Riddler

Filipino-American Richard Pangilinan, known to listeners as the Riddler or DJ Riddler, has issued more than a dozen dance-mix compilation albums, anchored multiple high-profile radio programs, and created remixes or productions for a wide array of mainstream recording artists. Raised in Chicago, he relocated to Texas during his teenage years and launched his DJ career in 1987. He soon earned status as a Billboard club reporter while spinning records at several leading Texas dance outlets: 104 KRBE in Houston, 98.7 KHFI in Austin, and 102 KTFM in San Antonio. In November 1995 he relocated to New York to join Tommy Boy, where he secured a label introduction for fellow Filipino-American Jocelyn Enriquez and contributed to the platinum-certified Jock Jams series as well as the 1997 radio surprise “The Jock Jam,” a widely played mashup megamix.

Pangilinan extended his presence to New York airwaves, beginning at Z100 WHTZ before moving to WKTU, where he hosted the market’s leading mix show. Throughout the early 2000s he assembled collections of current club favorites for Strictly Hype’s Club Series and Tommy Boy’s Dance Mix NYC imprint, strengthening his standing within the dance-music scene. His programs earned multiple honors, among them Best Radio Mixshow at the International Dance Music Awards presented during Miami’s annual Winter Music Conference. In 2003 the program Riddler Remixed debuted on Sirius Satellite Radio.

By 2004 the Riddler’s Dance Mix NYC series had reached its fifth installment. That same year Pangilinan helped establish MYNT, a dance-pop ensemble modeled on C+C Music Factory that featured vocalists Kim Sozzi and Marisol Angelique Solorzano alongside co-producers Albert Castillo and Joe Murena. The group’s first single, “How Did You Know,” entered the Billboard Top 100 in 2004. After additional singles, the full-length album Still Not Sorry appeared on Ultra Records in 2005.

Around this period the Riddler began issuing mix albums through Ultra, with volumes of Ultra Dance, Ultra Trance, and Club Anthems surfacing across the remainder of the decade. In 2008 he returned to Houston and took a slot on Hot 95.7 FM KKHH. He maintained Sirius-XM mix shows until 2012, when he joined Clear Channel HD2’s Club Phusion channel. Also in 2012 he released Dance Mix USA: In the Club, Vol. 2 on Phase One and the Enigma EP on Soltrenz. He continued to receive accolades at the Winter Music Conference and at the Promo Only Summer Sessions/DJ Times Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 2017 he joined 92.1 Radio Now KROI, where he hosted an afternoon drive-time show and served as music director.