DJ Superstar Jay hails from the city of dreams where he’s used his connections and his penchant for music to flood the mixtape scene on a weekly basis. While he doesn’t consider himself a veteran DJ, his talent and tenure are both undeniable. This mixtape, radio and club DJ tells HipHopWired how he plans to expand his audience online, about his longtime friend and business partner Lamar Odom and how a college athlete turned into a Superstar.
Origin: Queens, New York
Current Location: New York, New York
HipHopWired: I hear you’re a basketball star turned DJ….tell me how you got your start.
DJ Superstar Jay: I started DJing around the age of 12. Everyone around my way wanted to be like Run DMC but I wanted to be the DJ. A lot of my heroes were DJs like Jammaster Jay, so I wanted to be a DJ.
HipHopWired: So long has it been? You’re really like a veteran DJ now…
DJ Superstar Jay: I don’t really consider myself a veteran DJ because I really started going hard in college. Like in Juice with Tupac when Queen Latifah said to GQ, Oh you’re just local”, doing tapes around the way for my friends and my block. Then when I went to college I decided that I didn’t wanna do basketball anymore and DJs up in Buffalo weren’t that good to me so I felt like I could do it so I just got started.
HipHopWired: Cool. So I know you got it started with the Midnight Run Mixtape, how’d you get the idea to start that?
DJ Superstar: Jay: Oh wow. What you know about that?!
HipHopWired: *Laughs* I heard a little about it.
DJ Superstar Jay: That was one of my first CDs and actually that was the name of my radio show. I met a person that saw me DJing and said, hey I do a college show and you had to be a senior of junior to do your own show, I was still a freshman. They gave me a chance to do it and I lied to the radio station and said I was a junior. I started the Midnight Run with one of my college friends and that’s how the Midnight Run mixtape started.
HipHopWired: And aren’t you still doing radio right now?
DJ Superstar Jay: When I was in Buffalo I went from college radio 92.3 to 92.7 WZLK. I was around 19 and I went back to New York and NY was so crowded that I had to find another way to get my name out there and mixtapes weren’t crowded but they only had their chosen few. After that I won a couple of awards and I got presented a radio show in London. Then last year I got called in to do Power 105 with Tony Touch and Craig.
HipHopWired: Looking back at your radio career what have you been doling to make your show different from everyone else’s?
DJ Superstar Jay: It comes with being a radio personality. You have to grip the people to listen to your radio show. I use my connections to get people to come down for the show . We try to put jokes to it and talk about what’s going on in the world. It’s really about personality and delivering good music for people to listen to.
HipHopWired: So now I see you’re moving more into video. Tell me more about this video show that you’re gonna be showcasing here working with our website.
DJ Superstar Jay: When I aimed for radio I always wanted to do visuals. I felt like my radio show should have visual of the interview. Our first visual was with Rosa Acosta and she showed all the ways that she stretches. I just looked at that and thought it was crazy because we got 20,000 views. We got models, comedians, people who write books. It’s not just rap, it’ll fit into all the elements of HipHopWired.
HipHopWired: I also hear you’re going across the country and doing some big things in Vegas….is that right?
DJ Superstar Jay: Yeah I’m actually supposed to be going over there to DJ a big conference for the Iphone application launch. Me and DJ Envy are the only DJs that have are our own IPhone applications.
HipHopWired: Oh wow, what’s your app going to be?
DJ Superstar Jay: I actually had an app before with T-mobile. I was one of the first mixtape DJs to have an app. You can go to the app and listen to my music, download it and play it right on your phone. You can see the visual of the show on my Iphone, it’s personal, all about me. You can watch my interviews right there on your phone.
HipHopWired: Cool, I also heard you hooked up with Lamar Odom in ’06 for his Rich Soil Records….are you still doing any work with him?
DJ Superstar Jay: Yeah, that’s a good friend of mine. I was signed to his record company and now he’s doing a clothing line with his wife Khloe Kardashian called Rich Soil clothing. Lamar’s from around my way, he gave me a chance to build what I’m doing and was the first person to offer me a record deal. His label’s singed with Asylum. He let me go my way as far as me doing what I have to do. He said, I’m not gonna hold you back but I’ll always have your back. So now I gotta album coming out this year with a single coming out in about two weeks from now.
HipHopWired: Okay, so speak more on that. You have a single that you’re pushing?
DJ Superstar Jay: Yeah, all the records that I make I push but I’m not rapping or singing on it. I have a break beat Fat Man Scoop type fun song called “Where The Ladies At?” It’s catering to the ladies, where you at? Show ya self off, show ya heels off, show ya hair off. It’s a real fun records for the ladies that I think the females will love.
HipHopWired: Cool, let’s move on a little bit. Are you still with Da Union and Noize Mob DJ’s?
DJ Superstar Jay: Yes definitely.When I was first DJing and getting a buzz all the big DJ squads were hollering at me but I picked two crews that were on the comeback. Noize Mob was made up of over 120 DJs that were really DJs that really DJed—they did mixtapes, they did radio and they could really rock out. The owner asked me if I would be down with them and I said yeah, why not. So we just won an award for the Best DJ Crew. Noize Mob is still doing their revamping but I’m still representing, they gave me a chance, a lot of connections. Da Union is a different kind of thing. They consolidate the best DJs in New York, DJ Self of Power 105 is part of it, DJ Norie of Power 105, DJ Will…we got the best club DJs. I think we got 10 people in our crew. 9 out of the 10 DJs are in the club, we’re running NY in Da Union, so that’s the crew that I rep.
HipHopWired: Now you were known for your guest appearances on Rap City and Direct Effect but with shows like that being gone minus maybe 106 and Park, how do you keep your name out there and relevant in the streets?
DJ Superstar Jay: What I’m doing right now on HipHopWired with visuals. No disrespect to 106 & Park or MTV but they just started up MTV Sucka Free again. Now you’ve got the Worldstars, the HipHopWireds ad everyone looks at that as TV. All I do is try and add my visuals and keep myself consistent. People respect consistency, they don’t respect talking. You can talk all day but if you’re just doing it…it shows everybody what you’re doing.
HipHopWired: Exactly. So now I’m gonna start to wrap it up but before I let you go we have to talk about your mixtapes. You’re highly regarded for your mixtapes, so what is the next mixtape you’re looking to put out.
DJ Superstar Jay: Yeah, I’m highly regarded for my mixtapes and like I said, it’s all about consistency. I put out mixtapes every week, if I could I would put out mixtapes everyday. I try to put out mixtapes every week, you gotta song that comes out Monday everybody has it. Now you have songs that everybody has so you’re competing with everyone. Mixtapes to me are still relevant in the streets. They help new artists. There are still a lot of people who come buy mixtapes or download mixtapes. With me I just put all the best music together. The radio is still playing the same song till 9 o’clock with my mixtapes it gives people freedom. Mixtapes will always have a place, I’m just happy to be apart of it.
HipHopWired: So any last words or shoutouts?
DJ Superstar Jay: Shoutout to you guys—HipHopWired, shoutout Urban One Radio, we also got Superstar Radio, shoutout to my new DJ team. I’m starting a new one called Triangle Office, it’s called Triangle Office because you have to be able to do mixtapes, radios and parties. If you can’t do that this isn’t the DJ crew you wanna be down with. I also have a movie coming out in June with my artist Don P called The Cookout 2. It stars Charlie Murphy….
HipHopWired: Okay, so you’re acting?
DJ Superstar Jay: Yeah. He actually was a rapper first but he fell back into acting. I’m trying to do everything. Shoutout to my manager Chris, shoutout to my label Northside Music Group, shoutout to my production label, I got four producers I’m working with—Doc, G Sparks, Killah Messiah and the Mighty Fuzz. I’m just doing everything and trying to help everybody out. There’s money everywhere.
HipHopWired: Okay and if someone was looking to contact you do you have a Twitter, Myspace or Facebook page?
DJ Superstar Jay: Everything’s DJSuperstarJay. Myspace/DJSuperStarJay, Twitter @DJSuperStarJay. My website is www.djsuperstarjay.ning. The website is all about me and what I like.
