dj SUICIDE Words by Ms Rivercity
D
J Suicide has been part of the 99 Jamz team in Miami for almost 15 years. With a lifetime of experience in the music business, Suicide has some useful advice for aspiring artists. What times are you on the air? I’m on the air Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 12 PM - 1 PM and Sunday from 7 PM - 9 PM. Are you at any clubs as well? I do a couple of clubs. On Friday nights I pretty much bounce around and on Saturday I’m at Club Cinema. I’m starting a new club on Sundays. How long have you been in the radio business? I started underground radio back in 1990 and I’ve been with 99 Jamz for about fourteen or fifteen years. What is your opinion on the Hip Hop scene in Miami? It’s a wonderful thing but I feel like everybody needs to help each other and put each other on. Don’t keep it clicked up. It shouldn’t be like that. When you’re not DJing, what are some things you enjoy doing? I do myself. If I’m not working, I’m at home chilling and spending time with my fiancé. Right now my fiancé is in South Carolina and my daughter’s in South Carolina. When they’re here, I spend time with them when I go home. Does your career make it difficult to spend time with your family and have a personal life? It definitely makes it difficult. My wife understands. She pushes me very hard and she’s a go-getter herself. She’s always wanted me to do good. She has my back and she’s very understanding. I do get to go home and spend quality time with my family. It’s a wonderful thing, though. Growing up, did you picture yourself doing anything other than working for a radio station? I’ve always loved music. I was always involved in the music situation because of my dad. My dad is a real popular musician in Haiti. He was in the music industry so I was always into the 22 | OZONE
music scene. I started DJing in high school, probably even before that. My mom bought me my first two turntables. I’ve been in the game for a long time and it’s in my blood. Which albums in your music collection do you consider to be classics? Young Jeezy’s first album is a classic. T.I.’s Urban Legend is a classic. Jay-Z’s Black Album is classic. Any album from J.T. Money is classic. Lil Wayne’s The Carter is classic. How difficult is it to break a new record? It’s not really difficult; you just gotta know what you’re doing in the whole situation. The labels gotta know what they’re doing. You should go after it. Don’t just say, “I’m going to do a record, go to the DJ and have them break it.” Then all of sudden you don’t go after it anymore. Most labels get real lazy about the whole situation and say if it ain’t happening right now for them, then it’s not happening. So you feel like people give up too easily? Yeah. It’s not hard to break a record. It’s easy to break a record. If you’re an artist and you feel confident about a certain record, stay with it. Are you working with any of the up-and-coming artists from Miami? Yeah, I’m working with a young artist named OZ. I’m working with Redd Eyezz and Strictly Business Records – I’m part of SBR’s family. I’m working with Big Dawgz out of Ft. Lauderdale. What other projects are you working on? I’m going to be hosting a couple of mixtapes with a couple of artists. I’m going to be working on a DJ Suicide album coming soon. I’m also going to start working with Akinyele and J.T. Money also. Do you have a website? You can always check me at www.Myspace. com/djsuicidewedr. //