So this is the 2nd time ive been interviewed, still a little wierd being on the other side, But here it is.
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DJ Grind Interview
April 14, 2009 by precinctphantom
Are you a fan of UK hip hop? Matter of fact, are you a fan of any hip hop? You should definitely check out DJ Grind’s radio show! We catch up with the man himself to talk about Dizzee Rascal, Lethal Bizzle, how Soulja Boy isn’t skilled, but is rather catchy and about what gets played in clubs, and what gets respect on the underground!
DJ Grind, we’ll start with the generic questions! How and why did you first get into being on the decks?
Well I’ve always had love for music, but I got into DJing when I was working in a bar, I was really good friends with the DJ who was doing 4 nights in a row. To cut a long story short, he wanted a night off and asked me if I wanted to do Friday nights, I told him I had no DJ experience, but he said you know music, you’ll be fine. I still say to this day you don’t have to be the best technical DJ to rock a crowd as long as you know what to drop and when to drop it.
Do you have any, kind of emergency records? If you’re at a gig and the crowd isn’t really hyped, what do you drop that gets them moving?
Yeah stacks! But it all depends on the crowd. If it’s a commercial crowd, then you’re
talking about Beyonce’s Crazy in love. Or if it is a really urban crowd then I’ll drop Dizzee Rascal’s Fix Up Look Sharp. But right now I’m doing a lot of college parties and I have a mash up of Arctic Monkey’s Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor mashed with Can I Have It Like That by Pharrell. The crowd usually go crazy for that, but the big tune right now for me is Dizzee’s new tune Bonkers!
I think that the whole Dizzee situation is interesting. A lot of real grime heads hated on him for dropping Dance Wiv Me. What’s your stance on that? Are you feeling the more commercial Rascal, or is it still the Boy In Da Corner days that you like?
It’s a bit of both to be honest. There’s no reason that you can’t have both. If you ask anyone that wants to be a rapper or mc what their aim is, if they answer you honestly one of their answers will be to make money. Respect is fine, but people respect money. There are a lot of UK artists out there right now making commercial hits, and people are saying they sold out. But UK hip hop has never been bigger than right now. It’s a good look. Any artist who is a business man will make tracks for the radio/club and tracks for the real fans.
Does UK hip hop get a lot of love at the parties? I can’t imagine people dancing to Jehst and Micall Parknsun, but throw on a bit of Lethal Bizzle or the huge Giggs freestyle, that’ll have people on the floor won’t it?
Yes, definitely, this is what I try to tell up and coming artists that get in contact with me. They send me some real underground hood track, sometimes with amazing lyrics and concepts, but you have to ask yourself, will this get played in a club? We’re a very club orientated culture, I’m a club DJ. People go to a club to enjoy themselves and forget about real life. Club music equals success. If you want to make music that is respected underground music, that’s cool, but don’t expect club or radio airplay!
Are you giving people radio play as well? What station do you broadcast on, and what type of stuff do you get on there?
Yes, but we get sent so much unsigned music it has to be of a very high standard and also we try and tie it in with a release date and/or local shows. I co present The R n G Show on Express FM which is currently the biggest urban specialist show in the south. We broadcast 7-9 on a Friday night so it does tend to be more of a commercial show than underground stuff. On the show we take it to different places throughout. We start with some chilled RnB before moving into commercial hip hop. We finish up the show by going from big club bangers into a funky mix.
Funky seems the way to go for UK artists now! It seems everyone is getting a tune done like it! How are you feeling the whole dubstep and drum n bass scenes at the moment? You’ve definitely got quality people around, Chase & Status are my favourite current producers in that style!
Yeah, I think now people are not so afraid to try new things and experiment. Take Lethal Bizzle, his last album was mostly indie, where his new one will have a real funky edge to it. But yeah, funky is definately the ‘in’ thing at the moment. Whether it will turn out to be a fad like bassline I’m not sure.
You were the 3rd DJ in the world to get the new Go Hard tune by the Bizzle weren’t you? How did you build up such a good relationship with him? He’s a heavy guy, I remember when I saw him live at Norwich last year, he tore the place down!
Yeah for real. I think that I have such a good relationship with certain artists because we try and keep things light hearted. You have to remember how many interviews these guys do, so we just try and have a laugh and let them have fun. Bizzle in particular has been really good to me. He was one of the first artists I ever interviewed, we just kept on good terms, plus he knows how respected the show is in the south by not only listeners but artists as well. I’d say we have a great relationship with 99% of the artists that we’ve met.
Who’s the biggest artist you’ve interviewed on the show?
Damn, that’s so hard to say! I mean the big US names we’ve had include Robin Thicke, Gym Class Heroes, Keri Hilson, Jazmine Sullivan, Soulja Boy, DJ Drama & Clinton Sparks. If I was to name a few. UK artists we’ve had, well, there’s pretty much everyone, Dizzee Rascal, Lethal Bizzle, Kano, Sway, Lemar, N Dubz & Nathan!
Soulja Boy’s first album, I wasn’t a massive fan of to be honest, but the Turn My Swag On tune is one of my favourites right now. Are you a fan of the more dumbed down, party rap that Beezy produces?
Haha! Um can I plead the 5th on that? It’s one of those love/hate things. I can’t stand it but that shit gets stuck in your head. Like his new Kiss You Through The Phone track. Grrrhh! Ha!
Ha! I know exactly what you mean mate! So, have you got any last words then? Anything you’d like to say before we wrap this up, any links to check out?
So much! Don’t forget about my mixtapes! I’m one of the biggest mixtape DJs in the country! Come get at me for that. Don’t forget to check out the show every Friday 7-9 PM. You can find me at www.djgrind.co.uk, www.myspace.com/djgrindmusic and www.djgrind.wordpress.com This is what I’m all about, I’m one of the hardest working guys in the game and I won’t stop until I’ve got what I want. Welcome to 2 thousand & Grind.
