admin @ Mon, 2006-09-04 11:00
When your moniker is "Slap Your Favorite DJ" and you are one of the premier personalities on the number one hip-hop radio station in New York, Hot 97, professing to be the Drama King comes easy. During his weekly show properly titled "The Drama Hour," DJ Kay Slay consistently brings the heat that's made him one of the most noted names in hip-hop. With more than twenty plus years in the culture, Kay Slay's contributions are nothing to be made light of.
Hip-hop's second generation may only know DJ Kay Slay for his widely popular mixtapes or his latest gift, New York emcee Papoose, but there's so much more to the veteran. Getting his start with the legendary Zulu Nation, it's safe to say Kay Slay has positioned himself as a laid back, in your face walking history lesson. Keeping his commitment to provide balance to the culture, he keeps his ear to the streets securing the next Jay-Z, Nas or 50 Cent is on the way.
Vowing to provide opportunities for the up-and-coming doesn't stop with artists, his retirement at the Justo Mixtape Awards after winning Best Mixtape DJ three years in a row, opened the door for other mixtape DJ(s) like Big Mike to make history. Currently promoting the release of his latest venture with DJ Greg Street, Kay Slay uses his influence to bring New York and down South artists together with The North Meets The South compilation.
Negating the mere thought that his deal with Koch may be seen as the new payola, while talking with Ballerstatus.com, Kay Slay sets the record straight on what gives him carte blanche to do it the way he wants and at anytime he wants.
Most people don't know you started out contributing to the culture through the art of graffiti, how did you make the transition from taggin' to Djing?
In all actuality, I started DJing first and graffiti actually came about through my clique. I was down with Zulu Nation and graffiti was something dudes used to represent where they're from or if you had drama with another clique, you would go over (tag over) them. With that being what was going on at the time, taggin' was one of the ways we got down. It was just natural for me because I was just a multi-talented dude when I was coming up. So, it became a back and forth thing for me, but I always did both.
Really, I would have to say about '98, when my name started really getting strong and rappers started reaching out to me, coming by my crib doing freestyles and things of that nature. When artists reach out to do things with you that means they respect your ear. Yeah, I would say about '98 and by the time '99 came, it was a wrap.
It was just a natural progression because I really wasn't trippin' on getting into radio, but I was going so hard on the street that radio came looking for me.
Really, the first radio station I started on was the FM station Hank Love and Half Pint used to be on. I was on the late night Red Bandit show. He (Red Bandit) was the host and I used to play the music. That was back in '97/98. After that, I came to Hot 97 around 2000.
Case in point, my show ain't like no one else's and I play what I want and what think is hot. I do things my way! I keep my ear to the streets and don't really cater to the cats that are really out there, out there. I make sure there is really a balance. If you hear a known artist on my show, you will not hear the song you already hear nine thousand times during the week. You will always hear the exclusives and once it starts getting out there, you will not hear it no more on my show. I try to keep it catered straight to the streets.
Your years noted in the culture dates you back to a time where there was balance. Though hip-hop was slowly creeping into the mainstream, there was still Public Enemy and Bambaataa to keep us aware. That balance doesn't exist anymore, how do you feel about that?
There is no balance because there is no structure. Those that may have made it out, so to speak, from the struggle are so stubborn and selfish, they are not really trying to assist other people that don't have that exposure. They are only thinking about themselves and the education of the pioneers isn't really out there. I'll give you a perfect example: I had a party around the time Busta Rhymes' album first came out and the thing that f---ed with me the most was Kool Herc came to the door and I got him in. Later on, he came back to me to tell me the security wouldn't let him in the VIP. So, I go up to security and this dude had to be like 27 or so and he was like, "Slay, this is your party, if you want him in here that's cool, but I don't know who he is." I was like, "What the F---!" It wasn't like we were in Brooklyn or Harlem, we were in the Bronx and you don't know who the f--- Kool Herc is? As long as it is like it is now -- with no structure and the people who have the voice to put things back in perspective ain't even thinking about doing it because they're only thinking about themselves -- it's always going to be unbalanced.
Giving real emcees a true platform may take some time, but what are the people sharing with you? After the party do the people want to look to hip-hop music for substance?
Most definitely, that is why I think people are going to love Papoose when they listen to him. The hardest part was getting the people to listen and I finally did that. He's got records that you can actually let your kids can listen to. He's got a record called "The Cure" that's going to hit so hard that when people hear it, they're going to go crazy for it. On each verse, he's a different disease and he is breakin' down how these diseases infect your body. It's just something the average rapper can't do. Then, we have records like "My Girl," and it breaks down the love a person should have for their mother, their woman and their daughter, and it is those kind of records that deal with society and not killing the block that make the difference.
Would you say that's a personal commitment you've made as far as your contribution to the culture, to bring balance back and keep your ear to the streets for the next young cat to get in the game?
Most definitely because the game started in the underground. Everyone that came from the underground had to come from the underground and work their way up to get noticed. If we just start ignoring the underground and just focus on the people that are mainstream, next you'll be asking me where are the next Jay-Z(s), Nas(s) or 50 Cent(s) going to come from. They won't exist and hip-hop will be extinct. We gotta keep trying to get new artists on the come up and supporting them, so we can keep this culture alive and keep it going.
You retired in a way at the Justo Mixtape Awards. Now that he is gone, do you think his vision will be carried on in the manner in which he envisioned it?
You know, I really hope so, but just the way things are going right now, cats got they heads cut off like they don't know what to do with the situation. Some of the people in power want to do the right thing, but to my knowledge, there is some struggles with the family. I just hope things get worked out because I'm a big supporter. I want to do my part in honoring Justo in the right way, but I can't get in the middle of friends and family about how things should go, that's not who I am. I have enough headaches and the fact of the matter is we lost our brother and people are squabbling over nonsense and I really can't play into that, but when the smoke clears, I'm there.
Some have called the label deals DJ(s) get the new payola. You get the deal and now the label applies the pressure for you to service their artists on the airwaves. Have you run into that?
Oh, not at all. People know a whole lot better than that. I can't be pressured into to doing anything [laughing]. They know I am not going for none of that, if anything it would be the other way around. I am not one of them dudes! I am not having it!
I worked with some of everybody -- Busta Rhymes, Lloyd Banks, of course my artist Papoose, Three 6 Mafia, Camron/the whole Dipset, Bun B, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Remy Ma, Ghostface, Raekwon, Yung Joc, Lil' Jon, Chamillionaire, Cassidy, Twista. As you can see, I gotta a lot of artists on this album.
The mixtape game is flooded right now and people can get lost in masses, but you've been able to keep your brand alive and well. What are you doing differently?
One, my relationships with artists keep me with exclusive music. Two, I don't have a mixtape style that's like no girlie n----, I sound like a n----! I say some sh-- that'll make a n---- jump while he's drivin'. I might make a n---- crash. Three, I always have those new artists no one's heard of and that's me giving someone a shot to get up. I see my influence, where other DJ(s) try to duplicate my style and their last three tracks will be someone no one has ever heard of. I laugh and appreciate the compliment that they ain't giving.
I'm doing the ringtone thing. I have a ringtone deal with T-Mobile Sidekick and I have a new female artist I'm working with named Vein. She is lyrical, I mean a real lyricist and she ain't talking about how good she f---in' a n---- or how fly her clothes are. She is off the hook and not on that materialistic or that sex sh--. That's pretty much it for me. I don't like to scatter my brain too much or I won't be able to focus on what I have going on.
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