DJ WHOO KID: The Mixtape Game is for Sale

By Mark Williams-Washington

That’s right the game is for sale. Check out how Whoo Kid, one of the main people behind 50 Cent, sells the game to everyone. He has revolutionized and commercialized the mixtape game by doing mixtapes with big names ranging from Donald Trump, to the entire cast of the Soprano’s, and everyone in between. Class is in session, so sit back for a minute with Shine Magazine and one of Queen's finest, DJ Whoo Kid.

Shine: What’s good fam?

Whoo Kid: I'm chilling.

Shine: So when did you start DJing?

Whoo Kid: I started DJing, seven or eight years ago. I don’t even remember, I’m kind of old.

Shine: So were you happy with your first mixtape?

Whoo Kid: My first mixtape, I was just doing it for my friends, and like, family. I was doing mixtapes like blend CDs. I used to look up to Dirty Harry and Ron G, so they were like blend CDs. They wasn’t exclusives. Clue was the only one doing the exclusive thing.

Somehow my hobby was cool so I took it a little more serious. It has taken me all the way to the last 50 Cent joint. Some people started like mine, then I met up with my homeboy, Splash, who's Envy’s assistant. And he showed me how to get exclusives from labels. So I went around with him. And by going around with him, I met up with Chris Lighty, the old Violator, and president of Def Jam. I got cool with them and learned my way in there. I got free records. And from then on my relationship with them was cool and they started giving me new songs before they came out. And one day after DJ Vlad’s Angel Party, I met up with Busta Rhymes. At that time Busta Rhymes was huge, and to have him host a CD was like incredible back then. So I had him host the first CD and from then on, every other rap group – a famous superstar, whatever—got to host my CD. That’s the only thing I had on Kay or against Clue or whoever else.

Shine: So what DJs do you respect in the mixtape game right now?

Whoo Kid: Well, of course I respect Kid Capri, who started it. Well I believe he started it. He’s the first mixtape that I bought. The DJs that I respect now, is like Kay Slay. I like what DJ Drama does down south. OG Ron Cee from L.A. I don’t really deal with too many DJs, but those are basically the ones I’m cool with. The mixtapes is what keeps me real separate from whatever any other DJ is doing. So any relationships that I have with DJs is like on a friendly, friendship sh*t. I’d rather do it like that.

One of the DJs I really, really respect, as far as talent, is DJ Spinbad. He’s like one of the realest DJs I ever met. As far as talent, like mixing and scratching and putting stuff together. His mixtapes is like f*cking albums and sh*t. But every other DJ is like we have good relationships. But, I don’t really deal with a lot of DJs to tough, it’s like some stupid, f*cking, animosity for no reason, type sh*t. I don’t know why. The world is too big. I don’t know why, I guess it’s in every form – rappers to DJs and everything you do.

R.I.P. Jam Master Jay, that was one of the ones I looked up to. Kid Capri got me. He was the first DJ that had skill and he marketed himself. I got his marketing part. I didn’t copy his skills part, everybody knew who he was because he was on TV. He did all the Def Jam comedy sh*t. When you hear his voice you know who he is. And so that’s why I created the Whoo Kid. And now my scream is famous, and when you hear that scream you know it’s me.

Shine: Do you remember the first 12” vinyl you bought??

Whoo Kid: My first 12” vinyl was NWA. I have that in a frame. I probably got the original.:::laughs::: It was my first vinyl. Back then it was crazy. Ay man - if I say this, ni**as going to think I'm really old. We had phonographs and sh*t, wax and sh*t, you know backyard parties. It wasn’t really that many DJs back then. We used to switch to wax and everybody started dancing.

Shine: So you been doing it for a minute then? :::laughs:::

Whoo Kid: Hell yeah. I mean I always liked hip-hop. Where I grew up it was a lot of famous people, so I was into house music, club music, Arabian knights and all type sh*t. [With] club music, everything is blend to blend to blend, so I went from that to R&B, and hip-hop which is what I always loved.

I don’t really do any blend CDs any more because those are like [time consuming]…I could do a hip hop CD in one day, a blend CD takes like f*cking 4 or 5 days. It’s a nightmare and I don’t want to do it through computers and sh*t, cause that’s some bullsh*t. There’s more money into creating new music and a lot of my mixtapes are like albums. So, you can’t compare my CD to another mixtape. When I drop, it’s over. The bootlegging :::laughs:::

Shine: Yeah, I be seeing them way out here fam - and I'm in LA.

Whoo Kid: Yeah, I helped a lot of artists out there like Game, Slim Thug, Bump J - those are some of the few artists out of the f*cking 15 I helped this year. They all got signed to labels. My goal is to create a new artist and when they blow up and when they see my name, it shows that what I really do works. It doesn’t help everybody. But, if you’re a talented artist and you’re creative with whatever you do and I could get creative with your situation, we need to talk. A lot of rappers out there think that if they see me, then f*cking you’re famous. You got to have talent. Some people out there I don’t charge because I think they’re ill, you know what I'm saying.

Shine: To me it sounds like you're a Mixtape DJ/A&R?

Whoo Kid: Yeah, cause it’s like people would rather hear, instead of hearing the same songs on the radio or the same songs that get repeated that DJs get from every other A&R, they’d rather hear exclusives from the last three or four years. I just put them out back to back, creating CDs. I’m not going to say every CD is off the hook, but like 90 out of a 100 was like classics.

Where like if a muthaf*cka comes from Europe and they watch Sopranos, and you on Canal Street with a Soprano CD, they gonna buy it. You’re not limiting yourself. Like the fact that I got the whole Soprano cast hosting the CD, just a Russian or Indian, or European muthaf*cka buying a fake bag is gonna get that CD anyway. Cause I commercialized the whole mixtape situation. It can be any form and age, any age limit. This is ridiculous! I just did a CD with Donald Trump. Now imagine how many people that’s gonna hit.

Shine: That’s CRAZY right there! That’s like real revolutionary!

Whoo Kid: Yeah, it’s like come on man, f*ckin Donald Trump hosting a Lloyd Banks CD.

Shine: Besides the right host, what do you feel are the ingredients of a good mixtape?

Whoo Kid: You need a producer, and advertiser. You need an ill producer so you can get throwaway beats from them. You gotta have a graphic artist. Nojo is probably the best. He does the best covers. You seen my covers, them sh*t’s are crazy. Those sell the CD alone. The combination of exclusives, the cover, an ill host, and then you got the guns – the action. I always put guns in there.

Shine: What do you record your mixtapes in? Like do you do it in ProTools or—

Whoo Kid: Everything is done in ProTools. That’s why everything is digitally remastered. Everything sounds crazy. No bull. I hate paying ten dollars for a CD that sounds like sh*t. I’m not saying every DJ should buy a f*ckin $200,000 studio. But, I have a $200,000 studio in the city, and I got another studio in my crib where I do the final mixdown.

Shine: How many mixtapes do you think you've put out over the span of your career?

Whoo Kid: Maybe like 80 or 90. Up to like there. I dropped 8 CDs at one time. I’ve done a Justo’s special, I did 8 CDs to promote Justo’s Award Show.

Shine: Who do you think is the next rapper to blow?

Whoo Kid: I think Bump J could definitely be a problem. Chamillionaire is definitely gonna be a problem. I found this new artist called “Slim the Mobster” from LA. He’s definitely a problem. So you heard me tell you this first. I’m trying to keep him a secret weapon. This n*gga sounds like a f*ckin east/west coast blend. He’s from the west coast, but he’s like mixed with like—I don’t know he’s like a real f*ckin crip, he’s like mixed with some east coast sh*t, like it don’t make no sense to me. I never heard no artist like that. Just remember I told you about this guy. Next time you interview me, remember him. I’m just waiting to see.

There’s a lot of rappers out there poppin off. Stat Quo. I’m working with him now. So, I’m gonna bring him out. Green Lantern didn’t really do nothing for him, so I’m here to take over. :::laughs::: I could definitely blow up Stat Quo. I mean, I’m doing his CD now. Me and Eminem is putting it together.

Shine: Do you charge money for unsigned artists on your mixtapes or if it’s hot you just play it?

Whoo Kid: If it’s crazy and I feel that this guy is the potential next big guy, or he could do something in hip-hop, hey I won’t charge, but most of the time I charge. It could be from $10,000 to $20,000. Depending on what you want done. I can do full marketing or I could host the CD, or I could just do drops. I mean there’s different prices for everything, but I definitely charge. Because these people are really getting looked at. They’re getting signed and sh*t like that. And, the fact that it cost $20,000 to get signed and then you don’t have to see me again...Who wouldn’t want that deal? You know what I'm saying?

Shine: Yeah, that’s kind of bananas right there…

Whoo Kid: The fact is that rap is a fucked up game. You could help somebody, and they will just act like they don’t know who you are. And I’ve been in situations like that over and over again. And I helped some people get really far, and now they don’t even call.

So it’s like you know what, f*ck everybody, I’ll just deal with my family, and those are the only people...There’s some people out there, that got me to be like this. I’m like, ‘f*ck that’, I could have got famous off this guy, he don’t even say my name or nothing, I’m like, “you know what?” Charge this to the game. You just used me to get you to point B? Twenty thousand dollars and I’ll see you later. You just paid for my suffering when I don’t hear my name on your next interview.

Shine: You got any last words, or any shout-outs?

Whoo Kid: Check me out coming soon. I’m on the Apprentice show with Tony Yayo. I’m on Butch Cassidy’s Unique TV show. I love cars and all my cars bumpin'. Depends on my car, but Smiley put one in the show…. And my TV show is coming soon. But it’s like I’m getting away from all this stuff. Mixtapes, I will not quit the mixtape game, I’ll just have my brother or somebody take over. I’m not gonna be doing the mixtape thing all the time. A couple years, and then Cool School will be coming out. Teaching my brother everything. Last thing I wanna do is be f*ckin 50 years old still doing mixtapes.

Shine: Hell nah, that’s crazy.

Whoo Kid: In three more years all the DJs that’s out - you can hate all you want - you can have the mixtape game in two years. It’s all yours. Whatever it is, you can have it. You’ll just never do it the way I did it. You know what I’m saying? R.I.P to Justo.

Copp official Whoo Kid Mixtapes at the websites below:

www.nycphatmixtapes.com
www.thirdeyebooking.com

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