Charly Jordan, Las Vegas born social media star, model and Zouk Group resident DJ (2024)

Thu, Aug 19, 2021 (2 a.m.)

Twenty-two-year-old model, DJ and entrepreneur Charly Jordan parlayed an early foothold as a travel influencer into a massive social media audience, with more than 12 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube right now. One of her biggest accomplishments thus far: snagging a DJ residency with the Zouk Group at the newly opened Resorts World Las Vegas.

To say that gig has special meaning for this Vegas native would be an understatement. “We’re three generations deep in Vegas. My mom and her mom were raised in Vegas,” Jordan says. “I’ve heard a million stories about how Las Vegas used to be and how much it’s changed. And this hotel was where the Stardust was, and my grandpa was an attorney for Boyd Gaming and he worked out of that casino. So it’s pretty crazy to help open a new casino there now.”

Jordan spun a special set on opening night and has already logged several shows at Ayu Dayclub, where she returns for a big Labor Day Weekend event on September 3.

What was it like to perform at Resorts World, literally right on the Strip, for opening night? It was very nostalgic. I’m born and raised in Las Vegas, so to be able to DJ an opening of one of the largest casino-hotels on the Strip is pretty crazy. There were a lot of people I went to high school with and family members and other people I hadn’t seen in a long time, all gathered together. And they had turntables set up in front of the main [Las Vegas Boulevard] entrance, plus they were [broadcasting] my face on that giant LED screen, so I was DJing for the hotel but everyone that was gathered on the street made it feel like a giant block party.

I don’t think there have been many native Las Vegans with DJ residencies at major Strip clubs. I can’t think of anyone either, and also there are not that many female DJs that have residencies. So just getting in there is shaking things up a little. I’m definitely in unchartered waters. But everything has been incredible, and the Resorts World team is very helpful. It’s funny, because I spent my whole life trying to get out [of Las Vegas], did a lot of traveling, and then this brought me back. Growing up here, you can’t really experience it the way everyone else does, so I definitely disliked it, but now I’m older and I get to experience it as it was meant to be.

What was the breakthrough that first put you on this course and got you out of town in the first place? Growing up, my family was very conservative and religious, part of the huge Mormon community in Las Vegas. As I got older I craved so much more than the desert and this very structured way Vegas is. It just always felt a little off to me. When I started taking road trips, that opened my eyes and travel really sparked my interest in all different things. I initially made travel videos for a living on Instagram then did other social media, and it helped me broaden my horizons. I got to see all these animals and plants, oceans and lakes. … Seeing nature and traveling to [other] countries on opposite sides of the world opened my eyes to culture, and I wanted to share that with other people who weren’t as fortunate as me, to have the freedom to do that.

Culture is everything. I love food and music and learning about different religions and people, and everywhere you go is so unique. And traveling has connected me with so many different types of music, so that’s why I’m heavily influenced by Latin house and deep house from Europe, and my set has these different sounds from all over the world.

You’ve already dropped some music this year including last month’s single, “No Sleep.” Do you have plans for more new music? I do. That was a fun little house single, and there are remixes, but I’m excited to do some more commercial house music coming out in a couple of months. I’m singing on some tracks and spending more time on songwriting and developing this body of work beyond singles. But those are fun to release, because I love to DJ that music. It’s part of a long-term goal to get on the festival circuit.

You’ll be playing at Ayu Dayclub and Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World for the foreseeable future, but you have some other new business-oriented projects as well. I started Beauty in Pain, which is a jewelry brand and Smoke Roses, which is a [smoking] paper company, and they were both created with mental health awareness in mind. That’s a huge thing I talk about across all my platforms and brands. Growing up, I definitely struggled with mental health issues, and it’s cool to have products that are attached to that journey. I’m super-grateful to be doing what I’m doing.

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Tags:Nightlife,DJ,Resorts World