Proper Villains

Jonathan Shulman, better known as Proper Villains, is a New York based DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist whose career began in the crate-lugging rave and loft party days of the late 90s and early 2000s. His sound has always carried a distinctly NYC attitude: aggressive but approachable, smart, playful, and built for the moment when the room collectively asks, “Did he really just do that?” He came up blending underground bass styles like dubstep, electro-house, and moombahton with hip-hop and flashes of pop, a combination that quickly set him apart. His first major break arrived in 2008 when his single “Trick Baby” landed on The Black Ghosts Mixtape, paving the way for releases on Southern Fried, Nightshifters, Flamin’ Hotz, and Play Me Records, along with remixes for The Stereo MCs, Ninjasonik, Cubic Zirconia, Dirty Disco Youth, and Theophilus London. As bass music crept into mainstream radio, Proper Villains’ remix of The Cataracs' “Bass Down Low” became a sleeper hit on Power 106 and Hot 97, earning him remix work for Enrique Iglesias, Dev, Havana Brown, Pitbull, Lil Jon, Far East Movement, Roger Seventytwo, and Childish Gambino. His viral bootlegs of Waka Flocka and Rihanna continue to smash heavy low end into pop vocals in ways that fans still hunt for in clubs and online.

Onstage, Proper Villains has brought his sound to crowds everywhere from Hawaiian beaches to New York institutions, sharing lineups with LA Riots, 12th Planet, Nadastrom, Borgore, and Caspa, and opening for international acts including Infected Mushroom, The Crystal Method, and Mark Farina. At Sound Collective, Jonathan draws from decades of producing, remixing, and moving dance floors to help students build tracks and DJ sets that hit hard, feel fresh, and cut through the noise. His approach is hands-on, energetic, and rooted in real-world club experience, giving learners the skills and confidence to create music that sounds as bold and boundary-pushing as the artists who inspired them.