Ryan Hopkins | August 1, 2024
Cochise Quinones Jr aka CJ The Virgo was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. Since birth I’ve always had a love for the creative arts. Anything from Drawing, Dancing, Acting, Handcraft projects, Mixing Music and Custom Clothing were some of the hobbies that fulfilled my soul. When I was younger I did not think of pursing any of these things for a living, however as I grew older gained knowledge and experience, everything started to fall into place which helped me in making my dreams a reality.
I came up with the stage name CJ The Virgo because I love astrology and am constantly learning about the similarities and differences between the various signs, and I am a Virgo born in September. I’ve been called CJ all my life because I was named after my dad hence the name CJ.
My journey in music began when I was about 17 years old. Without any real knowledge of how to create music I started mixing songs I loved together and making them into mega mixes. Soon after that I invested in a laptop, mixing program and started testing my skills on creating original music. By age 19 I had became self taught in producing and mixing, and the rest was history. I’ve always had a love for house music and uptempo songs, so it wasn’t hard for me to know that the genre I wanted to place myself in was Pop.
Being in the Pop genre can definitely be something questionable when it comes to the variety of sounds I offer. Though one can identify CJ The Virgo on a track, I don’t limit myself as far as exploring new sounds when it comes to music. For me having an open pallet where there’s no limitations makes for a unique and fresh sound each time a song is dropped. Pop isn’t just Candy land bright colored sounds for me, it’s a genre where one can mix different unique sounds which communicates universally.
Some of my proudest moments in music include, writing works of art that are personal to me and releasing my inner thoughts onto songs. The highlights continue to grow each time as I create new art because it’s made from my soul and no one else can give myself that inner understanding feeling than me.
Tell us about your journey within dance, how and why you fell in love with this art form?
I began dancing at the age of 16 and with time I realized I could become a professional at this art form and make a living from it. Which lead me to being signed to a dance agency where I was booking different jobs performing with different artists, TV Shows, traveling the world to dance, choreograph and so much more. The journey hasn’t been easy at all but I am grateful to be living in my purpose. .
Dance has allowed be to keep physically fit and the ability to express happiness, anger and all emotions through body movement, and these have been the best feelings I’ve experienced in life. Some of the styles I perform include Hip Hop, Street Jazz, Voguing, Popping, House and I touch the basics on the more technical styles like Ballet & Contemporary. Learning different styles of dance only helps one to understand their body and become what is called “A Versatile Dancer”.
“Dance Has Developed A huge Amount of Confidence “
Dance has impacted me with more than just dance steps. It has developed a huge amount of confidence, quick thinking, learning how to present myself, speak to others, compete, travel, write emails, network, get a job, invest in myself, decision making and the list go on. The world of dance can make or break you, just like any other field would, but my experiences have led me up to the person I am today and there is no other way I would have done it.
Some highlights in my career as a dancer have been the chance to travel the world and see how much dance can bring so many different people together for the love of one thing. I have also been blessed with the chance to perform for artist such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Hudson, Little Mix, Rita Ora, MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, NBC World of Dance, Choreograph & perform for MAC Cosmetics in China just to mention a few, and every experience is something I will cherish forever.
How do you handle the critics?
Critics to me are people who seek more information! Some do it in positive light and some in a negative one. I have learned to just let them be because nothing is more important as being honest and truthful to yourself.
I am very big on learning more about my mental health and spreading the word of self-love. The line from RuPaul “If you can’t love yourself, then how in the hell can you love anybody else” has defined itself to me through time and is the best quote I have learned to live by. My personal self love didn’t happen over night, it’s still an uphill journey, but knowing that I’m good enough for me is all I need.
Anything you are currently working on which you would love for our readers to know about?
I am currently working on my mental health, self love and saying no to things that don’t serve me. I’m also working on new music with out of this world visuals. I hate to hype something up before it is complete, so I am one to give surprises! Let’s just say Lady GAGA & Michael Jackson had an Alien baby, aka CJ The Virgo.
To contact, book, and learn more about CJ The Virgo you can follow me on :
Youtube and Instagram : @CJTheVirgo
Email : CJTheVirgo@gmail.com.
My music is up on all music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and more @CJTheVirgo