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1/9/2006 What's good Drama? I'm just chilling. I'm on the road right now doing some parties. You've got a lot of dope projects coming up. The one that's got the most buzz on HipHopGame is the Saigon project. Why did you choose to work with him? I've respected Saigon's gangster for a minute. I wanted to work with East Coast artists on "Gangsta Grillz" to branch out. There are so many artists out there that are bringing so much to the table, and one of those is Saigon. He is far from his peak. When I was looking at artists out of the Northeast region, he was definitely in the forefront because of what he's already brought to the table and where he's going. It was only right. A lot of my mixtapes are built of relationships. It's not like I got a call from Sai out of the blue one day. We've been talking for awhile and planning it out. How did you guys work together on it? He pretty much handled his side of it, which was making some new music for the tape and putting together some of his joints that have already been out and have been fan favorites. The label told me they expect a lot from this. If I'm doing a tape with someone, I normally don't like to put music on it that's already been out. With Sai, I know that we're going to reach audiences that are new for me and new for him. He got me the music, we worked on a concept, and I wrote out a script for him to do. We pretty much banged out everything. He sent me everything when it was ready and I did my part. We went back-and-forth getting it right. When the music is good, my job is easy. How do you think your fans will react to Saigon? I think people are going to react positively. I realize that I have a very quality brand. When I look at my career in the last year, it's really been a dream for me. I've been at this since '92. I'm originally from Philly, but I rep the South enormously. If it wasn't for Atlanta embracing me, my career would not be where it is. At the end of the day, I'm a child of Hip Hop. I was born in '78. Everything about my generation is Hip Hop. It would only be right for me to branch out and work with Saigon in New York, Freeway in Philly, or Game on the West Coast. It's all Hip Hop music. My man Banner said that we are the only culture that breaks our shit down like, "The South is running things, why isn't the East Coast hot?" Rock and roll niggas don't talk about "What's up with Down South rock and roll?" Good music is good music, and I represent good music. The fans that fuck with me, whether they're from Atlanta, Connecticut, or Oklahoma, they know that if I cosign something, they can expect quality. I'm not going to do a Gangsta Grillz with some commercial-ass niggas. I'm going to do quality music. I don't mean to cut you off, but another project that we're going to do is a Little Brother tape. That's totally out of the spectrum from what people know me as. I grew up on Tribe Called Quest. I loved Black Star, and I loved that movement as much as I love T.I.'s movement now. Now that I've been able to create a name for myself and I've broken through that door, now it's time for me to push the limits and work with a Little Brother and Saigon. If the music is good, then you can't say shit to me. How's the T.I. tape coming? That's called "The Leak." That's 14 new bangers from Tip and seven or eight songs from other artists in Grand Hustle. A lot of the mixtape movement in the South started from the original tapes that me and T.I. did together. This is our fifth tape together. In my opinion, '05 was a good year for me. It was a big year. The type of dude I am, I stay hungry, I stay focused, and I stay driven. I talked to Tip, and we had to start the year off right. He's got his album coming in March, he has a movie coming, and I have my album. We wanted to start the year off fresh. A lot of people say that Tip has changed and isn't as serious, but Tip is one of the nicest in the game to me. It's always a pleasure to do a tape with Tip. Pharell's another dude that doesn't really hit the mixtapes too hard. How did you guys connect and start a tape together? Pharell and I have met. Of course I'm a fan to the utmost. Him and I have a good relationship. I got a call from his manager about how he was about to put his album out. They were throwing around ideas about doing a mixtape, and my name came up. To be able to work with Pharell is great. He's a genius and an icon, and to have a nigga like that come to me to do a tape, it's only right that I do it. He sees what I'm doing in the streets and what I bring to the table. Pharell thinks people are sleeping on him lyrically. What he gave me for the tape is bananas. It's going to shock a lot of people. He had a lot of things to get off his chest on this one. With this situation, I was working with him in the studio. On Gangsta Grillz, I try to get niggas to stunt a little bit. Pharell's not that type of guy. It's funny for me to be in there telling him what to say. He did it in his own way. That project is going to be crazy. I'm just trying to continue the movement. There's really no slowing down at this point. You look at Pharell, Jeezy, T.I…they all got money and usually it's the broke rappers that hit the mixtapes. What makes these guys want to work with you? The passion. At the end of the day, we're all students of the game. We're all fans of the game. Money is good, but you should never stop working. A guy like Pharell, he loves what he does. It's his passion. For me, my money is good right now. For the first time in my life, I could stop working and kick back, but why? We're all in positions that the majority of the world would love to be in because of the fact that we can do what we love to do and get paid doing it. Once you get on, a nigga like Jeezy, he won't stop working. Pharell doesn't go to the club. He wakes up, goes to the studio, and goes to sleep. I'm a DJ. I've come from being out in the club. Now that I'm here, there's nothing else important to me besides family and work. I love it. I'm going to sit down and work my hardest. The money's great. Money makes everyone's life easier, but you can't forget where you came from. Speaking of Jeezy, you were one of the first to break Boyz-N-Da-Hood. You guys must have a good relationship today. Yeah, that's my dude. Him and T.I. mean a lot of my career, as I do to theirs. We both helped each other come up. He knew what I had, and he came to me like, "This is what I got." I met Tip in 2000 when he was just getting started from a major label perspective. I'm living it. I've spent a lot of years in the game and I've seen a lot of dudes come up. These guys are good dudes. They're doing this to feed their families. I meet a lot of artists. The industry is the industry, but I've come to find out that everybody's working and everyone is pretty regular. Once you get on, it's a whole different challenge and frame of mind that you have to deal with. I just saw the Rolling Stone where they mention the best DJ's, and my name was at the top of the list. I was over the Clue's and Green Lantern's. Now that I'm in a category with them, I have to stay here and stay on my grind because there's a lot of other dudes on their hustle that would love to get there. Did you honestly see Jeezy blowing up like he has two years ago? No, definitely not. What Grand Hustle and the Aphiliates did, we created a different formula. We started it in another direction. We did the mini-album with T.I. In the South, no one was really taking advantage of that situation. When I put the T.I. tape out, that tape escalated his buzz. Then I went on to do a Bun-B tape. He's a legend. Up until that point, the tapes I had been doing were already with made men. When Jeezy came to me, he said, "Look Dram, I want to follow this formula. I see what you do. The streets fuck with you heavy. This is my music. I want to break it through you." I had never been in a situation where I had broken an artist. The reason people fucked with the Jeezy tape was because my name was on it. Once people heard the music, people saw how good Jeezy's music was. When I first did it, I just heard little inklings in the streets that it was hot. I was thinking, "Damn, Jeezy's on to something." Jeezy's manager and I go way back. I never thought that it would have the impact it would have. He did what 50 did for the South. In the mixtape world, Jeezy was the next coming after 50 Cent. He took the mixtape game to a whole different level. The way I see it, there are two periods in the mixtape world, "Before 50 Cent" and "After 50 Cent." Jeezy is one of those few that are successful after 50 Cent. Since "Trap or Die" came out, I have conversations about that tape every day. Did I see it happening? Hell no! I would be a liar to say I did, but looking back on it, it all makes sense. It opened my eyes up. That situation goes both ways. I know he helped my career and I helped his. We'll always have that. That means a lot to me. The tape you did with Project Pat must have been fun. Yeah. That was a good look. Shout out to my man Matt the Mayor. We were driving one day, and he told me that I had better do that Pat tape once Pat got out. I hollered at Juicy J and we did it. Because of Pat's situation, I have yet to meet Pat. He's still in the halfway house. Pat is a legend and from what people were telling me, they were all excited about me doing that project. I wish there could have been more exclusive music, but it's no one's fault because of the situation at the time. That's definitely one of my better tapes. I know I'm DJ Drama, but I'm still that nigga that listens to everybody. I'm happy to work with these dudes. What's been the best thing to happen to you because of the Gangsta Grillz series? Probably getting this record deal through Atlantic Records. If someone could have told me in '94 when I was on the bus in Philly listening to Clue's "Back to School Part 2," that would have blown my mind. I've made tapes where people don't even necessarily have to look at the playlist, they just go out and get it. "Gangsta Grillz" is something that I made up at the crib one day just off the top of my head. It wasn't any highly thought out plan. It's true that if you build it, they will come. I'm living. I'm loving what I'm doing. I have a lot more work to do. I have to put together a good album. Just to achieve this amount of success, that's a great feeling because my team and I did it our way. I didn't go to a radio station and get on. When promoters were trying to low-ball niggas, I said, "Fuck it." The mixtape world is saturated as shit. There's a million tapes, and a lot of them are wack tapes with hot covers. To watch Jeezy's career and to know that I was the first dude to do a tape with him, and to work with T.I., Bun-B, and Project Pat…when I do tapes, I always find myself asking, "How can I top that?" How do you come after a Big Boi tape or a T.I. tape? It's a rollercoaster ride. You have your ups and downs, and luckily, I've been able to have more ups than downs. I enjoy all of it, but I don't get caught up in it. Two years from now, we can talk about "Trap or Die," but I'll never live off it. You have to keep up. I like to be happy about my accomplishments. I take it step-by-step. I've been in meetings with Kevin Liles, Paul Rosenberg, and Russell Simmons. I've seen that side of it. I'm looking at the big picture. For me, this is just the beginning. How important is it to stay humble in the game? For one, it's very important, and two, it's very difficult. I've always been very high on respect and loyalty. Those things go a long way. At the end of the day, I know my shit is hot and I walk with a swagger and I hold my head up high, but I get a lot of artists and fans that come up to me and show me love and try to get on. It's real difficult because I can't do a third of what people want me to do, but I try to give everybody that respect, from the littlest man to the biggest man, because you never know who anybody is. When I first started, my goal was to get my name on a flier. When a rapper comes to me that wants to get on, I'm going to hear him out, look him in the eye, I'm going to take his music, and I'm going to do my best to listen to it. You have to make sure your shit looks right though because there's so much competition. I've had people in the game, when I was coming up, do little shit to me, and I've never forgotten that. I don't hold any grudges on anybody, because I realize everyone has to take their own steps. There's some little niggas that I've met that will be "that nigga" soon. I want them to realize that even if we couldn't get down, they know I'm a good dude. You have to respond to the people, that's who made me. I got made by the streets. It's difficult. You're dealing with a lot of egos and money. In this game, everyone walks around thinking they got the biggest dick in the room. I've been around people like T.I. or Nelly, or even 50, and they are what they are because they handle their business. Look at what Pharell has accomplished and he's one of the most humble dudes I've ever met. If he's humble, how can I be cocky? How can the next man be cocky? I'm definitely not what Pharell is. Humility goes a long way and people respect that. Do you ever get caught up in any of the beefs and forced to take sides? To some degree. It goes both ways. I've been caught up in some DJ beef, which is some dumb shit. There's no reason that DJ's need to be beefing. That's just dumb. I've also been in some rapper beef, where niggas I fuck with are beefing with other niggas. It's complicated. Competition is always good for the sport. As long as shit stays on record, then it's cool. There's nothing wrong with competition. When a nigga disses me, I'll do my one-two thing on the tables to show what I got. It's never good when it escalates. A lot of times when other niggas get involved, it can get serious. It happens. That's where we come from. There are a lot of egos involved, bitches involved…that's the other side of it that you have to deal with. From a business standpoint, I don't want any beef with anybody. I'm a DJ. It's very important that we stay as neutral as possible, but it doesn't always happen if you're affiliated with someone. I did "Down with the King," which was a tape going at Flip. I've learned my lessons. The situation was what it was. I'm just trying to get money out here. Do you charge artists to get on your tapes? I have never charged an artist to get on my tape. I don't believe in that. I've charged niggas to do their tape, but I've never charged anyone to get on a Gangsta Grillz. My tape is very important to me and it's not for sale. If your shit is hot, I put it on. I'm not against anybody charging if that's how you're living. That's not my way of making money. I'm very into marketing and branding, and I realize the importance of branding. If I was to sell my tape, you'd have people waiting in line and wondering where they were going to be. I'm not going to put any wack shit on my tape. I'm not for sale. That's the thing with DJ's. From where I come from as a DJ, I play what's hot. Money is good, but money doesn't make me. If I stay true to my shit, I'm going to get money. Niggas also come to me to do their tapes. If your shit is wack, I'm not going to do your tape. I'm not going to work with you no matter how much money you have if you're wack. Sometimes the best thing to do is to build your own movement. Why pay for me when you can come up with another DJ? You talked about the game being so oversaturated, what does it take for a new DJ to make it today? It's about quality and relationships. It's the same thing that's always been. I've seen some other people that are definitely on the come-up. It's definitely harder now because the game is more saturated, especially the mixtape game. It's at an all-time high. For real, if I can do it, anybody can do it. I've been at it for a minute, but I never got any breaks until 2001. It's not overnight. I sold tapes for years, myself, with my own table, before I ever sold a tape in a store. It took years for me to get here. It's not overnight. Especially for people that are making tapes on their computer and sending them to websites trying to get on. It's more than that. I'm on the road, and I'm still handing out free CD's. Quality speaks volumes. If your shit is hot, it'll get around. The game is so saturated, so you have to stay in people's faces. When I was new in the game, I would do a tape every week or two. I would do Hip Hop, reggae, and R&B tapes, and I would give people the tapes so they could see I was on my job. Relationships are also everything. Being in Atlanta, I've been in the mix of a lot of things. Right now, I would rather be here than be in New York. Even though New York is the "epicenter" of everything, I'm in a market that is wide-open. I'm around all these artists that are on the verge of blowing. My relationships took me a long way. That helps with everything. You have to be able to call a nigga's manager or get at an artist and be personable to them. That goes a long way. Your covers are always consistently dope. Do you stay with the same designer for everything? I've been with the same designer for almost two years straight now. His name is Rob Petrozzo from Paperwork Graphics. I owe so much to this guy. I've had good designers in the past, but the problem between designers and I were that the artists took too much damn time on the covers. That shit is not acceptable. I was looking for a neat dude, and through the grace of God, I found Rob. Since he started doing my covers, I have yet to go to anybody else. He does a lot of people's covers. He does Smallz, Big Mike, Green Lantern, and Clinton Sparks. He's a workhorse. I have to really give that man credit. He'd done a lot of classics. I know how important it is to have good quality covers. I don't want anyone thinking my tapes are bullshit. Rob just comes with that heat. We go back-and-forth on things, but he's definitely an artist and he knows the game. He's given me some classics and I think I've also helped his career out. It feels good. I've seen a lot of people come up around me from me being a part of them. How does being on the radio help your movement? We have two shows. We have a Serius show on Shade45 and we're on Atlanta radio. From a Serius aspect, it helps because it's a national platform for people to hear what we do. There's niggas listening to us all over the place that wouldn't normally hear us. The radio in Atlanta is another outlet for us. Because we did it our way, we're in a situation where we can do us on both stations. We make our own playlists. That's very powerful. I didn't want to go to a radio and use their playlist. I would feel like my career is going backwards. How could I go on the radio and play "Laffy Taffy?" They'd think Drama fell off. On Shade45, look at who they got, Clinton Sparks, Kay Slay, Felli Fel…we fit right in over there. With what we've been doing in the streets, we couldn't be denied. I like to be on the radio and broadening our situation. It's been a blessing. I like the fact that we were able to do it our way. People know when they tune in that they're going to hear good music. Do you feel that it's fair for radio and mixtape DJ's have their own artists? It's fine. I have my own artists. It's radio, and it's big business. If you're in a commercial radio situation, no radio DJ can just blast off their own artist. Niggas get fired for shit like that. We're DJ's, and it's our job to be up on new music. At the end of the day, if you're the only one playing your artist, then something isn't right with your artist. I don't think it's bad for Hip Hop. Realistically, corporate America on the radio is worse for Hip Hop than a DJ having an artist. And from a mixtape perspective, that's my shit. How can anyone tell me that I can't put my own shit on there? I'm breaking that next dude. Look at Screw in Houston and the artists that have come up under him. There are so many DJ's that have broken their own artists. I think there is a lot of corporate things and DJ's that fuck up Hip Hop, but I don't think it's from them having their own artists. I don't play my artists all the time or give them the first five tracks on a tape. I give them the slot they deserve at the time. Some of my artists aren't ready yet and I'm building them for that. Where do you see satellite radio going? The sky's the limit right now. With Howard Stern on now too…radio will always have it's place, but to me, satellite radio is the future. Who should we be watching for from the South in '06? The Replacementz, I have to shout my people out first. Attitude, Willie the Kid, Young Dro, Young Jacque, Young Capone, Swishahouse just signed this cat Qualo, Rick Ross, Smitty is hot, Bo Hagen is crazy, Jody Breeze from Boyz-N-Da-Hood, he's a first-round draft pick. I'd look out for all these guys. In your opinion, is there a king of the South? T.I.'s the king of the South. He was the first one to say it. A lot of people have comments about that, but T.I. proclaimed himself the king of the South and he did it. It's funny, there's always debate about who's the best, Jay-Z or Nas, and in the South, we talk about who's the best out of T.I., Wayne, and Jeezy. All three of them have their own names and bring something different to the table. I respect all of them, but T.I. got that title and nobody else wanted it until he made it. As far as who's on top, there's a lot of niggas on top, like Ludacris. A lot of people sleep on Ludacris. Everybody does their thing. What do you think is the North's biggest misconception about Southern music? I used to feel that the North's biggest misconception about Southern music was that Southern niggas can't really spit. I don't feel that way now. I grew up on Smif-N-Wesson, Wu-Tang, and The Roots. Being in the South when Crunk music was so big, I felt that no one really respected Southern music. Look at Andre 3000, Big Boi, Scarface…the list goes on and on. Right now, in my opinion, the South has proven itself. I think a lot of times, the South has so much love for East Coast, New York, and music in general. New York is the epicenter of mass media and they're always going to have the upper hand. If you make good music, you make good music. That's what it should be about. I don't care where you're from. If you're making that heat, people are going to pay attention. What do you think is wrong with New York Hip Hop right now? It's definitely not what it used to be. I think niggas in New York are definitely making good records. I don't know what to say on that because I'm not in New York. I can't pinpoint it. I know who I like and who I want to see blow. It's hard for me to say if it's big business situations. When big business gets involved, it fucks shit up. In '06, everyone needs to get away from that simple-ass music. Some people say that's a shot at the South. No, it's a shot at bullshit music. I see the East Coast having a resurgence. I definitely see it coming. New York City is always going to be there, and everything goes through there. MC's in the South want to get accepted in New York. I want to be right there when New York City Hip Hop comes back. What can you tell us about your Aphiliates crew? We started with three other DJ's, Don Cannon, DJ Sense, and Mike Mike, who started the whole situation. We grew to seven DJ's with Jaycee, Ludacris' DJ, DJ Ox Banga, and Amanda Diva. We're a real tight-knit family. Don Cannon produced "Go Crazy" for Jeezy and Jay-Z. I've been running with Don Cannon since '96. As a DJ crew, it's very important for us to keep it small. We are at the forefront of the Southern movement. Right now, with The Aphiliates, it's very evident that DJ Drama is the top of the light-pole and the face of the movement. But I couldn't have done that without my team. I'm only as strong as my team. We're all friends and we keep it real. We'll always tell each other when we're making mistakes. We've accomplished this much off of our passion, so I would say the sky's the limit. We're all trying to provide for our family's and make moves that we're proud of. At the end of the day, a DJ crew is not going to make or break you. If you're not repping for yourself, what do you think a crew will do? We all have different goals that we want to accomplish. We all argue and fight like the best of 'em. I like to think back to '96 when Sense and I used to split $150 for a party and now we're doing big business with big business motherfuckers, that's a good feeling. Who are your artists and what made you want to work with them? The Replacementz, Willie the Kid, and Attitude. They're three different hot-ass artists. And that's not including our producers Detroit Red and Don Cannon. We had relationships with these guys before. It's not like we just found them. That's very important to us. We have a standard to our brand. I see The Replacementz doing wonderful things. They're like a young Outkast to me. Willie the Kid is like a young Nas, and Attitude is one-of-a-kind. Everybody is hungry and ready to grind. They were already a part of our movement, so it was only right to make it official. What made you want to sign with Atlantic? I liked what they were doing with their projects. Grand Hustle was already over there. I sat down with Kevin Liles and he thought I was a key piece to the puzzle. I saw their movement and the success that a lot of their staff had over at Def Jam. Some of the people at Atlantic were involved in Clue's project, and I have a lot of respect for him. We got the numbers right and we signed the deal. What can you tell us about your album? It's going to be crazy. I have a lot to live up to. We already have a good brand. I'm going to get the best of the best. You're going to see all your favorites on it. I'm really trying to make a classic. I don't want to make a DJ album, I want to make a Gangsta Grillz album that represents the movement. It's great for me, but it's a lot bigger than me. I feel that I have a lot to live up to. It's either go hard or go home. It's not just me, I have a whole team of people helping me on this CD. I just want to make a classic. Does being at Atlantic add pressure for you to support their artists like Saigon or Little Brother? No. You know what's really crazy is that nothing that happened was planned. I did a tape with Juvenile, I did a tape with Bump J, and I have tapes with Saigon and Little Brother coming out. It's great that I have the label's support on the projects, but all of that was built up in the relationships that I already had. I thought people might see everything being Atlantic-influenced, but that was built off of what I did. You have the "Respect the Game" DVD out, what do you want to tell people about that? I just wanted to give people an inside look at the business side of things and what their favorite artists thought about lyrics and production, all of those things. It took me a year and a half to chop it up and get information on things. I wanted to give people jewels. Everybody starts from somewhere. That was my gift to the fans. I didn't want to put out a DVD with a bunch of dumb shit, guns, and dumb talk. I'm a college-educated nigga, that doesn't mean that everyone has to be, everyone has their own route, but I'm a businessman. I love this music and it's bigger than a lot of these DVD's are showing. There's nothing wrong with the streets. I wanted to make sure that people respected the game, because if you don't, you will fall the fuck off. What can we expect coming up from you in the next couple of months? I'm going hard. Look for the T.I. tape, the Little Brother project. Don't be surprised if you see another Snowman tape. I have the Pharell project coming. Just be expecting the same shit from me. There's no falling down, it's only uphill from here. What do you want to say to everyone reading this? For everybody, not just the DJ's, I'm living proof that you can be what you want to be. I grinded my shit out and I'm here because of that. I stayed true to my goals. Anybody can do that. I built my career off of quality. I've seen a lot of people get on, like The Roots, Talib Kweli, T.I., and Young Jeezy. I breathe this. And nine times out of ten, if you're on HipHopGame, chances are you breathe it too. I read HipHopGame all the time. And I appreciate all the support from everybody. Keep grinding.

By Brian Kayser

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