iHipHop Interview: DJ Kay Slay- Drama In The First Degree…

14 years ago view-show 1,276,011

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As a DJ, the primary job is to get the music and the message out to the people, and no one has done a better job at this than Hot 97’s own DJ Kay Slay. Being instrumental in virtually every battle song/diss record this side of the new millennium, he has solidified his place as the person to see when it’s time to get your point across.

Right now, he’s getting his point across in another way, via his new album More Than Just A DJ. With features that would make his peers envious (if they’re not already), “The Drama King” and owner of Straight Stuntin Magazine sets forth to once again prove way his name is etched in stone when it comes to the mixtape circuit.

iHipHop.com: How did you first get into DJ’ing?

Kay Slay: There were some older cats in my ‘hood that liked the way I moved, because I was a cool young n*gga… So they used to have house parties, and one of the older guys would ask me to work the sets… Back then there were turntables and mixers, but we didn’t have any…

They had two component sets set up and one of the older guys was like, “When this ‘45’ is going on, turn ‘this’ knob down, put the needle on ‘this’ record, and turn ‘this’ one up.” So that’s what did man, and it just evolved from there…

iHipHop.com: More Than Just A DJ is coming out real soon. So what can people expect from it?

Kay Slay: It’s going to be real Hip-Hop from all the different regions, not just New York, because I’m a universal dude… I want people to expect the best from each artist; I wasn’t just taking anything… So the people are going to hear some good music, some good beats, and some good songs…

iHipHop.com: Whom did you work with on the project?

Kay Slay: I worked with everybody from my dude 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Plies, Ray J, Jim Jones, Lloyd Banks, [Tony] Yayo, of course my dude Papoose, Drake, Yo Gotti, Remy Ma, Jackie O, Raekwon, Ghostface [Killah], AZ, Uncle Murda, Bun B, Twista, Young Chris, Gucci Mane… The question is who didn’t I work with…

iHipHop.com: [Laughing]… Was it hard getting all those people?

Kay Slay: Not really… Everyone I reached out to came through…

iHipHop.com: So how did the process go? Did they come to you with their material already?

Kay Slay: When I’m doing a compilation, I send out the beat that I want, and I tell the people to out their bars on that… So that’s how is usually goes down, unless that person’s schedule is really busy, and they can’t get in the studio… If that’s the case, and they have a record that hasn’t been out yet, then I’ll take that…

iHipHop.com: Obviously with you being one of the originators of mixtapes, how do you feel about the mixtape game now?

Kay Slay: I feel like it’s over saturated… Dudes are “Internet mixtape DJ’s.” They can’t reach out to the artist to make exclusive sh*t for them, so they just get on the Internet and get every record from that artist… The whole art form of it has been downgraded, because everybody wants to be somebody… There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be somebody, it’s just about how you do it…

iHipHop.com: With that said, have you found it difficult keeping your name out there?

Kay Slay: I got no problem with that, because when I put out a mixtape, half the records on there, n*ggas are trying to get from the artist, and then the artist will tell them, “You gotta call Kay Slay for that.”

iHipHop.com: [Laughs]… Does is it ever get overwhelming with you being a DJ for Hot 97, and a magazine owner; while still continuing on with the mixtapes?

Kay Slay: I try not to think like that… I’d rather have too much on my plate than have nothing… I’m grateful… Whatever I can’t get done when I say, I’ll get it done when I can…

kayslaymtjadj_dirtycoveriHipHop.com: What first gave you the idea to start Straight Stuntin Magazine?

Kay Slay: I always had a relationship with women, and a lot of them were going through trials and tribulations with a lot of other publishers… So I figured if I made a platform for them and did the opposite of what these other f*ck boys are doing, I’ll win…

So that’s exactly what did; you know what I’m saying? P*ssy ain’t never been a problem for me [Laughs]… So I didn’t have to do what these lames were doing…

iHipHop.com: [Laughs]… Do you find the magazine game to be big hustle as the music game?

Kay Slay: There’s f*ck boys in everything you do… There are f*ck boy distributors, publishers, and it’s a dog-eat-dog world period… So I’d say this sh*t is about equal, real talk…

iHipHop.com: With so many magazines going through tough times, you weren’t worried about going into it?

Kay Slay: Nope… That’s because I’m dealing with women, and even women like women these days… So as long as you know how to make the women look right, and you do right by them, you’re going to win… You would have to be a real f*cking loser to lose when it comes to dealing with women…

iHipHop.com: Everyone knows you as the person to go to when it comes time for a battle song, but do you think too much of that has hurt the progression of New York Hip-Hop?

Kay Slay: Divide and conquer is always going to lead to failure… My thing is: I blame more of the execs looking to make a quick dollar from a n*ggas from another region that doesn’t know any better…

It got to a point where mothaf*ckas didn’t give a f*ck about what they were putting out, as long as there was a dance step to it, and it was simple; and they didn’t have to pay a whole lot of money for it…

iHipHop.com: Before we get out of here, I’m sure a lot of people want to know when are we all going to hear an OFFICAL album from Papoose?

Kay Slay: You’re all going to hear something next year, (2010)… We have way more than enough songs; we just haven’t found the right situation… We thought we had the right situation, but there were stupid mothaf*ckas in positions that didn’t know how to work with an artist like that… So there creative control conflicts, because I was like, “We ain’t doing that!” “This ain’t why ya’ll brought us up here.”

You see, that’s what happens: When they get you, then you have some other n*ggas with some big-brained scheme, and then I’ll ask a mothaf*cka, “When is the last time you been to Brooklyn?” “What record is Papoose most known for?” “Where’s he performing at this week?” They don’t know nothing about him, but they have all these d*ckhead ideas… And that’s the reason why sh*t wasn’t working…