DJ Adoni — Julio Adonis Gross, born 17 November 1994 in Santo Domingo Este — is a Dominican DJ, producer and singer who went from playing free sets in Los Mina to topping Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart.

From Los Mina to a warehouse in North Carolina

He grew up in Los Mina immersed in merengue, salsa, bachata and tropical music, and moved to the United States at sixteen, working factory and warehouse jobs in North Carolina while DJing for free at clubs and events to build a name. He turned that apprenticeship into steady work producing and releasing mixes across genres, and in 2018 Lo Máximo Productions named him DJ of the Year.

«El incomprendido»

He began releasing his own singles as an artist in the early 2020s and broke through in 2021 with «El incomprendido», a collaboration with the Puerto Rican reggaetonero Farruko and the DJ Víctor Cárdenas: it topped Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart, earned nominations at the Billboard Latin Music Awards and the iHeartRadio Music Awards, and won him the Premio Juventud for La Mezcla Perfecta.

A run of collaborations

The Farruko partnership continued through «Mi Romo (Remix)» (2021) and «La opinión es tuya» (2022, also featuring El Alfa), while Adoni built a parallel run of dembow features: «Que me aconseje» with Chimbala, «Gugle» with Flow 28, «10 muchacho» with Chimbala and El Rubio Acordeón, and «Pin Pon» with Rochy RD. In 2022 he appeared alongside Luis Miguel del Amargue as a guest on Romeo Santos’s «La última vez», from «Fórmula, Vol. 3».

Awards and a stage of his own

That same year he was named DJ of the Year at both the Premios Lo Nuestro and the Premios Latin Plug, and performed live at the Premios Tu Música Urbano. A 2023 tour took him through the United States, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where his first headline concert sold out.

Legacy

In 2024 he released «El Reemplazo» with Prince Royce and Darell, debuting it live at the Premios Juventud — a decade after leaving Los Mina for a warehouse in North Carolina, still building the same catalogue of features that got him started.