By Odeisel

Yesterday we got some stuff from the mixtape game and beind the scenes with G-Unit that wasn’t commonly known. In this second segment with DJ Whoo Kid we talk surviving the times, DJing for terrorists and Nelson Mandela.

Planet Ill: Clue? had “One More Chance” when it still had the DeBarge sample in it.  I remember when he had “Hot Potato” so fast I think Treach tried to kill him once. What was the most prized treat that you found back in your mixtape days. What were you most proud of?

Whoo Kid: I had like two annihilating tracks, which would be the Biggie and 50 “Realest N***as.”  That was a DAT that was stolen maybe like three or four years ago [before the song release]. I thought there was nothing on there and even if there was, I probably thought it was nothing cause it was just a Biggie a capella, so I didn’t really use it. And back in those days you weren’t thinking about producing or doing music.  We just wanted to get the shit and put it out there.

So I’m going through the shit and I’m like yo I never heard this Biggie verse before! So I brought like two people to make sure I’m not going crazy and then once I called Fif, I said, “I think I got a Biggie verse that’s never been heard and I’mma call Red Spider to put a beat on it. Let me know what you think.” And once 50 heard it, it was over.  And then Puff was too busy recycling the Biggie joints he had and putting people that…

Planet Ill: That don’t belong on the shit…

DJ WHoo Kid: Yeah like Bow Wow and B.I.G. Come on man. B.I.G. would never do records with a lot of the people that was on that [Biggie Duets] album. Not only was the verse never heard of, I drove Fif crazy. He was like, “Where did that beat come from?” But I had gotten it from Track  Masters. I don’t remember and it just caused a stir. I think I got the first Cease and Desist letter from Miss Wallace, from Biggie’s moms. So we took  care of that situation but then part two came. Part two came kind of funny because Snoop,  I just finished doing Snoop’s CD; I used to do all the Welcome to the Church’s Volume 5 or some shit. But I think Snoop had issues with Suge or whatever so he was like yo, the Tupac verse he had he couldn’t clear it. So he was like yo, if I can’t clear it, Suge is fucking with me, send that shit to Whoo Kid. And there goes another a capella that I never heard from Tupac and we called it “Realest Killaz.”

So it was” Realest N***as” with B.I.G. and “Realest Killaz,” which was Tupac and that kind of like fucked everything up because now 50 had like “Wanksta,” he had “In the Club,” “P.I.M.P.” and “Many Men” which was on the radio all day.  And I think “Just a Little Bit.” Whatever was on Get Rich or Die Trying , he had like four or five songs that was on constant rotation. That’s why I was like this album is going to sell 10 million guaranteed because all the songs are on the radio. And then he had the illegal records that he freestyled.  And now I added a Biggie song on the mix, a Tupac song on the mix and I took care of the Reggae artists with Sean Paul.  Back then Sean Paul was killing everything. And then the “P.I.M.P. “remix I had Snoop Dogg do a freestyle. And 50 loved the freestyle so much he was like I’mma make this my remix. That’s how the “P.I.M.P.” remix came together. That’s where me and Snoop became soul brothers or whatever. It was weird for me because I grew up listening to like N.W.A., grew up listening to all these artists. Now I hang with them!

Planet Ill: I find that the same way interviewing some of these people; you sit down in front of KRS, you sit down in front of Rakim…

DJ Whoo Kid: It gets even iller when KRS-One acknowledges you. Like he’s a fan of you! All the rappers, EPMD, Rakim Big Daddy Kane, I mean EVERY rapper I grew up listening to, every last one, Whodini. It’s just mindboggling that a dumb DJ like me is known by every old school rapper. You name the rapper, from the late Nate Dogg to Pimp C, like Pimp C was more amped meeting me than I was amped meeting him.  We were swapping stories and everybody in Houston knew who I was.Scareface, I would have never thought Scarface would know who I am. It just fucked my head up. I been doing mixtapes for ten years like 15 years. It’s mindboggling to me

Planet Ill: What do you think about DJ’s now? Everybody saying they got exclusives but it’s shit from people’s albums.  What does being a DJ boil down to now when they don’t have to work they don’t have to pull any strings, they don’t have to establish relationships…

DJ Whoo Kid: It’s just not the same man; it’s not the same from back in the days.When you had an  exclusive you had a DAT. I used to go to Justo, I used to wait for Justo to leave the room and go through a DAT. That’s how I knew stuff. The art of stealing music was crazy back then. The fact that you didn’t know motherfuckers in the “Source Magazine,” if you  didn’t know motherfuckers at “Vibe,” you go there, pay the dude that rates albums, pay him  like 500 bucks they give you the snippets or the album early. They don’t do that anymore. And then you got the internet which is like the biggest enemy to the DJ that’s like a mixtape DJ. Cause like once some shit is out, everybody heard it; it’s out. Nothing is an exclusive unless you’re producing.

That’s why I got into doing just one artist at a time because I’m working personally with the artist and then I’m controlling when the shit comes out. You steal a song, but Clue? got it or Kay Slay got it. It’s all about who puts it out first. I had that problem. I had to wait for Clue? to drop and then I would drop see what he got on his list and I’d try to make my list slightly different, but at the end of the day we both the same shit. Clue? would get the drug dealers; I would get the out of towners. Anybody that would come on vacation from another country and they’d see Robert Deniro hosting a CD, they’d buy it, just out of curiosity. So that’s what I was up against.  I brought my own formula 15 years ago and I got a movie star hosting Tinie Tempa shit [Russell Brand]. So you hit Russell Brand’s fans and then you got Tinie Tempa who’s on the verge of being an international star and you have a huge free download.

I used to use everything to promote a mixtape. You’d be surprised; I just never told people how to really do it. It’s not really an exclusive if you get it from the internet. You got it; the other DJ’s got it. You gotta have something that you produce. That’s going to make you different. Back then, if I had an exclusive man them rappers would be looking for me, the A&R’s the labels. Not only are you getting the adrenaline rush of putting it out, but the next rush is  watching your phone ring with like 212 numbers,  because you know that’s the label calling. Or you know it’s a weird number that ain’t on your phone; it could be their homeboy looking for you. You don’t pick up your phone until two months later when your CD’s out and it’s too late, nobody gives a fuck. Once you’re in the clear then you can get back on your game. Now you grinding again you’re stealing music again. It’s like you’re a crackhead.

There was a lot of money back then from mixtapes . If I was collecting 20 g’s here and there I can imagine what Clue? and them was doing. And I was number three. It took me a while to be where I’m at, but back then it was crazy.  Drive out to all the bootleg spots, in the summer all day collecting money, laughing. Now I use the internet; I don’t even put it in the street. Now if you ain’t high tech, if you ain’t got no iPad or iPhone where you can download the shit, tune in and listen. You know the Lloyd Banks CD I did, that got 500,000 downloads. That means the whole world heard it. Instead of me trying to make 10,000 and get locked up. That’s wack.

And then I make my money elsewhere. I get booked constantly. More people want to do mixtapes, my hype is out there. I’m relevant; my name is still out there. And I’d rather get promoted to the internet world. I don’t care about the street shit dollars for CD’s that just super hood shit. Now, you just go to a fucking website or a cool blog. You go to RadioPlanet, you enjoy it in the privacy of your home instead of going to Canal Street and crazy guys yelling at you cause you don’t want to pay two dollars for it and then the police come and raid you; you get raided. I don’t have time for that shit.

At the end of the day every mixtape DJ has the same common ground to promote themselves.  I did it to make my fans happy. I was one of those fans who got mad when I used to buy a mixtape and it would sound like shit. I was one of those dudes. I was like if I ever became a DJ or whatever I would play all the hits or what people want to hear. And then they led me to DJ not only for 50 and everybody else I DJed for, it led me to radio, it led me to travel the world.  I DJed for like terrorists and militia. I hung with royalty, I met Nelson Mandela. I hung with Michael Jackson. All the stars out there; it’s an unlimited process of fun. It’s just endless. I do video games, I do movies, I do TV shows. All you need is a personality and a mixtape and you’re good forever. If you’re a goofy fucking jerk DJ, you ain’t going nowhere. It’s really about how you show yourself, and I always say that, but a lot of these DJ’s I meet they all look the same: fucking goofy, big ass chain they not funny you just do mix show and they talking. Like come on man. You gotta have a mentality that you’re not going to be a mixtape DJ forever. A lot of these dudes want to be a mixtape DJ and that’s it. If I thought like that, I wouldn’t be hanging with Nelson Mandela, I’ll tell you that!

Planet Ill: Anything you want the fans to know?

DJ Whoo Kid: I’ve done countless interviews; I talk a lot of shit but at the end of the day most people don’t know that I listen to a lot of old Hip-Hop shit. Old music. Even right now I’m listening to old music. You think I got Lil Wayne in my car? I can’t listen to the shit that’s out now. The music from the 90’s and up molded me up to the person I am today. The music today is not molding anybody into anything. It’s just immediate. You can’t remember what was hot last year. It’s just temporary.

Planet Ill: You think the internet has a lot to do with that? When we heard it we didn’t hear it in from of a computer we heard it out of speakers or from cars or on the ave or the block. There were experiences connected to it.

DJ Whoo Kid: Yeah because they internet just eliminated the golden days. It’s like you’re living in the Caribbean in the 70’s when there’s really no TV so you really had to hustle just to do fun shit. You really lived. You lived from eating a mango or going to the beach and you were good. That was really cool living back then. But when you have technology, it fucks shit up.  It’s not going to be the same. And then we’re like the last of a dying breed. You see like Nate Dogg is dying everyone is like passing away.

Planet Ill: Macho Man is dead, Hulk Hogan shriveled up…

DJ Whoo Kid: Exactly! It doesn’t have to be Hip-Hop; it could be Hollywood, music, wrestling, rock. Everybody is passing away. The golden years are gone and technology even with the new rock dudes.  These new rock dudes don’t get respect that’ why those old rock dudes still make millions of dollars here. Because people know what music is. I wish Hip-Hop was like theat. They just don’t respect our old…the pioneers that paved the way. They don’t pay them like old rock dudes that are making money.

Planet Ill: Do you think that if people from that generation spoke with their dollars that that music would come back?

DJ Whoo Kid: Not with radio and the labels. The labels ain’t supporting it; radio definitely ain’t supporting it. The radio stations that got big off the old dudes, they’re busy playing Lady Gaga. They want to get their quotas up and their ad dollars in so they just sacrifice Hip-Hop for it. That’s why Hip-Hop has mutated into Techno and Rock. It’s all mixed now. It’s like Pop. When I first heard B.o.B. he was super hardcore. B.o.B. is Pop now. He’s on the Pop charts. Which is good, get your hustle on, but that’s what Hip-Hop is. There’s nothing you can do about it.

People like me, I listen to the old school.  A lot of them after 10, 15 years of trying to create a concert tour will make a man give up. I’ve heard stories where Big Daddy Kane was telling me mad crazy shit like motherfuckers really just don’t give a fuck.  Big Daddy Kane was like the Jay-Z to me back in the days, he was the illest. Him, Rakim. Everybody go they own story. But at the end of the day, us not respecting and contributing to the classic old school dudes als made them who they are today. How many times they gotta tour in Japan and China and all these other countries that respect them. They respect them there but the core fucking shit where they came from, where they really got their name,  they don’t really give a fuck. They gotta go to China and Japan where they do research on Hip-Hop and they respect them from them studying Hip-Hop. They study Hip-Hop there. They respect Big Daddy Kane and Wu-Tang; they respect those dudes.

Here? There’s no education. It’s all about the next fucking dance record or the next drug record, count how much ki’s you got.  Everybody’s a drug dealer! The biggest record was fucking Larry Hoover and I’m over in Paris and niggas is screaming Larry Hoover.

Planet Ill: They don’t even know who he is.

DJ Whoo Kid: Right. They got Armani suits on with pointy shoes on. They not even Hip-Hopped out but they screaming Larry Hoover. If you ask them who is it they would say, “Who is that?” It’s the biggest fucking gangster in Chicago you idiot. Why you screaming that in Paris?

Planet Ill: But if you knew who he was, you’d be sitting there trying to get him locked up or off the streets.

DJ Whoo Kid: But that tells you where Hip-Hop is. It’s not molding anything. It doesn’t even change their attire. HIp-Hop changed the way people dressed.  If it was a Hip-Hop thing, motherfuckers would come in jeans and sneakers. That’s Hip-Hop. But you in a club, everybody got on zoot suits

I DJ everywhere. Kazakhstan,  everywhere, you name the country. The only place I haven’t DJed yet is Egypt. But I DJ everywhere from Africa you name it. And it’s a different culture different music they love, but at the end of the day it’s not changing shit. We’re not changing anything. One thing I do know from overseas is that the know all the Biggie shit all the Tupac because that’s what’s in their minds. That’s in their DNA. The music that can fuck their head is if you bring in “I Got 5 On It.” You fuck shit up with that They be like, “WHAT!” Because that’s what’s in their DNA. When that shit comes on you go crazy because you haven’t heard it in a while. It just zapped their nerves. That’ s what you call music. It fucks with your body reactions.  I mean the music now is hot. You in the club, poppin bottles. But it depends on what club you’re in. What car you’re driving. It creates the mood.

Planet Ill: It’s not the music, it’s the surroundings.

DJ Whoo Kid: It’s not doing anything for me. I’m older and I’m looking at my kids and they’re not changed by Hip-Hop. I was Hip-Hopped out, like I was breakdancing for nothing. You doing the breakdancing move and your mother tells you to stop fucking moving. Not even the breakdancing moves but when you pass the snake to the next person. I was doing that all day, non-stop. It came ot the point where my mother was like stop it.

You don’t see that anymore. My kids is like fuck everybody, and they’re only 10 and 11. I be saying, “You like this guy?” They’re like fuck him. I’m like aight whatever. But thank God their father is a DJ and they know all the Biggie and Tupac, all the classics. They know all that shit. I feel sorry for the kids that just gotta listen to this Pop shit.

And there’s nothing wrong with Pop shit but when you talk about Hip-Hop now, you don’t need Hip-Hop to teach you how to live and shit like that. But the cool thing it’s just an added thing in life that molds you into everything else. You gotta worry about college, you gotta worry about work. You gotta worry about who you’re going to fuck, what kid you’re going to have. Life is crazy and complicated. And when you have a good moment and Hip-Hop is a part of that?

Hip-Hop is the coolest shit. Rich people love it. Don’t believe the hype you think they hate it. That’s the life of the fucking party but when you play old Hip-Hop at a white party they go nuts! You can’t play fucking “You think you balling cause you got a block.” At a fucking corporate party? What the fuck are you doing?  We own Miller, can you play like Run DMC? Can you play some cool shit? Can you imagine that shit? We own fucking light beer. We not trying to hear you ballin cause you got a block! We don’t’ want to hear that shit. I’m telling you man, this Hip-Hop shit is crazy.