DJ JAM  (April 2003) | Interview By: Nima

       Dubcnn.com got the chance to speak with DPG DJ, DJ Jam! He spoke about growing up, DJ-ing, DPG, life on Death Row, plans for the future, the state of hip-hop, W-Ballz, keeping Pigs and much more in this in-depth interview! As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

Huge thanks to Gilly and Sean from NYC, for arranging the interview and also to DJ Jam for taking time out to answer the questions fans wanted to know! (Interview was done by phone on April 14th 2003)


Visit The Official DJ Jam Site : DJ Jam

Questions Asked By : Nima

DJ Jam Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

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Nima : Where did you grow up and how was your youth?

Where did I grow up? Ok, actually I was born on the Eastcoast in Marylin, I moved to San Diego at a early age, and moved to Dallas for about six years of my life, early on and then back to San Diego, where I started getting into DJing, early days about 13 years old, I grew up in San Diego doing mixtapes, and house parties, functions at my Junior High School, basically one thing led to another, mixtapes, more notoriety as far as in the San Diego area, which led me into doing clubs, and then radio, I was doing everything down there after a second, and I had to get away. I guess that's what drove me to move to L.A.


Nima : How did you get into DJing?

My brother in law, who was my sisters boyfriend at the time, had a friend actually from New York, and my brother in law in the station in the military in San Diego, so his friend came out one summer which was a DJ from New York, and he came out for the summer, and bought turntables, and a mixer, and a couple records, and at that time I would ride my bike across town everyday, just to go watch this guy at my brother in laws house mess around on this turntables, and they ended up givin' like a couple houseparties during that summer when he was out there and, before he went back my brother in law bought the turntables and the mixer from the guy, because he could tell I was really into it, so the guy left me his two turntables and mixer and he left me with a whole crate of his records! And that's how I actually got started.


Nima : How did you hookup wit the DPG Clique?

Ok, well remember I was tellin' you I got to a point in San Diego where I was doin' everything, and even got into trouble.. I was probably one of the first people out here, I know West Coast wise I was like one of the first people back in the day doin' the mixtape thing. Back in the day they kinda got mad at it, because there was only a handful of rap out, and I would make mixtapes and they didn't know what to think of it! They were like, "this guy is bootleggin' our stuff" eventhough I wouldn't put full songs on there, I would put like one verse two verses.. There was somebody by the name of Dr. Dre doin' these mixtapes in Los Angeles! And they were sellin' in San Diego, at like the Swap Meets and the Mom & Pop stores, you could go buy Dr. Dre mixtapes, and thats actually what got me into doin' mixtapes to begin with, cause I was like "wow, this guy is doin' things I never heard of on turntables before on these things". So I was like "if he can do it, I'ma try and do it", so I started doin' mixtapes, and started havin' MC's flowin' on 'em, cause back then Dr. Dre would do his mixtapes with Eazy-E, MC Ren, D.O.C. which, you know, turned out to be N.W.A. and everything before they blew up, but that's how they got their notoriety, from these mixtapes and just gettin' them out there and people knew about these guys in the streets and they just took that and ran with it. So basically I was tryin' to do the same thing in San Diego, and then all of a sudden you got the R.I.A.A. down on a few of them, and I was one of the people, there were a couple other DJs, but basically my name was in the news for a couple weeks, that just got my name bigger, cause EVERYBODY knew, even peoples mothers and fathers who didn't know bout DJ Jam knew DJ Jam at that time, and you know I had to go and fight that and I was in college at that time, so I got off and was able to continue doin' my thing, but basically I got to a point in San Diego where I did everything I possibly could and I needed to make a move to Los Angeles cause that's where all the record companies were, and they had alotta hot DJ's up there, and that was the place to be, and it is only two hours from where I lived, from San Diego. So I started goin' back and forth, back and forth, basically my name got to a certain level, and some Los Angeles club promoters heard about me in San Diego, cause they started sendin' me to do L.A. clubs, and that's where I ran into Dr. Dre at a club one night doin' my thing, and basically it was history from there! He saw me do my thing!

Nima : Were you signed to Death Row?

No, I actually never put a signature down on paper, and I guess that was probably one of my smartest moves, because at that time some people did sign on the dot and line, and they weren't able to do things, you know when things went down and shit hit the fan, they were locked up. They were in an agreement and I was able to not to have to worry about that.


Nima : But you were still around during that era. How was life on Tha Row?

Wow, life on Death Row was a big learning experience for me. I learned, not only about things about the business, but I learned things about life. And basically I grew up in San Diego in a blood neighbourhood, and so I had alotta relationships with Bloods growin' up, but when I got into DJing in San Diego, I got to a certain point where everybody knew me, so I knew the crips in San Diego too, and they all respected me, because I was out there and I was hustlin' doin' my music thing, and I was playin' everybodys party, and everybody would come to the parites to dance, not have to worry about all that other stuff, so basically I fell into a situation, where Bloods and Crips had to come together as one family, and goin' on tour and everybody had to watch each others back, so that was something different for me, cause I was always used to Bloods and Crips fightin' and killin' each other. So I learned that above all that people are people, first of all, and everybody is a indivudual, that's one of my biggest lessons there. Another thing I learned there of basically hookin' up with all these talented aritsts, you know, I got to be in relationships with all these guys, and I got to see some things that I would wanna take with me, and I would wanna imply into what I'm tryna do, and I saw some things that I wouldn't wanna do, you know. I won't go into every detail, cause I would be here all day, but basically I learned alotta good and bad things about the business at Death Row, which made me the person I am now.


Nima : What do you think of Kurupt goin' back to Death Row?

Well, as far as Kurupts decision of goin' back to Death Row, I really can't step into another mans body, to say what he was goin' through or what he is goin' through, so you know, it may look one way from the outside, but I don't really know.. I know he had other reasons, you know this guy has a family, you know he has to support them, so you know, I know being a person thats independent, without any responsibilities, they might have different ideas in life at the time, than somebody that has other people to worry about, you know? So, all I can say in that situation is, I hope the situation that he made is a good one for him and his career, uhm, and hopefully he's bein' treated well, and to me if he has a clear mind and he is not stressin' about anything, and he's able to handle his business and his life, I have to respect a mans dicision. But you know, our DPG Family is a family, you know, we've gone through alot of stuff together, so it kinda hurt us, when we heard that, cause he's like family, and that's just like.. you know if you grew up with a brother, and somebody came in and did something to you or hurt you in a way, and then all of a sudden your brother turns around and makes up with this guy, your gonna have some feelings, even though that guy might be taking care of your brother at the time, you still might have some other feelings about it, just because of what you had to go through with this guy.



Nima : Would you ever work with Kurupt again?

Would I ever work with Kurupt again? I really think as a whole, just because, like I said DPG is a family, I really think that uhhh, I can't say when, but I really believe that families go through their things, and they come back together, because they're a strong family, but I think that one day, we will be working together.


Nima : So you think he will come back.

Do I think he would leave Death Row? Well I don't see Snoop Dogg or anybody
goin' back to Death Row, if they ever got together, either he would have to leave Death Row, or they would all come together, and they would have an agreement where the record labels wouldn't be a factor or anything...


Nima : What's your personal opinion on Suge Knight?

My personal opinion? *laughs* I think as far as Suge Knight goes man, I have to respect him on one hand as far as somebody, basically havin' an attitude that, I wanna be Number 1, and I'ma do whatever it takes to be Number 1, you know? But, HOW he does his business, some of the things I have to disagree with business wise, that I know that I would've handled differently, and other people handle things differently. I think that some of the choices he makes could be better ones. As far as Suge Knight, as far as I'm concerned, he's never put me in a sitaution that I couldn't handle, so personally I can't say he did this to me or did that to me. But, he's done it to my friends, he's done it to my DPG Family, and they aren't happy, so on that end, that goes back to him and his business ways, so on that end I don't. So everything to me has two sides, I have to respect him in one way, and then I have to disrespect his actions in other ways.


Nima : What happened to that WBallz mixtape you were supposed to put out?

*laughs* Funny you ask that! WBallz is completed!!! It is completed as of last weekend, WBallz will go to manufacturing this monday!

Nima : That's good!

*laughs* And it's a double CD edition! It's been takin' us actually about 4 years to do this project, we've been tryna do it for 4 years, but every single time we get into it we have to go, back and forth, in and out of town, in and out the country, so it's really hard when not only are we doin' that, but me and Snoop had that radio show called Big Snoop Dogg radio, and I was one of the producers, so I had to worry bout doing the music for that. As well as that, I belonged to a syndicate of radio network called Super Radio, promotin' rap acts around the country, and I'm part of 8 different shows, so I have to constantly stay recording for that, produce Big Snoop Dogg radio, AND worry about us, touring around the country, and I go around the country when we aren't on tour, I go around the coutry DJing the biggest clubs in the world, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre's DJ!

Nima : Come to Germany!

I'm trying to get back out there! Gotta find some promoters out there, you know, that can do a couple different spots or something, but I'd love to come back out there, we had a ball when we were out in germany!


Nima : And what's gonna be on the WBallz mixtape?

Oooww... Alotta exclusive freestyles, unreleased music, aswell as some album cuts, from different artists album, that fit the mode. WBallz is basically a project which is our own radio station, we came up with uhh, back in the day for Snoops album, so basically it's like hearing us with our own radio station, playing unreleased material, the same thing that we would play on our radio show that we used to have, we would play unreleased music that you had never heard, produce freestyles, and then you would hear album cuts from peoples albums that fit the mode of the show, all hardcore Gangsta Shit!


Nima : Will we have Easy Dick again?

Yeah, you'll hear Easy Dick *laughs, he'll be on there, so yeah we'll have alotta people, basically from the whole crew, WC, E-White, The D.O.C., RBX, Bad Azz, Soopafly, everybody is on it, even Kurupt is on it!


Nima : How was the Up In Smoke Tour?

Wow, that was the biggest HipHop tour EVER, yeah man, big production, Dr. Dre, when he does the show he really really put it together a big show and thats what everybody got, if you were able to see it, you saw history! If you didn't, get the DVD!


Nima : Will we ever see a Up In Smoke Tour Part 2?

Uhh, I definitely think theres gonna be a Up In Smoke Part 2, uhm, you know we got too many powerul artists not to do that again, I think it'll happen after Dr. Dre puts together his next album, and uhm, definitely you'll see the whole crew on it, with a few extra additions, ya'll know 50 Cent is in the crew now too, so I believe he will definitely make the next tour.


Nima : What do you think of Xzibit?

Well, it's like uhh, everybody, you mentioned Kurupt, and people havin' bad
feelings towards him and things like that, basically I could say Kurupt and Xzibit are going through some experiences, just basically life experiences right now, and different people that are mad at them, spoke their word, so I believe that time will heal everything, cause above everything, this is supposed to be a family. And I know Xzibits crew, you know he's goin' through things with his crew that got him to where he is today. So I think it's just a moment in time for them to step back, you know what I mean? And reanalize the whole situation, and like I said, time will definitely heal things, if it don't, it wasn't meant to be!


Nima : Do you produce?

Yeah I produce beats, I've been producin' for a while, but I'm always one that handle my DJ duties first, and move in to my production from DJ, and now I'm at that point where I'm putting out my projects, which will eventually turn into albums, like my WBallz, my Hot Spot, they're all different modes of music, so like basically, in a minute of my upcoming volumes, you'll start to hear more of DJ Jam production coming through on my mix CD's, and then that will turn into album projects with more of my production.


Nima : How long is the typical lifetime for a crossfader for you?

*laughs* Well, now it's a long time, because I'm endorsed by a company called Ecler, they're outta Barcelona Spain, and to me right now they have the best crossfaders, because I've been the same fader now for, maybe, about a year and a half without any static. And you can quote this, by saying... the Ecler, and it's called the Hak 360 performance mixing instrument, and the fader on it is incredible!


Nima : What do you think of the new CD Mixers, Pioneer CDJ 1000's that are coming out?

Yeah I have one of those! Man, I really think it's about time that they make something like that, you know it's really close to a turntable basically how it functions how it plays now, with added features. so I love it, and it works for me, because I can get a song, if somebody just did a song in the studio, I can burn it straight to CD, and I can be mixing it two minutes later! If you're dealing with Vinyl, you're gonna have to wait a few weeks. But, I still love vinyl after all, as far as I can pick up the needle, put it wherever I want, instantly, and I know where it is, and you can't really do that with the CDJ, but, it does come in handy, and it changes alotta things I'm able to do now.


Nima : What do you think of Fred Wreck?

Fred Wreck, one of the most creative producers out right now, definitely. Ever since he did one of Kurupt's albums, and he really came out with that, where you can really hear Fred Wreck, and after that he's been putting it down!


Nima : What do you think of the current state of Hip Hop at the moment?

At the moment I think it's going through a phase, and it's kinda of, uhh, I think it's going through a phase right now, because alotta things are happenin' in the record industry, alotta record companies are fallin' off, record companies are mergin' with another company, because there's not that many sales out there, the sales have dropped considerably, so I think it's kinda reshuffling itself right now, finding another direction, I think they're in the middle of finding another direction of how this game is gonna evolve, because it has, and as time goes on, they have to find different ways to work records and to put the money in different areas for promotion. So alotta wack artists are gonna start not being signed, they gonna start being more careful about what they're signing now, start having more people who know what's going on in the streets, and they'll make these decisions. Alotta things are being talked about as far as Rap, as far as that I think that's not gonna change because that's just somebodys creativity from their mind. So if anything, there might be different aspects of rap music coming out and different branches starting, you don't even know about yet. But I really think it's definitely gonna grow.


Nima : But do you think Gangsta Rap is gonna die?

I don't ever think Gangsta Rap is gonna die, the only way Gangsta Rap could die is that the violence stopped, and that's never gonna happen. What I think will happen is the fake Gangsta Rap is gonna start dying out, because people are gonna start realising that some guys really went through these experiences, they know what they're talking about, and they gonna start knowing the difference, because people are gonna start to be smarter, more educated about that. Because the word is thrown out there so much, that pretty soon people are gonna start cuttin' it down, so the only the real ones are gonna survive.


Nima : Which young artists would you like to see blow up?

West Coast artists.. There's a artist by the name of Mitchy Slick. He's definitely tight, you'll be hearin' alot more from him. And he's on WBallz too! He did a produce drop, freestyle, and his song called "Federal". So he's on WBallz. Mitchy Slick and Lil CS are people that are putting down real Gangster Shit, they really experienced the shit that they're talking about, and I can officially say that, because I was down there growin' up with them, all of 'em! And Mitchy Slick comes from the Blood territory, and Lil CS comes from the Crip territory, and that's just what I was tellin' you, back in the day. They used to be at each others throats, you know what I mean? These are two guys, that kinda flipped their situations, and now they're putting their time and their money into this music game, and that's perfect example, and it sums up what I was talking about, me representing San Diego.


Nima : How many unreleased songs do Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg have?

*laughs* A big vault full! That sums it up! They got tons of music that you've never heard yet, just sittin in there!

Nima : Are we ever gonna hear it?

I don't know if you'll end up hearing everything that's in that vault, but you'll definitely hear alot of it. That's years to come. I mean theres tons of stuff. Dr. Dre's thing is, he's a person that builds his library, that's all he's been doing over the years, and we've only heard a small little percentage, of this library.

Nima : That sucks!

*laughs* Haha, right! He knows to let out a little bit at a time, he keep people waitin' for more!


Nima : But why doesn't he sign some more WestCoast artists, he's signing all these EastCoast acts, I mean he's Aftermath and should be focusin' some more on the West Coast.

Well, I don't think he's forgettin' about the West Coast, he's a smart business man at the same time! And he's a person, he doesn't care what coast you from, he cares about what's coming out at the end of the day he's caring about what's gonna come out of this speakers, you feel me? Dr. Dre started off with the West Coast, he's partly one of the big reasons the West Coast is what it is today! And all the people who are big and are holdin' it down for the West Coast, he's probably had a lot to do wit them being where they are. He set the West Coast foundation, so you can't take anything from Dre for signing East Coast artists, because the East Coast artists that he's signing are the best too! He's signing the best from everywhere, that's his whole thing.


Nima : Do you update your website yourself?

No, I have a couple webmasters do that for me.

Nima : Do you check your email and reply to it yourself?

Uhm, sometimes I do, I have other people doin' that too.


Nima : What's up with your fascination for Pigs?

*laughs* Man!! Smoking a blunt one day, reading the papers looking for a English Bulldog, and I ended up with a pig... And I liked it so much that I even ended up gettin' another one! Now I have two!

Nima : And what do you do with them?

Uhm shit, they're kinda smart! They do all kinda tricks and they real cool, real cool pets. People would never think of havin' a pig for a pet! Hold up they wanna say Hi to you real quick. *pigs say hi* *laughs*


Nima : What else can we expect in the future coming from DJ JAM?

Uhm, wow, the WBallz project is only one of six projects I have coming. Like I said that's a double CD. Then I have a project called "The Hot Spot" which is my club mix, which I have available on my website right now, but I'm coming out with a new one Volume 3, and I'm coming out with the new Midnight Grooves, which is an RnB mix CD, which I have on my Website right now, so I'm about to come wit Volume 3 of that. And I'm coming out with a special rap edition of Midnight Grooves, and that's all the rap out that has female subject matters.. Nobody's every done that, and I have a radio show called "Midnight Groove" that's where I got that from. And uhm.. Let's see, I have my heavyweights underground Jam session, and that's all for the hardcore HipHop shit, and after that I have one called Voices Of The Underground, and that's demo's that I recieve when we're on tour, and that people send in, I'm gonna start putting out CDs of Voices Of The Underground with all the best unreleased artists that I've heard from around the world sendin' in their demos.

Nima : Have you ever tried rapping yourself?

*laughs* I used to rap back in the day actually in my early days before I even started DJing... But I just left it and went straight to the turntables..

Nima : Wanna spit some shit for us?

*laughs* Nah, I left that alone years ago!


Nima : Aight man, we've come to the end of the interview..

Thanks alot for interviewing me!