djprofile DJ Lil Larry (Memphis, TN) Are you originally from Memphis? Yeah, born and raised. I started throwing parties in high school and that just led to me DJing. I got used to rockin’ the mic at my own parties. I knew an older DJ that had been in the game for a long time, my man RJ Groove. He got out of the game and sold me his record collection. I was about 19 when I bought the records, and I’ve been grinding ever since. A lot of DJs have moved around to different cities, transferring between radio stations and such. What do you love about Memphis so much that you’ve decided to stay? Honestly, sometimes I think in the back of my head, Why am I still here in Memphis? But I think I’m here for a reason. I really wanna start this movement in Memphis. Memphis has so much talent, and I’m tired of everybody overlooking our city. A lot of people come through Memphis and take our sound and style and run with it. I really wanna be here from the ground up. I really want Memphis to be the next big city to blow in the South. It would have to be something very major for me to move outside Memphis, because this is where I was born and raised. So let’s talk about the little incident that happened recently at a party in Memphis between you and Three 6 Mafia. Personally, I really have no beef with them. I don’t know if they have beef with me, but it really got blown out of proportion. That night, Project Pat was performing, and that was his first show since he got out of jail. So it was a real big night, and a lot of DJs played. I was the last DJ. While Pat was on stage doing his thing, all the other DJs were breaking their stuff down and I was hooking my stuff up. We had another sound man that came in that night, and the sound was fucked up all night. They had shit bootlegged all kinds of ways. So while we were setting up on stage, my little brother was setting up my laptop and he played the first song he saw, just to see if we got any levels. We were tryin’ to see if everything was working right. The computer froze up. We had the volumes down on the mixer, but because of the way the sound was rigged, the mixer was on reverse. So when the volume was down, it was actually up. So he’s messing with the computer and the sound pops on during Pat’s show. Was it a Three 6 Mafia diss record that you accidentally played? It wasn’t a diss record. It was a song by an artist they used to have beef with, ten years ago. But it’s not a diss song, they didn’t say no names. It’s a classic Memphis song. But we wasn’t even gonna play the song, it was just the first song that came up. Keep in mind, I’ve never had any problems with Three 6 Mafia, ever. So why would I even play a Three 6 diss record? How does that benefit me? I wanted to get that off my chest and set it straight. That’s how everything went down. A lot of people heard different stuff, but that’s exactly what happened. I’m not leaving nothing out. So, regardless of whether you meant it that way or not, Three 6 Mafia took the incident as a diss and a few days later your radio station got shot up? Well, after that situation, nobody at the club knew what happened. They didn’t pay any attention. That night, Juicy J called me and asked if everything was cool. I said, “Yeah, everything good,” we hung up the phone. The very next day I went to the SEA Awards, and as I’m going home, I’ve got nasty voicemails from folks. Two days later, the incident at the radio station happened. Now, mind you, I didn’t call the police. I didn’t accuse nobody of nothing, understand? I didn’t even know the building had been shot at, because I was in the studio. I found out the very next morning when the police and my managers called me in. They needed to talk to everybody who had been at the station the night before, once they realized there was bullet 36
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holes in the building. That’s how the police got involved. I didn’t call the police. They asked everybody, “Do you know why somebody would do this?” I made a comment about the voicemails and I told them who left it, and then I left it alone. I said, “I’m not saying that he did it, but I did get these voicemails.” Next thing you know, I’m out of town getting calls that it’s on the news. So that’s the story. It really was blown out of proportion. Does the whole situation make you second guess your career choice? Has the music business become too dangerous? It’s not the same as it used to be. You have a lot of street cats with a lot of money thinking they can get into the music business. Just because you have a lot of money to put in the game, that doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. I think that’s where it’s become a problem. But, it is what it is. That comes with the territory. Now that Three 6 won an Oscar, do you think it’s a good look for Memphis? Or do you have some resentment towards them? I don’t have resentment towards them. Honestly, I don’t have anything against DJ Paul or Juicy J or Project Pat. They did their thing, and it’s good that Memphis is being recognized. I want people to really look at Memphis, because it’s so much here. Three 6 has been here for a long time. Not taking nothing away from them, but it’s other guys here now that I want the industry to look at. A lot of people have been skipping over Memphis, but we have a lot of talent here and it’s been a long time coming. So, I’ve got no hatred towards them. I’m just gonna do me. I’m not gonna knock the next man. I’d stress myself out worrying about them, so I’ll just give them a round of applause. You mentioned Paul, Juicy, and Pat, but what about Crunchy Black, who left the voicemails? Is it personal between you and him? I never had problems with Paul, Juicy, or Pat, so it threw me for a loop, real talk. It’s all good now, but with the voicemails that I did receive, I’ll never look at that man [Crunchy Black] the same as I did before. You emphasized that you didn’t call the police. Do you think the whole “stop snitching” campaign makes it impossible for real crimes to be solved? What do you think is the line between “snitching” and your own personal safety? Sometimes we take that word “snitching” to the extreme. True enough, if you see somebody doing their thing, you’re not supposed to snitch. Nowhere in the book should you ever snitch like that. But when it comes to the point where somebody puts your life in danger as well as your family, that’s a different story. If somebody shoots at you and attempts to kill you, what would you do? Just ask yourself that question and I’ll leave it at that. There’s different reasons for doing things in different situations. This may sound crazy, but if it hadn’t happened at the radio station people probably wouldn’t have even found out about it, because I wouldn’t have said nothing. Certain situations just play themselves out, and that’s what I’m letting happen in this situation. I wish them much success. They’re doing their thing. Everybody thinks we need to be friends in this industry. We really don’t have to be friends or associates. Just respect the next man. I talked to Paul the week after the incident, so I think it’s pretty much over. If they’re smart they’ll leave it alone, because it’s real petty. It’d be stupid on their part cause they’re getting a lot of light right now. Is it true that you’re joining the Affiliates? No comment on that, but me and Drama are real cool. I’d love to be down with the Affiliates; they’re doing their thing. If it’s right, when the time is right it’ll happen. I respect them. How can you be contacted? For booking contact Nicole Becton at 901649-3937, or for interviews contact Amber Kittrell at 901-338-5038. - Julia Beverly