Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with DJ CEO

We recently had the chance to connect with DJ CEO and have shared our conversation below.

Hi DJ, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I usually immediately get a Rockstar Energy drink from the fridge when I first wake up, then a little wake n bake and some Dr Phil reruns, lol I can’t start my day without Dr Phil.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is DJ CEO, I’m a mixtape DJ and influencer. I’m currently signed to Black Market Records and also partnered with a company called Momento and we just released the worlds first interactive music trading cards.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
I guess I’d have to say, the part of me that was still running the streets and had that mentality. I have no regrets, it served a purpose even if it was for nothing but to learn some life lessons I didn’t realize I needed at the time, but I’d also never go back. Life has been so blessed since I learned from that and moved forward.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Don’t waste time focusing on everything everyone else thinks you need to do or should be, skip ahead to focusing on your own dreams and don’t look back. Outside of that I probably wouldn’t say much, I’d listen. That’s what most people need more than anything else.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
For the most part yes but of course there’s some parts of the real me that the public doesn’t get. Being in the entertainment industry one thing I learned is you have to be protective of your energy and your privacy as much as possible. A lot of times they means separating certain aspects of your life choosing what parts to share with the world and what parts to keep private, almost like playing a character based on yourself if that makes sense.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
The art of the mixtape and mixtape culture in hip hop in general. It almost became a lost art form with the industry switching to streaming and digital. When I was a kid I remember people like DJ Clue, Funk Flex, DJ Skribble, and DJ Drama constantly releasing mixtapes, every major artist who was dropping albums and on the radio at the time always had mixtapes in the streets. It’s something that I always clung to and learned a lot about. There’s people now that have never heard a DJ mixtape before. That’s what makes me do what I do. Creating a resurgence in the culture and bringing back mixtapes for the new generation is more than just a career move for me it’s my passion and my hope is that with DJ culture in general making the huge comeback it’s made over the past few years that I can inspire more DJs to go back to mixtapes as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/dj_ceo.official
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/wmJjqK9QBc8?si=Vv4u7h5cOIkjqsKj
• Other: Newest Mixtape: https://blackmarket.lnk.to/StreetGodsVol2

Image Credits
Rayla @Nufocuslv

https://www.instagram.com/nufocus.lv?igsh=MXV1aWJqMmJkaWt3bA==