(Louisville,
DJ KAOS
Kentucky)
DJ Kaos is somewhat of a nomadic DJ. Originally from New York, Kaos moved to Detroit and several other locations trying to find his niche before settling in Kentucky. Now that he’s been made an official DJ for Slick Rick, Kaos rarely finds himself at home, except when it’s Derby time. Tell me a little bit about your history as a DJ. I’ve been DJing for about 17 years. I’m 34 years old. I started out DJing for free. My first paying gig was at a club when I was 15. I wasn’t even old enough to be in the club. I moved to Detroit and DJed at a couple skating rinks there. I ran into Kid Capri and a whole bunch of other cats. Here recently I’ve been doing a lot of parties with Biz Markie. My blessing in DJing at the present moment is being Slick Rick’s DJ, which has turned into Road Manager, and a booking agency, and I’m doing a lot of artist relations things right now. Do you have any favorite moments from DJing with Slick Rick? Being on tour and doing shows with Big Daddy Kane, filling in for Dana Dane’s DJ, working with Chubb Rock, MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh. There’s times when we all do shows together. Those are the best. When I do shows with Slick Rick by himself, I actually fill in for Doug E. and play the beat box for “La Di Da Di.” That’s a real big moment for me.
In your opinion as a DJ, has Hip Hop progressed for the better or worse? Why? I think it’s progressed for the better. Originally it started off to give people a way to release whatever they were thinking about, and now it’s become a way you can provide for your family. To see where it’s come from is really good. I like the progress of it, however I think respect is missing in the whole art form of Hip Hop. People say keep it real, keep it real, but they have no history of what they’re doing and what it came from. You have people that don’t have respect for the culture itself. I love what it’s doing but as a whole, people need to learn their history. It’s like how some people don’t know the basics of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, or the LL Cool Js and Slick Ricks and Run DMCs. People need to learn the culture and also advance the culture. A lot of the youth looks up to rappers right now. We need to teach more and Hip Hop needs to be more responsible. Who are some artists in Kentucky that have the potential to go nationwide? I hate to say names ‘cause you always leave out names and they get mad at you. In order to get what you think you should, sometimes you got to leave the nests. We have a gang of artists like Hurricane, Nova, B Simm, G. Fresh; Solo is a real hot young cat; Native should have been multi-platinum; it’s so many people. A lot of people didn’t understand how big Static Major was until he passed. He inspired me to leave Kentucky. His whole thing was you have to branch out. We have a lot of talent in Kentucky. Muhammad Ali is from Louisville, however if he’d stayed in Kentucky, nobody would have ever heard of him. Where will you be during the Derby? Me and a cat named Reggie do an all white celebrity party every year. Last year we had Jordan and Gabrielle Union come through. This year I’m going to have Dana Dane host and Slick Rick come do a small performance along with some other old school Hip Hop and R&B cats. // Website: Myspace.com/kydjkaos Words: Ms. Rivercity Photo: Phat Fotos
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