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Music

OWSLA Artist Mija Sits for Tasteful, Gothy Playboy Shoot

"I'm just a human really, and I do whatever I want to."
Photo courtesy of Playboy

LA-based DJ Mija, aka Amber Giles, unveiled a Playboy photoshoot this week. The tasteful, gothy spread—shot by photographer Marya Gullo, and styled by Aubrey Kia—features Mija wearing a see-through, white, mesh dress over a black bra and matching shorts, and thigh-high socks. You can view the whole photo gallery on the Playboy site, in addition to a behind-the-scenes video.

Giles rose to stardom after a string of knockout performances at major festivals over the last couple of years, including a b2b sunrise set with Skrillex at Bonnaroo in 2014. The pair are reportedly tight, with Skrillex putting Mija on his debut show for his Beats 1 residency, in addition to releasing material from Mija on his label, OWSLA.

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Via email, Giles told THUMP she agreed to the shoot after Gullo reached out to her wanting to do something artist-driven. "The experience was really dope," she said. "The crew was chill and let me curate the stylist, clothes, location, etc. I asked them to skate with me around DTLA and those ended up being my favorite shots." Mija added: "My close friend Aubrey Kia styled this as 'Sporty Mija'."

The Phoenix-born artist has been outspoken about her position as a female DJ in a male-dominated industry. Giles is involved with Nap Girls, a collaborative organization that empowers women in dance music. She said in an interview with Nest HQ that the group is like a modern feminist movement. "What attracted me to the Nap Girls was the spunky group of girls that had a silly idea and wanted to make it a 'thing'—and once it became a thing they used its popularity to promote positive messages and girl power," she said.

This week, when Miami promoter Justin James sparked outrage after posting his "requirements for a female DJ," Mija added her support to the backlash, calling James out as "a creepy dude".

u don't want to work with managers or agents coz u know they will sus u out haha ur so creepy dude — mija (@hi_mija)February 2, 2016

Asked how her feminist leanings jibed with the idea of posing for Playboy, Mija stressed that there was no subtext behind the shoot. "I'm just a human really, and I do whatever I want to," Giles said. "There isn't any hidden political message behind this; to say there is would be dishonest. Marya reached out cause she identified with my music and and wanted to find something creative to do together. If there had to be a message, it's that people (whatever gender they identify as) deserve the freedom to be themselves."

Anna Codrea-Rado is THUMP's News Editor. Follow her on Twitter.