DJ Miss Parker will spin tunes at a Las Vegas polling location on Election Day

Teri Parker wanted to become a dentist, but when she worked in a dentist’s office, she realized it wasn’t for her. She became a fitness instructor, but she didn’t enjoy that job, either. Next she became a bottle-service girl in a Las Vegas day club, waiting on VIPs and the DJs who were spinning tunes for them.

That’s when it dawned on her how she could marry her love of hip hop and people with the ability to read music she learned while playing the piano as a kid: She became DJ Miss Parker. “It’s been pretty much history, gratefully, since,” she says. “It’s a big passion of mine.”

After DJing for seven years, Parker, 31, is eager to play her part in American democracy by being one of nearly 300 Nevada DJs at the Polls on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. The DJs program, launched in Philadelphia in 2008, debuts in Nevada this election season.

Parker will be working her music magic outside a Las Vegas polling station from 7-11 a.m. and again from 3 p.m. until it closes at 7 p.m.

“The message that we are trying to convey is we do need people to get involved in our country,” she says.

She’s staying neutral about the candidates and the issues. She’s not going to tell anyone how they should vote, only that she hopes they’ll make their voices heard by casting their ballots.

“We’re not here to talk about what side, but just the fact that people want to get up and vote,” she says. “The bridge that we’re trying to build is to get people to want to come to the polling sites.”

Miss Parker will be there, flashing hot pink streaks in her long black hair, ready to entertain whoever shows up. She believes the power of music can energize the electorate.

“The statistics have shown that having DJs at the poll sites are actually bringing in people wanting to vote, especially the younger generation, which is kind of what we’re working for, because they’re going to be our future,” she says.

Her interest in jazzing up voters’ experiences, though, doesn’t stop with young voters. When she joined a Nevada DJs at the Polls trial run during the June primary, she played at a polling site in a senior community center in Henderson, where she says, “they loved me.” 

“I played a lot of oldies music, and they were just talking the whole time,” she says. “They just kind of want to chit chat.”

Still, she got some folks dancing.

“You could see the faces change, demeanors lighten up,” she says.

Though she favors hip hop, especially more upbeat tunes to get everyone moving, Parker happily plays anything and everything. Once she DJed a full country gig, and she’s down to spin 80s music, Afro music, Reggaeton, Reggae and rock. 

“I’m famous for mixing a lot of different genres,” she says. “I try to stay well rounded, just to see who’s paying attention in the crowd.”

Her goal on Election Day is to make any wait to vote feel shorter. “It’s an escape. So, yeah, just zone out,” she says.

“We’re going to play to the crowd. We’re trying to harmonize with what’s going on,” she says. “At the end of it, I just do hope that people hear us out and want to go and vote and understand that it does make a difference.”