Prominent Atlanta DJs and Radio Personalities Discuss the Evolution of DJing – 95.5 WSB

According to Georgia-native DJ MLK, “It’s always important to know what you want to do. There is also a structure to follow.

DJ MLK is a multi-talented veteran Atlanta DJ and the official road DJ for Atlanta rap icon TI.

“If you’re a radio DJ, there’s a structure because you have a format. When you’re on tour, there’s a format because if you’re on tour and you’re DJing for an artist,” he said. “If you’re doing choruses and verses, you can do a whole song. If you’re a mixtape DJ or a club DJ, it’s raw and uncut, and that’s the path I took.”

DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Nabs, and DJ Greg Street are among the people who paved the way for DJ Jaycee. Growing up in Detroit, DJ Jaycee says he learned how to play records and mix them at a young age.

“My mom once said, ‘Before I started walking, I was always drawn to the record player,’” DJ Jaycee said.

DJ Jaycee says he has the “utmost respect” for DJ Greg Street for not only helping him early in his career, but also paving the way for future generations.

“Greg once told me, ‘If you start your show with something that’s unfamiliar to them, the listener will say no, but if they go to Hot (Hot 97.5 at the time) and they play something new and familiar, they’ll stay there.’ Commercial radio is a different beast than college and community radio.”

From September 2000 to 2011, DJ Jaycee was the official DJ for Atlanta rap icon Ludacris.

The relationship between a DJ and an artist is paramount in the music industry, according to MiAsia Symone, a prominent Hot 107.9 radio personality and entrepreneur in Atlanta.

“DJs have always played a major role in an artist’s breakthrough,” Symone told WSB Radio. “That’s changed over time with social media and now TikTok can get an artist noticed. At the end of the day, the DJ still has to spin the music.”

She got her start in the music industry in Atlanta as a blogger for DJ Holiday and other hip-hop blogs. His passion for music comes from his father.

“He really loved music,” she said. “He was always listening to Tupac, Ice Cube, NWA. He was the one who made me listen. »

Although Symone said artists still respect DJs, she added that DJs are “the lowest paid in the industry.”

“The average DJ at a club party can make anywhere from $75 to $250 per night,” she said. “After a whole night spent there, five or six hours is not enough for them to earn a living. DJs are important when it comes to music.

DJ Jaycee said he wasn’t initially paid when he started working at V-103.

“Mixers weren’t paid by radio stations in those days,” he continued. “The way you gained notoriety, you were mixing live and touring live on the radio. There were club owners and promoters who listened and if you rocked on the radio, they booked you. I didn’t receive a check from V-103 for the first two years I worked there.

Iconic Atlanta DJ and Grammy Award-winning producer DJ Toomp says having a great ear for music, reading the audience and building a relationship with an artist are key elements of DJing.

“The DJ profession has evolved over time, and it’s all about your skills, your artistry and your ability to scratch,” he said. “There are a lot of things to take into account, like your ability to read an audience, to play the right songs at the right time. »

Some of the biggest artist and DJ duos include DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, DJ Who Kid and 50 Cent, DJ Green Lantern and 50 Cent, DJ T. Lewis and Lil Wayne, DJ Jaycee and Ludacris, DJ Ace and Jeezy. TI has worked with several big DJs including DJ Drama, DJ Toomp, and DJ MLK.

When it comes to great DJ and hip-hop artist duos, Symone said, “DJ T. Lewis and Lil Wayne are a duo that comes to mind. »

“I like DJ Boof, who is Nicki Minaj’s DJ,” she continued. “I like DJ Holiday and DJ Bluetooth. DJ Misses is really good. Princess Cut and Suga Shae, DJ Monae. Female DJs also need more recognition in Atlanta. They can play with the best of them.”

Symone said she used to throw parties in her dorm room while she was a student at Georgia State University and had a “really good ear for music.”

“From a hosting standpoint, once you find a DJ that you can bounce around with, go back and forth and have fun with, it creates the vibe and energy that’s needed,” she said.

DJ Jaycee says maintaining good relationships and trust is key between an artist and a DJ.

“The relationship between the artist and the DJ is very important,” DJ Jaycee said. “You always want to have a good relationship with the artists you work with. Part of that is that you always have to be prepared. You don’t just go on stage and press play on records.

Listening to records at the right time, whether you’re in a club or at a concert, is the “key.”

“You can see the timing,” DJ Toomp. “If a song is slow, you can speed it up and slow it down.”

DJ Toomp has produced dozens of hits for artists such as TI, Ludacris, Jeezy, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and many more.

“When it comes to making an album, you can tell a story on this song, put an intro on it,” DJ Toomp added. So now we’re on the third song, and we’re going to get the fans jamming and moving for a while, and then we’re going to slow down. Some of the best albums take you on a journey. Some songs are laid back that you can relax to, others make you want to get up and dance. Some make you feel a certain way and make you want to work out. This plays a major role in the songs we choose.

DJ Jaycee says he’s grateful to be able to do what he loves for a living.

“They say that when you love your job, it doesn’t feel like work,” he said.

“Music is a way of life,” Symone said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a janitor, you work at a radio station, you work in an office, even when you go to sports games, you see the impact it has on the culture and on everyone.”