DJ NASTY W
hat have you been working on lately? I’ve been producing very heavily. Me and LVM are the Nasty Beatmakers, and we’ve been collaborating on some production with The Runners, Mayne and Drew. We’ve been doing a lot of production together. We’ve got a track coming out on Juelz Santana’s new album, “Murder Murder.” We did a track for Lil Wayne’s new album too, and we’re working with Ludacris now. How did you link up with The Runners? Through D-Strong. They’re based here in Orlando also. They’re some fresh new talent with the same hunger that I have. You recently won an award, right? I won Dirty South Mixshow DJ of the Year at the Power Summit in the Bahamas. This is the second time I’ve been nominated. Who did you have to suck off at RPM to get the award? (laughing) Nobody. They just noticed my talent and my foundation. I’m not your average DJ. I’m somebody with talent. Everybody else that was nominated for that category with me are big dawgs in the game. Mr. Mauricio, he’s a big dawg in Miami. Steve Nice, he’s a big dawg in Dallas. A lot of the DJs that attend the Power Summit are brand new dudes trying to get in the game, but there’s also a lot of veterans. You’ve gotta respect the mixshow DJs. They put it down for their markets. And you’re still on the radio in Orlando. Yeah, 102 Jamz. I’m on the radio damn near every day of the week. Having been in the game for so long, how do you keep it exciting? I feel like I’m just getting into the game. I keep that hunger. I never feel like it’s just another day at work. Every time I go to work, I’m excited to play for my listeners. Every time I’m on a show I get mad love. People know that I just go up there and play records, I go up there and show my skills. I break music. I play music I produce for major artists. It’s a real show when I’m on the radio.
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OZONE
How do you balance DJing and producing? It’s hard to balance between production and DJing, but you’ve just gotta make a schedule and stick to it. When I get up in the morning, I go to the studio and leave my phone and 2way outside. I lock the doors and focus for about five hours in the studio. After that, you talk to the labels and get ready for the radio. After radio, it’s the club. This game is crazy. You gotta stay hungry or you’re gonna get left behind. I surround myself with good people. In your partnership with DJ Prostyle, does it ever become competitive, trying to out-do each other? Me and Prostyle are like family. We’ve known each other from back in the day. I wouldn’t really call it competitive, because he’s doing him. Prostyle is a great talent. He’s doing what he does, and he’s a great DJ. He has character. He’s bound to blow up. I could see him doing it real big. With me, production is where my heart is at. Prostyle’s got the label, too, so he wants to discover new talent. I’m gonna do that eventually, as soon as I find an artist I really believe in. O-Town, holla at me if you think you’re that next nigga, that next Ludacris. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m not looking for somebody who’s doing the same thing as everybody else. I’m looking for somebody that’s different and versatile, like Ludacris or Pitbull. I’m very picky. - Words & photo by Julia Beverly