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5/2/2006 What's up? Everything's good. I can't complain too much. How are you liking Power105 so far? I'm getting embraced a lot over there. It's definitely a good feeling that they believe in me so much. What was the main factor that led to you making the switch? It was a better career move for me rather than staying at Hot and only doing two hours a week. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Do the execs at Power105 tell you to play certain songs? They haven't told me yet that I have to. I mix a couple of nights and they're all over the place. Do you want your new show to be different from Hot97? I don't think it's going to be a lot better than the show on Hot97 was. The show on Hot97 was real, real underground. I think this show will be more of a mixture of underground records of people on the come-up and stuff people want to hear. Do you pay attention to the Hot97/Power105 rivalry? I don't really pay attention to it. As far as I'm concerned, I do my homework all the way around the board. I pay attention to everything that's going on around the country. I see who's on the come-up and I make my adjustments accordingly. How do you decide what to play? I like being well-rounded. I play records that people already like a lot. I usually go on my judgment. Being in the business for so long, I go on my judgment and what I think is going to pop. If it's a record I believe in, I go hard on it. What do artists need in 2006 to make it happen? A good hook. The difference between now and back in the day is that now people aren't just going for the A-B-C-D rap if you're an East Coast rapper. If you're going to come, you have to come correct with good flow, lyrics, and the whole package. A lot of people have been complaining about New York radio playing South music. How do you respond to that? Step your game up. Do something about it. Why is the South winning right now? Because people want a change. People want to hear something different. It's not the first time that it's happened. Before it was Master P and Cash Money and they came in. they had a good run and then it went back to New York, and now it's back the other way again. Where do you see it going next? It's hard to say. It seems like it's going to be a mixture. People only gravitate to new things because they're tired of the old ones. People are tired of hearing the same records over and over and over again. There have been a lot of accusations of New York radio DJ's taking payola. How do you respond to that? I can't respond for anyone else. There have been times where I've been offered money to play records and I tell people "No." Is it ever hard for you to turn down the money? No. That's the easy part. You would have to worry if you were trying to accept money from people. That wouldn't be a smart move. How important is it for DJ's to not take money under the table? I think it's very important. I think you're more respected when you don't do stuff like that. People realize they can't buy their way on a Clue mixtape so they have to come correct. How's your new album The Professional Part 3 coming? It's coming out hot. I got some hot records. We're waiting for the single to drop. What surprises do you have on the album? I can't tell you that. What mixtapes are you working on? I'm working on one with Ransom from the A-Team. We just dropped Faboloso's Way. We definitely have some hot stuff in stores. It just takes time trying to make a quality product. You used to drop mixtapes a lot more frequently. Why did you slow down? Right now, it's flooded out there with a bunch of nonsense. I'm not getting caught in the mix of all that nonsense. I'll wait until I have enough quality product before I drop a hot mixtape instead of putting them out all the time like everyone else is doing. How do feel about all these mixtape DJ's that stole a lot of elements from you? They're trying to make money like I'm trying to make money, so I can't be mad at them. What about how most DJ's use voice echo's now? That's technology. If someone is going to try to take your style like that, it's only because people gravitate towards that, like wearing tube socks. Once you set the bar, people are going to follow. Do you get the respect you deserve as being one of the best mixtape DJ's? In some channels, yes, and in some channels, no. It's hard to say. People always go for what you've done in the past. You're only as hot as your last project. That's why you have to keep dropping hot projects and mixtapes and people will respect you for what you do. Where do you see mixtapes going in the future? They're going down in history. You never know where it's going to go with technology. Everyone is considering themselves a mixtape DJ. People at labels are doing mixtapes. People who have never tried DJ'ing are doing mixtapes because technology has made it so easy. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It's kind of a bad thing, but what can you do? Technology is technology. The internet has already, in a way, kind of ruined record sales because it's so easy to download and trade music. What can you do? It's technology. It's good in some ways and bad in others. What's going on with the A-Team right now. Ransom had told me they split but he never gave me any reasons why. They didn't really split up. They're just on hiatus. It's all love. We're going to get that deal and get the album done. Is that deal getting closer? Hopefully. Especially with the radio play they've been getting and the radio play they're going to be getting. How involved are you today in Joe Budden's project? His project is finished. We're going to be dropping his single in a minute. Is there a reason DJ On-Point hosted his Mood Muzik 2 mixtape and not you? I didn't have time to put a mixtape together at the time. I can only do so many things at one time. I told him to get someone to do it and he did it. Why is Def Jam taking so long to put him out? Def Jam has a large roster of artists. You can only tell a record company to do so much. You can't make them put you out. They go on their own schedule. What's going on with Magno today? We're working on his single with Bun-B. It's going to be dropping real soon. What are your plans for Magno? We're going to take our time and get some more hot records out there. We'll eventually drop the album. We're probably going to drop an independent album before we drop the major label one to get the buzz out there. Are you working closely with Stack Bundles? Yeah. We just did the Bidding War mixtape a month or two ago. We're working on some other things right now. Are there any artists you're looking to sign to Desert Storm? Not right now. We're just working with what we have right now. What's the most difficult part about staying fresh on radio, mixtapes, and artist management? Every artist needs their own individual time. It's hard working that out. I'm also working on a weekly syndicated radio show in thirty markets. That's called Desert Storm Radio. Are you still cool with Damon Dash? When I see him, we speak. I don't have any problems with him. He went his way and I went my way. There's no hard feelings. Did anything happen to make you stop working with Akademiks? Nothing really happened. We just grew apart. They do their thing and I do mine. What's next for you? I have a DVD coming out called Clue TV. I have Lil' Wayne, Mariah, Paris Hilton, A-Team, Fab, and a lot of others. That's coming out soon. Are you happy about Lavar Arrington signing to the Giants? Oh yeah. That's my dude. We're going to have to throw a big party real soon. What do you want to say to your fans? Good looking out for supporting me all these years and holding Clue and Desert Storm down. Hopefully in the future we can get it popping and make Desert Storm the number-one label in the world.

By Brian Kayser

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