ABOUT BEING A PROFESSIONAL DJ  

 By  GOODPHELLA

Whenever you kick it at a club, if the music is garbage, then it's probably time to dip to a new spot.  

If the opposite sex is well represented at the spot, that's cool. If the bar is open for business, that's cool too.

But, it's the beats that keep the club's machine flowing smoothly. Enter the dee-jay...........

Think about it............

Somebody has to maintain the vibe by pumping the cuts......Right? Dee-jays and Vee-jays (video DJ’s)

 are everywhere: radio, music television, clubs, parties........ I always wondered what kind of paper

these cats make? You know....What kind of loot comes from spinning records. Or should I say

CD’s! A hot topic among dee-jays……..Vinyl versus CD….Which side are you on!

(we’ll get to that later……….)

Throughout

 this series, we will uncover some game about the DJ business. Again, we will not provide you with

all of the keys, only some insight.........Becoming a master involves much work and research, so we

will not be handing you complete blueprints. We will, however, offer some information and opinions

from various individuals that have been paying their dues in the music game. Prepare yourself

to enter the world of the professional DJ.............

DJ Outlaw gigs on Blazing 106, one of the hottest stations in this region.

Q: Everything cool at the station?

A: It's O.K. Individual people at the radio are cool, but there is a lot of politics and bull**** associated with management. But hey, that's the music industry

Q: How competitive is Nashville's dj scene?

A: Nashville's DJ scene basically sucks. You got a few DJ's living off of a name that they built 10-15 years ago. You got cut-throat DJ's doing gigs for $50 and bringing their own equipment. Nobody can compete with that. I don't think nobody pushes the envelope like DJ's are supposed to do

Q: how long have you been doing professional dj spots?

A: 1994

Q: How did you break into the biz?

A: DJ-ing parties as a freshman in college.

Nashville's music market has steadily become more diverse each year. Hip hop culture is taking over the world though, so it was only a matter of time. What used to be known as a strictly country music capitol has now become a real Music City. In 'Cashville', country is ‘where it’s at’, as far as the major labels are concerned. However, we at Everything Underground believe that the future and the NOW is all about the underground. Yeah……

(more from our conversation with Outlaw)

Q: what's it like when you're behind the 1 and 2?

A: The opportunity for a non- singing, non- rapping nigga to get creative. In the club you can really feed off the crowd. Power. It gives you the power to push on even if you have been up for 3 days straight. In the studio, you really get to cut, chew, and digest music. You feel like you can touch the masses with tight mixes done in the studio, because even then I keep it vinyl.

The masses indeed !

Aahh!! Vinyl-1, CD-0

Q: got to be the gravy-est gig in the world, right?

A: Luckily I do if for the love. You run into a lot of bull**** along the way. Wack a** club promoters, greedy street promoters, and always haters. Nashville doesn't really rely on the DJ like they do in some other markets. But you do receive a lot of love from people who love hop-hop and rap the way I do.

Q: people think it's easy, but you gotta put the work in. Anything worth doing should be done right.

True?

A: Like anything else, practice makes perfect. When I first started, DJ Infamous showed a lot of love but when it came down to how to do this or that, he was like: "best thing I can tell you is to just do it." As I became more experienced, I understood why.

Q: Any advice for newcomers to the dj game?

A: You have to figure out what works best for you and observe. Watch other DJ's as much as you can. I still do this when I can, especially when I'm out of town. When you go to the club, you can't sit up with the b****** all night. Go to the booth and holla at the guy on the wheels of steel.

Q: What's up with 'bootleg'D J's?

A: It's becoming too easy to start DJing, and I think real DJ's are looking out for people trying to spin records for real, much more than in the past. Anyone with a decent CD collection and $150 can do a set that can get him through many parties. But that, in no way makes them a DJ. Don't get me wrong, there are some people out there doing amazing things with CD players but I will always respect a vinyl spinning DJ more.

Vinyl-2, CD-0, for those of you that are keeping count.........

Q: Where else do you do shows? Any extra hot ones coming up?

A: Memphis, Birmingham, Miss., Michigan, Indiana, & Ohio. Big things going on next month with 50 Cent, Lil Jon, DJ Whoo Kid, Meka B, & Lathun. Stay on the Look Out.

Q: Any shot outs?

A: Yeah. 1st & foremost GOD. My mother, sisters Rena & Andrianna, DJ Infamous, The Great 8 (Blazin 106.7) & DJ Desperados. Everythingunderground.com, Will, D-Pounce, Al & Rod, C-Brad, Brian & Chris, J-Gates, Willie, Sir-Swift, Lil Les,L.J., Frogie, Big DM, Lawbreaker, Niya, Twyla, Ms. Michele, Ms Kitty, and the rest of the PB-Dancin crew. Platinum Bound Records, Nu Sounds, Tight-N-Right, Southside Car Wash (Fat Rat), Jacques, 3rd, and the foundation..Hang Em High Productions. If I forgot you thank you even more

Listen out for DJ Outlaw on Blazing 106.7 holdin’ it down.

This is simply the tip of the iceburg of the underground DJ circuit. It gets deeper… Please believe………..Want to know more about the DJ at your favorite spot? Well, e-mail us at myfavoriteddjis@everythingunderground.com and holla at us about it…….

----taken from The World is Yours by Goodphella

The underground scene is the true thermometer of what's really going on, so we at eTUG will continue to bring you that real..........