It’s a nod from Germany for Yung Gunz Sound.

In Erlangen they clashed with home-grown champions Deebuz Sound and walked off with the win.

From the start David Vieira, who owns YGS with David “Big D” Furtado, knew it would be tough.

“We knew that they were probably the best DJ sound system out of Germany at the time and they've had a lot of their local fanbase kind of eager for them to come back out after [the pandemic],” said the entertainer, who performs as DJ Scoobay. “It was their first time competing since Covid and we had heard about them but we didn't know them personally. But they were very, very good. It went literally down to the last song.”

Scoobay, who has been in the industry for about 20 years, thinks it’s the work YGS put in that gave them the edge.

“We actually prepared. We listened to a lot of audio from over the years in Germany and we kind of got a really good idea of what they like — as far as what type of beats they like, what type of artists they like,” he said.

“Since we were playing 99 per cent reggae music, we really just kind of gave them what we thought that they liked. And I think our competitors were going into it [with a view of] trying something different. We stuck to what works and we played a lot of new music compared to their selection.”

It was a tried and tested method for YGS. Months earlier the group performed in Brooklyn, New York and went toe to toe with Notorious International, a sound from Jamaica that they had “absolutely” heard of before.

“They’re a very good sound system,” the DJ said. “So it was a team effort. We prepared very hard for it and we tried our best. We did a lot of studying — we studied the way they DJ and what songs they like to play and stuff like that. We just attacked it that way.

“Our emcee for the night, his name is KG and he really was on form that night. And we had his daughter deejaying in that competition in New York, which also took the crowd by surprise because she was only, I think, 19 at the time.”

YGS knew nothing about the clash in Germany until well after their team of eight had been declared the winner by the crowd in New York.

“They called us shortly after that and tried to book us for Germany,” he said.

“But initially, no, that wasn't the plan. We won and then a few promoters called us. One was from Germany, which we went to three weeks ago now, another one was a promoter from Atlanta — and they have us booked there in September — and then another promoter, the one in New York, [invited us to come back]. So we're defending that title in New York in November.”

While in Germany, the group also performed in Nuremberg at a reggae bar with DJs Mango Tree Sound, Fenshi Sound and Rough Town Sound.

Scoobay, who has a full-time job with Auto Solutions, started deejaying because he loved music.

“I just like to entertain. I’ve always loved reggae but I [play] all types, all genres of music. I deejay at Front Yard, I deejay all over the island — I just love music, I love to entertain.”

The pandemic gave YGS an opportunity to do something they hadn’t seriously considered previously.

“During Covid, we linked up with some friends from New York and decided to expand the team internationally. We’d done some online stuff during Covid and got some global recognition,” Scoobay said.

“I think Covid gave everybody around the world some time to listen to people outside of their local DJs; a lot of DJs were offering some free online fun entertainment. So if you're, say, somebody from England, and you log on to social media you might find a DJ that's home in his bedroom [playing music] because he can't go anywhere during Covid. You might discover a lot of other DJs than just your local DJs, the ones that you're used to. And I think that some local Bermudian DJs have gotten lucky with that and with a lot of hard work also.”

To stay relevant in the industry it helps to know the music and how to organise it.

“There's more new music coming out now than, I would say, when I first started. But we also have way more streams to get them, like YouTube,” Scoobay said. “So I think finding the music isn't hard, it’s finding the time to organise it that might be the hardest. I DJ all types of genres — new soca, new Afrobeat, new mainstream pop, new hip-hop …. and all of that has to be separated and has to be organised.”

• Follow Yung Gunz Sound and DJ Scoobay on Instagram: @YoungGunzSound@DjScoobay