Some people inherit a surname. DJ Millz inherited a sound system.

Her dad is Nicky Blackmarket, one of the pivotal figures in the early jungle and drum and bass scene and the man behind Blackmarket Records in Soho, a shop that shaped an entire generation of DJs before most of them could legally buy a pint. Growing up with that as your childhood soundtrack could go one of two ways. Either you run as far from it as possible, or it gets into your blood and never leaves.

Nothing about her feels manufactured. She didn’t study drum and bass from the outside and try to fit in. She was raised inside it.

She started out on THC Radio and across London’s airwaves, putting in the hours nobody sees before any of the big bookings arrived. No shortcuts, no easy pass because of who her father is. DJ Millz built her own name right alongside his instead and now she’s one of the most in demand voices in jungle and drum and bass. Just sets, more sets and the slow grind of building a name people would recognise on its own terms. That graft paid off and now she holds a residency on Kool FM, the station that helped invent the genre she plays, plus guest slots on Rinse FM, Rough Tempo, Life FM and Unity DAB.

Let’s talk about the summer that changed everything. DJ Millz took the UK by storm in 2021 and picked up 3rd place in the Best Breakthrough DJ category BBC Radio 1 Awards, an an up and comer award almost immediately and from there the diary filled itself. Glastonbury, The Warehouse Project, E1, Ministry of Sound, EGG London, Boxpark, Nass Festival, the kind of lineup most DJs spend a decade chasing. She’s been doing it for a fraction of that time and the international bookings have only added to the pace since.

She’s out there earning it set by set, city by city.

Behind the decks is only half the story now. This year she’s stepped fully into production. January brought Choke Slam / The Mic Killa on FTR Sounds, sitting alongside earlier releases on Gradient and Pick The Lock. She’s fully locked into production mode after years cutting her teeth behind the decks and the sound she’s building looks forward while still respecting where jungle and drum and base came from.

Beyond the studio and the booth, DJ Millz has moved into presenting. She holds a monthly residency at Kool FM and has graced major radio shows including BBC Radio 1 and KISS FM with her dynamic guest mixes. It makes sense. Someone who understands the drum and bass scene so deeply, who’s been inside it this long, becomes the kind of person others want to hear talk about what’s happening next. She not only spins records anymore, she’s helping shape the conversation around them.

Then there’s the release that ties everything together. On 25 June 2026, Nicky Blackmarket and DJ Millz put out their remix of Jungle Music, a Logan D track featuring the voice of the late, legendary Stevie Hyper D, released on Low Down Deep Recordings. Stevie Hyper D’s vocal comes from archive footage tied to HYPER: The Stevie Hyper D Story, the documentary that brought his legacy to Odeon cinemas and introduced him to fans who never got the chance to catch him live. Having father and daughter remix that same vocal together is the kind of full circle moment you can’t script. It’s two generations of the Blackmarket name carrying a jungle icon’s legacy forward, side by side.

She’s now fully locked into production mode after years cutting her teeth behind the decks, and the sound she’s building looks forward while still respecting where jungle came from.

Away from the studio, there’s something I’m completely hooked on watching on Instagram: The Original Nuttahz in action. That’s what I call DJ Millz and her dad when they’re out there coordinating outfits for gigs. Mario and Luigi was genius and honestly I’m sat here wondering what they’re going to pull off next. It sounds like a small thing, but it’s everything about who they are.

These are originators, proper ones, the kind of people who don’t give a toss about doing things the traditional way. They’re completely bonkers and that’s exactly why it works. They’re not only father and daughter but two people who actually like each other, who get a kick out of making music together, who share a surname and a love of jungle that goes back before DJ Millz could even hold the headphones.

These are originators, proper ones, the kind of people who don’t give a toss about doing things the traditional way. They’re completely bonkers and that’s exactly why it works.

Here’s the thing about DJ Millz that separates her from a lot of newer names in the scene. Nothing about her feels manufactured. She didn’t study jungle from the outside and try to fit in. She was raised inside it, learned from someone who helped build it, and she’s now pushing it forward in her own direction, without losing what made it special in the first place.

The Interview

Cheryl: When you and your dad play the same lineup, who wins the argument about whose set went off harder and does he ever actually admit you won?

DJ Millz: We don’t actually argue about it at all lol! We’re just happy if we’ve both had a good set and the crowd’s enjoyed themselves. We always have a laugh afterwards, but it’s never about who’s ‘won’. We both support each other.

Cheryl: Who picks the twinning outfits for your joint sets and has one of you ever vetoed the other’s idea?

Definitely me! I’m always the one trying to get us in matching or colour-coordinated outfits. My dad usually rolls his eyes and acts like he’s not interested, but nine times out of ten he gives in anyway hahaha. I think he secretly loves it… even if he’d never admit it LOL!

Cheryl: Remixing Jungle Music meant working with Stevie Hyper D’s vocal without him ever in the room. What went through your mind the first time you heard it isolated in the session?

DJ Millz: It was quite surreal. Stevie Hyper D is such an important part of Jungle history, and Jungle Music was the first track my dad ever released with him, so it meant a lot to both of us. It felt like a real privilege to work with those vocals, but also a big responsibility because we wanted to do it justice. We wanted to keep the spirit of the original while introducing it to a new generation.

Cheryl: You’ve built your own following while coming from such a well-known Jungle family. How have you made sure people see you as Millz rather than just Nicky Blackmarket’s daughter?

DJ Millz: I’ve definitely earned my way into the scene through a lot of practice, networking and putting myself out there. I actually chose to call myself Millz instead of Millie Blackmarket because I wanted to carve my own path. I’m very proud of my family and where I come from, but I wanted people to know me for my own sets, productions and hard work.

Cheryl: What’s one thing about Jungle culture that you hope never changes, even as the scene keeps evolving?

DJ Millz: The community. That’s what makes Jungle special. Everyone looks out for each other, whether you’re an artist, promoter or raver. I love seeing the new generation coming through and bringing fresh ideas, but I hope that family feeling and respect for the roots never disappears. That’s what keeps the scene so special.