papa Lu started a serious career as a DJ working with cutting edge and legendary artists.
In 2013 Papa Lu collaborated with a group of close friends to create The Kazbah, one of the most popular sound camps at Burning Man, and worked to rapidly gain a mass following through his signature sound known throughout Black Rock City and beyond.
In 2015 Papa Lu put out his first E.P. as one half of the duo "Set in Stone" on PetFood records. Their release, "Bad One," charted on Beatport's top 100 deep house releases hitting #30 at one point. Since then, Papa Lu has been invited to play at the world’s premier parties and festivals including Apparitions, BPM, SXM Festival, Vujaday Festival, Ocaso Festival, Escape Festival, EDC, Forever Midnight festival, and several top tier night clubs, and sound camps at Burning Man. Today, Papa Lu keeps a very busy and exciting schedule involving everything music related. When he is not playing an international festival, Papa Lu is headlining local shows or underground warehouse parties in the Bay Area or Los Angeles, or opening for a big act like Carl Craig, H.O.S.H., Jamie Jones, Green Velvet, Loco Dice, Todd Terry, Honey Dijon etc . Papa Lu has been spending a lot of time in the studio creating new sounds and keeping it fresh for every upcoming gig.
Papa Lu put out his first solo release on South American label, Savia Park in May of 2019. The release is called “Dança” which is a deep acid groove accompanied with 3 remixes and a B-Side track called “House Joint”.
Papa Lu’s second solo release “King” came out on Desert Hearts records, “Friends & Family Compilation” on January 24th, 2020.
Papa Lu’s third release is with Music is 4 Lovers on June 4th, 2021. It’s a vibey soulful jam with an acid twist. He is accompanied by the talented TR-BOB on this track. The track is part of a hand picked group of California producers for the “Global Lovers Vol 7.” release with MI4L. Papa Lu’s latest release came out on Los Angeles label, Popgang Records in March of 2024. The b-side track, “Just as Bad” is still being charted on beatport’s hype house chart, hitting #3 at one point. Since then, Papa Lu has released four more singles within 2024. Ferrari Kit, a driving tech house tune with a contagiously rolling baseline. Ferrari Kit received overwhelming support and plays out from top-tier artists including Jackmaster, Richy Ahmed, Lauren Lane and Seth Troxler. The second release is called “Rave”, which is a sleek tech house track designed for late-night dancefloors. The third release is called “Body Rock”, which is a R&B inspired house thumper with a gritty acid groove. The Fourth release is called “Power”, which is a classy, deep house cut with oceanic baselines and subtle restraint.
In 2025, Papa Lu had his biggest release with Walker & Royce’s label, Rules Don’t Apply with a single called “BASS!”, which is a tech house ripper. It combines a catchy vocal with a gritty acid baseline. He also released a two track release on Soul Clap Record’s Bandcamp exclusives. “Red Hot” is the A-Side to that release which is a thumping red hot disco tune just as described in the title joined with powerful vocals by the amazing Astu. The Whooligan joins Papa Lu on the flip, titled “Starting to Rise”, which continues the disco house vibe. Papa Lu’s third release in 2025 was with a quickly up and coming house label called, Lisa’s Kickback located in Miami. Two tracks on that release, one side being a vibey disco bumper and the other side being a bassy house tune with a groovy portugues vocal.
In 2025, Papa Lu DJ'd Ocaso Festival for his 6th consecutive year in a row. He also ventured out to Greece to play a campout called, Blossom Never Sleep in Kyparissia, Greece. Papa Lu also played Insomniac’s infamous EDC and he played one of their mainstages at Escape (Halloween Festival). Aside from the festivals, Papa Lu also got the chance to play a couple Rules Don’t Apply label parties. He opened for Sven Vath, playing a vinyl set, he opened for Dennis Cruz, Todd Terry, Cassy, and Cinthie to name a few other artists.
Aside from all the edits that Papa Lu has released casually on his own, he also has some new releases coming up with Rules Don’t Apply and Soul Clap Records. With that being said, 2026 is looking to be bright for Papa Lu.
