| “What’s up Los Angeles! Opia here! I’m happy to announce that I am a new contributor to the Huskey Radio team. I will be updating all of you with the latest information on events and such happening around us. It’s time to bring the boom in to the music, art, and whole underground lifestyle business. For my first exclusive interview, may I present to you my real good friend DJ Motor, who keeps the wheels of the Hip Hop sound turning and turning…” -Opia “What’s up DJ Motor! It’s been a minute since I last seen you perform and had the time to catch up with you and your endeavors. I believe the last time I seen you, was at Suzuran in Gardena, where the Wolverines performed. Glad to catch up and be able to interview you. So please, enlighten us with your thoughts and let our audience in on your music moves.” 1) What location are you originally from? Are you signed with any record labels? Are you working on it, or staying strictly independent? What music genres/styles do you spin? Wow O! first off congrats on your new assignment and not forgetting bout your roots…I’m originally from Wilmington ,Ca. a city which rarely gets recognized for the the talent and culture and more for its violent crime and gang activity. As far as record labels are concerned.. I feel I fit in more as a mixtape Dj I guess you can call me old school… But I don’t like to be told what to play and when to play it… So yeah all that record biz stuff its not for me...Do 4 self Productionz. Usually on heavy rotation I’ve got that 90’s golden era rap blasting out my Technics…..But I also grew up spinning dancehall, Soul, funk and Breaks…So my mix can vary from Steve miller band to de la soul… So enjoy the ride….. 2) Who did you listen to growing up and who inspired you? Who has had the most musical influence on your style? Did you happen to stumble upon it yourself, or did family/friends expose you to the sound? Well as a little youth I was inspired by Grand Mixer Dst when I first heard “Rock it” by Herbie Hancock the scratching part in that song was like the focal point of the song…So I was like damn how is he making that noise (the scratching noise) the video soon came out and Dst was scratching and at that moment I said this is what I want to do…. As I was growing up I also had a major influence on my style and motivation by way of L.A JAE. At 14yrs old I met L.A JAE(The Shapeshifters) who happen to live on the same block as me…I remember many summer nights late at his house watching him flip doubles of many records doing tricks that till this day ive never seen done.. I jus feel like without this turntable game growing up in Wilmington the outcome would probably be different..I also thank my peers who were never into that commercial rap…Another big inspiration was the Unity shows in the early 90’s R.i.p Bigga B he was responsible for bringing Ny acts that usually wouldn’t come out here to perform…. 3) As a DJ that spins predominantly Hip Hop, what era do you believe best defines the raw essence of Hip Hop? What would you consider Hip Hop’s purest form? Do you believe that Hip Hop stands alone, or is a collaboration of other elements? As you know im 90’s Boombap kid so I would consider the 90’s to be the golden era of hiphop.. The music in that era had a raw sound the samples seemed to be more musical and soulful.. Producers like Large Professor,Pete rock, Dj Premier,Domingo had a knack for finding that sample everyone else had passed up and found a way to flip it….Which made the 90’s what it is today they brought us Krs one,Nas,Big Pun,A tribe called Quest and countless others… Oh theres no doubt hip hop is a collaboration of many types of music that’s what makes hiphop stand out… It also delivers a message with the word play…. 4) What specific types of equipment do you use to produce and make music? What is your weapon of choice? What are your thoughts on strictly vinyl vs. technology? Haha this ones weird….well 2 Technics and a vestax mixer (would prefer a rane though) and a lot of choco milk…Helps with the mix sesh…Vinyl jus has that raw feel to it from the static to the crackle….I only recently got serato and found that the possibilities are endless now and music might start getting weird... That debate though might go on forever… believe it or not though there Is a lot of music on vinyl that you cant get on download…So they both have there advantages as for me I choose to use both..Technology definetly helped my lower back out from carrying all those crates thanks serato..But don’t worry I still carry a vinyl set with me at all times jus in case….. 5) Do you collaborate with other producers? Who do you work with regularly? Who would you like to work with in the future? At the moment I’ve been cocentrating more on my personal mixtape projects…..As a music fan I always enjoyed listening to a mix that had a steady tempo with collaboration of different artist and crews and funny weird samples…So that’s more my steez….Although I’ve been working on some of Dreds beats for the Wolverines Volume 2 Mix… We (Wolverines) are in talks with super producer Domingo to get some beats for vol 2 mix…. Domingo has worked with such artist as Krs one, Big Pun, Boogie Monsters, Big daddy kane, Joell Ortiz and many more….So its truly an honor to have a little bit of that NewYork feel to our project… keep it classic… We would definetly like to work with Joell Ortiz he has definetly taken lyrics to the next level and kept the raw feel of the boombap..Kool G rap would be nice to work with aswell hes definetly one of the teachers of rap… 6) I’ve seen pictures of you and Ill Bill, Sabac Red, Mr.Dibbs, Sick Jacken, and HR from Bad Brains; have you banded with them on projects? If so, please give us some insight.Yeah H.r is a true legend lead singer of the almighty Bad Brains band I met him through dj kosh turbo sound in early 2003 …. H.R, dj kosh and I began to do shows in the Downtown Long Beach area for a couple of years at many different venues.. I then got word that ILLBiLL of Non Phixion was looking for H.R for appearance on his Album “The Hour of Repraisal” I got a hold of Bill we exchanged phone calls …Bill flew out here to L.A we set up a meeting at Dj Lethal’s(House of Pain,Limp Bizkit) studio where H.r layed down the vocals for ILL BILLS Album…. In return Bill did a couple of drops for me on some mixes…Bill also introduced me to Sick Jacken whom people say I resemble which is truly a honor… But he aint as chubby as me… haha.. Its funny when I go to shows and people want to pose with me thinking im Jacken….Priceless!..Yeah im currently in works thanks to bill for introducing us in getting a feature for a future mix… 7) Please tell us about The Wolverines, and your role in the underground group. Word is that you all are dropping a new release soon! Where can we find more information on your upcoming events? Wolverines are M.c P.O.M.E, Dj Dred , Dj Guter and myself...We all grew up in Wilmington and shared the same love of graff ,djing , breaking and M.cing. Our music reflects the environment we grew up in here in Wilmington the death of friends due to senseless violence,poverty, graff culture, record digging and gang activity to name a few…I can assure you that our music is truly from the heart down to the sample on each beat that we personally dug through hundreds of records to find ..You can stay updated on the wolverines at: myspace.com/wolverines and on facebook… 8) How do you feel about Hip Hop “beef?” What are your thoughts on that issue? Do you believe it puts Hip Hop in the spotlight, therefore, it is good for business; or, do you believe it cheapens the quality? If you believe it hurts the quality, please explain what areas are affected? Beef hmmm when I think beef I think carne asada… haha… Beef in hip hop to me is good that’s the foundation busy bee and kool moe dee battle was monumental! Roxanne shantes revenge! She called everyone out on that song.. Its good only if it stays on record when it comes out on the street it becomes senseless.They say beef is jus cheap publicity….. It could be at times … But most of its jus plain competition… … Beef will always be a part of hip hop whether you think its jus cheap publicity to sell records… At the end of the day its all about competition. And jus to set the record straight cannabis got Ll cool j on that battle no question…. 9) Who do you find yourself listening to a lot these days? Name your top five. At this moment in time im currently find myself playing Joell Ortiz, TruthLive, Snowgoons, Consequence, Black milk,4-Ize, New De la Soul, Homeboy sandman, Das rascist, Phife Dawg, ILL Burns green to name a few.There really is a lot of new music out.But like I tell everyone!..Hip hop ain’t dead you jus downloading the wrong shit….. 10) Any shout outs? Other info you’d like to share with the public? First off to all the true hip hop fans that have stood by our side keep the boombap alive and stay posted too my many mixes that will be released this year many of which will be available for download from soundcloud.com…. Be assured that when you pick up my mixes you will be turned on to new and up and coming artist as well as classic boombap artist from the golden era…. Big thank you to Opia and Huskey Radio for giving me this opportunity….I like to thank and give shout outs to my lil one Reyna Campos and My pops Roberto Campos, moms Angelina Campos, sister Rosie Campos, Bro Javier Campos, bro in law Champ and Jen for backing me up and supporting me in all I do…And I can’t forget all my Wilmington peeps holding it down on the daily …..To my Crooks and Castles fam nuff respect….Triple Seven crew…Look out for my fam up and coming talent Jed Strongsmith, Fes One, Guess?, Dj Dred, Dj Gabe, Dj Havok, Greenhouse Projeks, Dj Wordz and Dj Sent..... Check for Dj Gabe and Dj Motor new dj crew called “Bronx L.A Connection” at a dj battle near you! We out!..... |
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