& DJ CHUCK T
T
he self-proclaimed Carolina King has rightfully earned his title over the years. Consistently releasing CD after CD, DJ Chuck T has received a number of awards and accolades which he himself cannot even count. We spoke with the Down South Slangin’ mastermind to find out what else is up his sleeve for 2008. You drop a ton of mixtapes. How quickly can you finish one? It depends on what type of mixtape it is. If it’s a blend tape, then it will take anywhere from two weeks to a month to put it together. If it’s a paying artist’s mixtape, then it takes me about two to three days to mix it, bring some records back, blend it together and make it sound real professional. If it’s an exclusive tape, where the focus is on the music and not so much skills, that can take me a day or two max. What else is new with you? Right now my main goal is my new company Publicity Stunt Marketing. I’m trying to make the transition away from the mixtape game because at the end of the day it’s still illegal. No matter how many label reps call me wanting me to play their artists, it’s illegal. It’s nothing we can really do until labels decide to make mixtapes legal and regulate them. Publicity Stunt Marketing/Management/Consulting is the new company. I’m focusing on taking some artists from the Carolinas and showing ‘em how the industry works; really trying to take some Carolina artists to the top. Who are some artists you’re working with? My main goal is staying neutral, helping anybody who’s talented and making moves in the Carolinas. I’ve even blasted out music from artists who I didn’t see eye to eye with. I look at it like I’m one of the pioneers in Carolina music and I have a responsibility to set aside personal issues. I see you’re promoting your brother, P.I.M.P. Yeah, P.I.M.P. is my older brother. He’s
been rapping since we were children. He used to have the turntables in his room. My other brother would play like he was the DJ. I was the youngest so they used to make me control the volume. They gave me the bullshit job. We’ve been honing our craft since we were little. He recently started taking rap seriously when he came home from jail in 2001. He did a five year bid for drug trafficking. I just recently started working with him ‘cause I just saw him take things seriously. I’m his younger brother, so I understand it’s hard for him to listen to my [advice[ when it comes to the music industry. Recently we were able to get past the egos and start working together. It seems like you’d have a successful radio show. You say whatever is on your mind. I’ve been on radio before and to be honest, it’s not a road I want to go back down unless the station is willing to give me some type of control. Radio is an industry where the jock is never supposed to be bigger than the station. We saw that when my homeboy Charlamagne Tha God became bigger than the station and they got rid of him. Thank God he already had something in the works with Wendy Williams. It was like a big “fuck you” to jump from market number 50 to market number 1. It shows you the mentality of radio. I don’t have time to sacrifice sitting at a computer at a radio station for pennies. I’ve built my stock up enough for people to know what I bring to the table. Look at all I’ve accomplished without radio. The radio PDs and General Managers should be throwing the checkbook at me but they’re not. I’m one of the top mixtape DJs in the world without radio. What are you killing the streets with next? I’m working on Down South Slangin’ 50 and I just released Sexxxplicit R&B 40. My longevity in the R&B mixtape scene is equal to my longevity in dirty South mixtapes. I just finished the Sonny Rich mixtape which will hit the streets around Bike Week. I’m about to put out my brother’s album. I’m working on a CD with Black Jerus from North Carolina, who has produced for G-Unit and Snoop Dogg. We’re getting together with Jozeemo to do an album called True Identity. I’m about to get into executive producing, marketing and promoting artists, management, and label consulting, just using a lot of knowledge I’ve gained over 10 years in the business to help out my people. Website: Myspace.com/Djchuckt OZONE | 21