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DJ Whoo Kid has solidified himself in the Hip Hop industry he is always one step ahead of the game, his phenomenal mixtape concepts have pushed the bar and changed the whole infrastructure of the mixtape game. The highly sought after DJ, producer, radio host, spokesperson and entrepreneur has friends in very high places and has worked with a plethora of high profile celebrities and business moguls; everyone wants to hang with DJ Whoo Kid.
He is undeniably funny he has a big personality with, energy, passion, drive and talent. Not only is he the official DJ for 50 Cent and G Unit, Whoo Kid is the CEO of Shadyville Entertainment founder of Radio Planet.TV and spokesperson for several major brands. Jai Boo caught up with DJ Whoo Kid to find how Hip Hop and mixtapes has catapulted him into being one of the Top 10 Hip Hop DJ’s. How he’s opened up the door for UK artists such as Giggs and Skepta. He also admits to lying to Russell Simmons, telling Nicki Minaj that she was wack, meeting Michael Jackson and laughing at his legs!
First of all can you tell us where the name Whoo Kid came from!
Oh (Laughs) it’s a bad story! My father is from the Caribbean, he’s Haitian so when my mother used to take a dump he used to do this, “whoo weee” because my mother’s dumps were very horrendous! (Laughs) So I would hear this “whoo weee” all the time because my mother would take a dump like every day.
When I went to high school if somebody got beat up I’d be like, “whoo weee” or if I saw a girl with big boobs I’d be like “whoo weee”. At high school kids called me “The Whoo Kid” because I couldn’t stop saying “whoo weee”. So when I became a DJ I just put DJ in front of it, it sounds ridiculously stupid but that’s how I got the name!
Well you know it’s really catchy no one’s going to forget the ‘Whooo Kiddd’ drop on your mixtapes! Where did that come from did you do it?
Oh yeah the “Whooo Kiddd” is actually me with reverb! I did that scream because; I’ve been doing this for over 10 years and in the beginning people used to shout out like uncles and friends and people who you don’t even know on their cds! (Laughs) A lot of the fans were getting annoyed because there was too much talking and they want to hear the song. So what I did was do a subliminal chant with the “Whooo Kiddd” and put that really low in the song so at the same time you know it’s a mixtape from me but you can still hear the song and the lyrics. That way people don’t get too annoyed.
If you hear any shout outs on my mixtape then that’s usually the artist. I find it really stupid too but people want to shout out their neighbourhood, their corners and bodega’s. I’m like all you are dumb little….there’s more shout outs than songs on the actual mixtape! But you can’t help that because that’s what some people want!
If it’s me and I’m in control, then you’re going to hear just the “Whooo Kiddd”, if it’s a Gangsta mixtapes you’ll hear gunshots. When you hear that “Yeah!” that was like 30 kids in the studio at one time and I had them all scream “Yeah!” and recorded them. If I have a funny part in a song or they’re talking about kids then the “Yeah!” drop will come up. The sound effects really bring the cd’s to life. Just like, if you’re at a movie and there’s a situation you hear scary music or someone is getting laid the music changes to fit that part of the movie.
Sexuality plays a bit part in Hip Hop songs so I put chicks screaming or the sound of moisture (Laughs). I’ve been doing this for years now so these are my signature sounds. If somebody said that they have Whoo Kid on their mixtape and they don’t have those signature sounds then it’s not a real Whoo Kid mixtape.
That’s right they’ve got to have those sounds to be a real Whoo Kid mix! So, Whoo Kid let’s go way back to the beginning how did it all start for you because I read that your family and friends were doubtful of you giving up your day job to become a DJ!
It was a hobby at first which was cool, and me living in Queens was a plus because in my neighbourhood DJ Clue and DJ Envy who were also mixtape DJ’s, lived around the corner so I was learning the whole mixtape game from hanging with those guys. But with the combination of Run DMC living up the block in Hollis, LL Cool J lived two blocks up on Linden Boulevard, Nas used to come on my block to get beats and B.I.G. 2Pac was always on my block you know?
Not to mention a lot of industry people like Russell Simmons and Steve Stoute they all lived in my neighbourhood so I was surrounded by music, politics and entertainment so much that I had to get involved.
It was a cool hobby because there were so many mixtape DJ’s at the time and I got tired of paying $10 for a tape! And as you would say in the UK, “The tapes sound like rubbish!!” (Laughs) They were taking the p**s out of me for $10! So I was like, “Yo, I’m going to make my own cd’s how I would like it and I’m going to sell it to my uncle, my friends or give it away for free”. Then one thing lead to another and then lying became a factor in this industry so I used lying as a plus! I made believe that I was touring the world!
(Laughs) Really! How did you get away with that?
Yeah the lies got me to link up with Russell Simmons, Chris Lighty and all these industry dudes and that’s how I met up with Justo, the one who did the mixtape awards. I would get free records because back in those days there were no cd’s just tapes and wax. Back then wax was like $12.99 to $15.99 for an album! I was like, “What the f**k!!” So I had to lie and say that I was touring so labels would give me free wax!
My lying got me to be really cool with Russell Simmons; he was like, “Yo! Who is this guy? Because I have Jam Master Jay and this guy DJ’s in China and Japan!” I was lying my ass off! I would made fake flyers…I made believe that I DJ’d for Diddy who was Puff Daddy back then. I just wore a Sean John suit!
Tell us about how your mixtapes came about?
Getting drops from all the artists and industry people is the way I kept myself separate from DJ Clue because these guys were big! My first tape was hosted by Busta Rhymes when he was incredibly huge he just had “Put your hands where your eyes can see” out which was huge. I just happened to lie my way to DJ at Chris Lighty’s barbecue party and Busta Rhymes came in a Lambo! I never forget that he came in a Lamborghini and I pulled out my little recorder and said, “Yo, would you like to do me some drops? Chris Lighty is my boy”. Once he heard that he was like, whatever.
Once that cd came out it was called “Goin’ Platinum” since then I always had a star host my cd. Even to this day I have movie stars and sports stars, they always do skits. Even the Tinie Tempah mix that I just did, you have Russell Brand on there doing skits all over it. It’s become an initial part of me doing mixtapes.
I got out of that and started doing mixtapes that are all Snoop Dogg or all 50 Cent. It’s impossible to get twenty hot songs from twenty different artists, so that’s why I decided to just do a mix with one artist at a time. The mix can then be promoted to the fans that chase that artist. That way every cd becomes a classic. I don’t even know how many cds I’ve done! I’d say maybe 180 to 200…but I don’t know.
Like you just mentioned your mixes have different concepts I was listening to one today called 50 Cent G-Classics with Sha Money with 95 tracks on it featuring original snippet tracks then the tracks that used the sample. Do you come up with the concepts or the artists?
I’ve been doing the G Unit mixtapes for years and I’ve done live performances, the samples like you mentioned, we just wanted to give the fans something different. I had LeBron James host a cd; I just like to do something different every time, I always wanted to be a hundred miles from all the other DJ’s out there. There’s only about ten top DJ’s and I’m happy to be one of them!
I don’t mind being up there but I keep myself separate because you’ve got have a personality and have the look. Most DJ’s look goofy and people don’t want to hang with those guys. But people want to hang with me! It’s not my fault (Laughs) When you hang with these Hollywood cats and get more personal with them, there’s a difference between running up on them and getting a drop. But these guys come to my studio, hang out and do personal stuff all the time.
Well, yourself, 50 Cent and G Unit changed the whole mixtape game you made other DJ’s and artists step their game up!
Yeah we changed everything! We used other people’s instrumentals and no one else was doing that. Know everyone is doing that, once someone comes up with a hot record a lot of rappers run and try to get the instrumental. We did that like 7 years ago! (Laughs) So many people where copying that idea so much that we decided to use original music.
So you just flipped it on them
We got tired of it. Even when 50 did “Get rich or die trying” we did a lot of illegal records. I pushed the bar by getting unreleased B.I.G that had never been heard before and then an unreleased 2Pac song and bringing those in. The P.I.M.P remix was a freestyle from Snoop Dogg and 50 loved the freestyle so much that he made it a real remix. I just called Snoop up and asked him if he wanted to get on this P.I.M.P remix and he just couldn’t believe it, he got on it real quick and it became a smash. But like that’s what started my relationship with Snoop Dogg.
If you don’t do those kind of records you don’t meet artists. Everyone’s just doing regular sh*t and copying our bullsh*t but its all good! Artists like, T.I, Young Jeezy, Lil Wayne, I’ve known them for like years! They’re little kids to me I’m 40 years old, these guys are kids!! But now they’re big they get locked up every week (Laughs) but it’s all good, they’ve got the mixtape map to get their music out there. If you don’t have a mixtape while you work on your album you’re not going to be aware of what’s going on. You’ve got to get other people’s mixtapes to see what’s hot and compare what kind of album you’re going to make this year. You don’t want to come out with last year’s swag and everyone’s on a new one.
So, for many artist mixtapes are still an integral part of promoting themselves and their music. How has the mixtape changed your life?
Yes it’s definitely the best source of promo and it’s perfect for me because I used to hustle and sell 10 to 30 thousand cds. It came to a point where I would rather have 500,000 – 600,000 down loads where the whole planet has got the mixtape! Then the revenue will come from people booking me or having me do their mixtape or hire me to do commercials. I’ve done everything! I’ve met some incredible people through this thing called a mixtape.
Everybody wants to kill Gadaffi but Gadaffi has all the tunes and mixtapes, I’ve thrown parties for this guy and he had every mixtape on his laptop! I just couldn’t believe it. If I had not done mixtapes I would not have got to meet incredible people like Nelson Mandela and Michael Jackson. Because of the mixtape I wouldn’t be touring the world like I do; I toured like every country you name it I’ve been there!
I’ve been all over the UK! It’s so crazy that I went a little further and decided that instead of me coming to the UK or going to France of to China I decided to do mixtapes with the top artists in those countries. That way, not only can I dominate the mixtape market and bring it to the fans, the UK can be like any neighbourhood in Queens, Atlanta or Florida, where a car will go by and you will hear, “ Whooo Kiddd!” coming out of their cars! (Laughs) That’s how it is when you drop a cd you hear, “DJ Clue, DJ Clue” , “Whooo Kiddd!” or “Kayslay” those are the chants that you hear coming from these cars.
You’ve dropped mixtapes with UK artists such as Giggs, Tinie Tempah and Skepta. Tell us about those.
My friend called me and said he felt like he was in New York when he heard “Whooo Kiddd” coming from someone’s car when I did the Giggs mixtape. I did the Giggs mixtape and the Tiny Tempah one, that was last minute and it killed the internet it went everywhere! Thirdly I did the Skepta mixtape and it annihilated everything again when he did that porn video! It was just too much.
I did an official Tiny Tempah one and I’m like the doorway of the UK coming into the US is serious. I saw Tinie Tempah on The View, I’ve seen him on The Late Show he’s doing parties here; he did one last Sunday for Summer Jam. Now that led me to do Wiley, he’s the next artist that I’m doing a mixtape with. I got Wretch then I’ve got Chipmunk.
I’m getting my homework done, I didn’t just start doing it, it took me about 6 or 7 years to travel and go to the UK. I’ve been to several clubs in the UK and heard other DJ’s play Giggs and Skepta and I’m like, “Who are these guys?” It took me 6 – 7 years to really understand and figure out the lingo, the difference between Grime and Hip Hop.
That’s why DJ’s in America can never catch up because they don’t travel! They’ll be DJing in Brooklyn for the rest of their life! Not to mention sleep with every girl in the UK! But they have got a lot of catching up to do! (Laughs)…I can’t believe I said that! (Laughs)
If you don’t travel you can never be that one step ahead. It makes sense that political people know you, like presidents, the Prince of Monaco is my homeboy! Every time I go to Monaco, Prince Albert will call the club to make sure I’m straight. Isn’t that strange? All because of this thing called a mixtape. I just didn’t want to be seen as just 50 Cent’s DJ because I felt that I was exploiting 50 Cent’s name and that they only want me here because I’m 50’s DJ.
But now they see me in another light, like “That’s the kid who did the Giggs mixtape” and they become fans. When I go on Tim Westwood’s show it’s crazy. You’ve got to connect with people where ever you go. The recession gives people a reason not to book you, but now they have two or three reasons why they should book Whoo Kidd and a lot of DJ’s in America don’t understand that. Now they’re struggling trying to play Tinie Tempah in the clubs and look real stupid! They don’t even know!
I think that a lot of DJ’s disregard UK music because they say they can’t understand our accents even though we speak English!! We decipher the US lingo and understand it, the US can do the same and realise that we go through similar issues. We have a lot of lyrical artists in the UK just as you do in the US. I think it’s good of you to showcase UK artists to the US audience.
That’s what the power of radio is, none of the other DJ’s has the initiative to use their radio format and showcase that. Thank God that my show is kind of like Tim Westwood’s show where the whole US tunes in, I have a broader variety of opinions out there. It’s not cornered in New York where it’s just one sound. If Atlanta doesn’t like Skepta maybe Iowa is going to like Skepta, maybe certain parts of L.A will like Skepta.
You got the internet and people who have the app on their iPhone who tune in and can hear Skepta live on my show they can tune in and learn, it’s a learning process. All these guys came on my show live and explained where they are from, and people have realised that they are not any different from a rapper coming up from the hood in Atlanta. They’ve had the same problem with the police situation and drugs. They’re just in England and they got different accents but once you get passed the accents and hear the lyrics you start to understand where they’re from and who they’ve got beef with and start making friends.
You can now combine them with artists here and it’s over! You got Diddy doing songs with them, Jay Z talks about Tinie, I just put Jim Jones with Tinie, Pusha T with Wiley, Lloyd Banks and Giggs. You can see the combination of people that are starting to get aware of these artists. A lot of these US artists get booked to play in the UK so, these artists coming together is just what makes sense, people have got to learn.
What were your initial thoughts on hearing music from the UK?
Some people can be ignorant and they don’t understand it so they make fun of it and I was that person! You know? 6 years ago I was that person, I used to go to the UK and I was like, “What the f**k are these guys talking about?” My problem was there was no Giggs or Skepta 6 -7 years ago that I was aware of. Everybody would come up to me and say that they know how to spit hot and they all sounded the same way, I didn’t know what they were talking about! It was a Jamaican accent mixed with English, it was like Reggae. I was like what is this Reggae with a cup of tea!
(Laughs) It took me years and years to understand; once I started hearing Skepta and artists like that I became a natural fan of these guys. When you know them personally it’s a totally different situation because at the end of the day they were your fans first! All these artists were fans of my mixtapes it was shocking I thought I was just their fans! They follow US Hip Hop and they struggle and try to get ahead just like we do in the US. Giggs was like, “I’ve been a fan of yours since I was in jail”. He used to listen to my mixtapes when he was locked up. It was shocking to me.
I’m like the United Nations for Hip Hop yo! I want to put everybody together and get it cracking, the 3 top markets are the UK, France and the Asian market, once you dominate all 3 I can tour for the rest of my life! You know what? You need to do an article called, “DJ’s are stupid!” I don’t mean to embarrass all the DJ’s in the UK but I just happen to be in the position where I’m a mixtape guy and it just makes sense for me to do it.
I respect and love all the UK DJ’s because all of them are hustling and trying to get it cracking too. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t know who Skepta or Giggs were! All the DJ’s in the UK that have played in the club before me have introduced me to these artists.
Let’s talk about your radio shows they’re just as diverse as your mixtapes! You interview Hip Hop stars to Hollywood stars, sport personalities and so forth.
Yeah I interview artists for the UK, Hollywood stars it’s ridiculous! I interviewed Rob Patterson from Twilight, It’s amazing how I get them all to come through, they like hanging out with me and having a cup a tea! (Laughs) You know, you’ll be surprised how a lot of these stars are all connected to Hip Hop! They go to parties and Hip Hop is the best way for them to have some fun.
I stay clear of Hip Hop artists from America because the first 3 years of me being on Sirius I interviewed them all the time so it became like a repetitive situation. I’d have the same gangsta rapper come on the show and talk about his new album and do the same thing, I’m not saying it’s boring but it’s the typical Hip Hop sh*t.
I’m in a position where I get the music early and it’s hot, so I create a weird combination where I’ll have someone like Donald Trump or Denise Richards come on my show and hang with me, then I’ve got someone hardcore like DMX, 50 or Nas on there too. There’s all kinds of sh*t going on! It’s like I brought the mixtape to the radio instead of the Hollywood stars doing a skit they’re actually on my show they’re doing interviews then you will hear all the new music mixed with all the hot current stuff.
It’s just a perfect formula and people have become fans of the show, we have fans that range from 18 – 50 years olds. I had the whole X Men case last weekend, I had the writer from True Blood on my show and even the lady who wrote the Harry Potter sh*t!
J.K Rowling?
Yeah she’s like a grandma! She’s crazy I got her talking about sexuality and being kinky! It’s like I have the ultimate anti-interview show! You won’t hear a boring interview, we get whatever they’re promoting out there but it’s always anti-interview and they always have fun it never fails.
Ok, so is there anyone out there that you haven’t interviewed yet and would love to get on your show?
Man there’s so many! You know I got close to Prince Charles because of Tinie Tempah?
Really?
Yeah I would love to get one of the Princes to hang out with me on the show and just for them to say “Pow!” for once on my show! (Laughs) I’ve had some wild guests but that would be one of my dreams come true. I’m setting up Robert De Niro to come on there this summer and definitely Al Pacino, because I do a lot of parties for Al Pacino’s daughter. Those would probably be my zany ones.
But of course who wouldn’t want to interview Dr Dre? Like a real funny in-depth interview with Dr Dre, nobody has done that! It’s all, “Yeah it’s all good I got my headphones coming out! Yeah” (In a Dr Dre voice). I’m like get the f**k out of here! I want to hear what’s in his head!! (Laughs) What’s funny to him? What does he do does he go to strip clubs? Is he crazy? I want to get that out the way.
Historically everyone who comes on my show usually gets what they want. Wiz Khalifa can come on my show and ask Amber Rose if she wants to get married, my show is perfect for that.
The only interviews I do with artists are the up and coming ones because they’re the future. I want to understand and be there when they’re cracking so when they become huge, not only do you have a relationship with them you also recognised their talent and supported them. Like, Nicki Minaj used to come on my show all the time when she was a teenager. Look at her now!? She’s got a big butt, jumping around looking like a monster and doing all that weird talking! But look, she went through my show!
Was Nicki weird on your shows back then?
She was NEVER weird on my show!! I had this thing with her and I told her that she was horrible and I hate female artists.
What??
If you aren’t talking about sexual stuff what good are you? You can’t talk about selling drugs which was popular at that time, because we had Hardcore Hip Hop and all this sh*t going on. So it’s like what does a girl have to talk about to get me to get down to her level? If you aren’t talking about your butt or sex it’s just rapping! She was rapping about woman power and I told her she was wack! So when she signed with Lil Wayne and made it big she came back on my show and cursed me the f**k out! Then we had the perfect relationship she would call the show from time to time. She liked the fact I was honest. If you’re not honest with these artists they’re not going to change to something else, you got to tell them.
Some artists will send me a song and I’m like, “This is garbage or this is incredible”. Busta Rhymes sent me “Look at me now” and that wasn’t even chosen for Chris Brown’s album and I was like, “This is a hit right here! This is a f**king hot record!!” Busta was like, “are you sure?” I was like, “Yo, you got to call Chris Brown and tell him this is out of here!!” Because it was perverted you know? Chris was talking about his penis and all this stuff, Chris Brown probably thought that it was too perverted but it was the biggest club track! Once you hear that, boo boo weird electronic sound that come on it’s all over.
I have an ear because I’m a greedy DJ and I sell music for a living, so a lot of these artist send me their music and I tell then if it’s garbage or not. But the thing is you can’t tell people so much that their song is wack because some of the wackest songs are big! So, I just try my very best to give my honest opinion.
For instance Soulja Boy I met him in McDonalds I did a mixtape with him years ago and he gave me a burger, look at him now he can buy a million burgers! I tell people in a situation, that in Hip Hop you can be the hottest rapper period but if you don’t have fun and let people understand who you are and where you’re at then you’re going to stay where you at. If you don’t have a stupid dance or you didn’t get shot 10 times if you didn’t punch somebody you know you’re going to stay there.
Music and entertainment is all about marketing now.
Yeah it’s about marketing and having a catalyst, it’s about an explosion then a new planet is formed. That’s how the solar system is. You got to have something pop off where it makes sense. Like Skepta, once he put that porn video out, that was the best porn videos I’ve seen in my life! There have been many porn videos before but that was shot perfect, the music was hot and it made sense.
There are so many cheesy porn videos and porn stars trying to rap! They’ve done their corny sh*t and we don’t pay them any attention we got naked chicks all day we just know it’s corny. But Skepta woke so many people up out here with that, millions saw that video and it was like, “that’s how people do it in the UK?” It’s crazy but that’s the way you wake people up with certain situations.
I was reading an interview with you and you said that technology has messed a lot of things up with Hip Hop and that songs are watered down, which I totally agree with you on that, Hip Hop Culture is getting watered down. Can you elaborate as to why you think this?
I interviewed Flava Flav a few weeks ago on my show and we were talking about his era of Hip Hop is what made me who I am today. Hip Hop moulded people who are 30 years old and older; they are who they are because of Hip Hop. It’s not like they followed it like a school or anything but it moulded you, the movies moulded you back then we had people like Spike Lee.
I used to go nuts with anything that used to come out, I would run to the radio to listen to new music or wait for new music to come out, but know you get it too quick, once it’s on the internet then everybody hears it and then the bloggers are killing it, they like the cheesy corny stuff.
When we watched an artist perform for the first and seeing that magic, the young kids have lost out on that. I mean I had butterflies in my stomach when I heard the first Big Daddy Kane record, he came out with the big chain and I wanted to be like that. Of all the rappers out there I love their music but I don’t want to be like none of them. You know, you remember songs from 10 years ago! Do you remember last year’s hit?
Erm…No!
See, so I can remember LL Cool J’s Hard as Hell or Rakim, “I came in the door, I said it before”. Those are in my dna, like NWA is in my dna, if I have an attitude it’s because of NWA. The music nowadays is so false there’s no growth you don’t get anything from it. Due to the fact there’s downloading and ring tones everything is just too watered down. The younger generation are getting music so fast, there’s no video’s anymore there’s no MTV so it’s hard to grasp it now because there’s just too many things going on.
We only had 5 or 6 situations that we had to listen to, to be who we are. Now the internet is so big there are so many different artists. These young people have got these skinny jeans and that’s not even from Hip Hop it’s just kids rebelling. I wore Adidas back in day because Run DMC wore Adidas! They controlled my fashion sense and now it’s like, I am NOT wearing skinny jeans and that’s not because of the music it’s because I think people look stupid in them. I mean we wore tight jeans but we didn’t look stupid like that!
Now people are having unlimited tattoos because they want to look like Lil Wayne, they want to look like this guy, that guy and everyone wants to be a rock star. I spoke to some people and asked them if they knew what last year’s hit was and they couldn’t even tell me! That’s the reality of it now I feel sorry for the little kids out there.
My son is lucky that is father is a G dad and knows his father knew Biggie and 2Pac and all other old school rappers because that’s what I play in my car and he understands. These new kids are just listening to whatever is out there and they’re not moulding to anything. So they’re heavy on drugs, some are just into their school, where back in the days Hip Hop was heavy into the college scene. The college scene was crazy! Nobody gives a f**k anymore!
I don’t know maybe it’s just me because I’m not in that scene like that, but there was like a huge awareness of Hip Hop back in the days. You know what? This 40 year old is who he is because of Hip Hop and I’m glad and happy that I grew up in the real years. I’m glad I was there when it started and glad it’s not over. It’s transformed into House, Techno, Rock it’s everywhere.
Russell Simmons gives me advice all the time and he once told me, “Yo, I made $40 million last year in Def Jam and next year I’m selling this sh*t because I already know what’s going to happen, because there’s a takeover and I’m going to be looking stupid, I’d rather give it somebody else and let them look stupid!” Then in comes Jay-Z (Laughs). You know? If you don’t know anybody then you’re not going to survive in Hip Hop!
I’m just happy that I can call anybody who’s anybody and get advice but it’s took me 20 years to get to where I am. There’s not many people like us, I don’t need any respect from no one I want people to know that I’m doing this sh*t for free and to make people hear stuff the way I want to hear it and I think that’s cool. I’m only here to have people sweat me and I don’t like being ignorant being ignorant is the worst thing ever, I try my best to get out of that and people respect you, I have people that want to protect me.
I went to a Catholic school, I hang with 50 Cent, I don’t sell drugs I have never used a drug in my life! I did a little weed with Snoop Dogg but I’m not into all that drug stuff and having tattoos on my neck. I’m just glad I grew up when Hip Hop real, it’s not real anymore.
It’s strictly a cash crop for people now who give you fake info on what they have, like fake cars, fake money and fake jewels. Baby did a $2 million tweet on Miami Heat! Nobody knew who with. You know? This is what Hip Hop has come to people are just making stuff up!
So, ok you’re around a lot of industry people and artists. You don’t have to mention any names but are there many artists at the moment who parade themselves as doing well but really it’s all a big show and their blatantly being fake?
99 per cent of people lie. That’s what I told you I started lying because I learnt this thing called lying it’s a big lying game, you have to lie in order to get a-head. It’s called fake it till you make it, you have to keep lying because it’s a smoke screen to the real thing. You got to show people that you’ve got a nice car and jewellery. But jewellery is kind of played out, I’m not wearing my jewellery anymore you look so stupid. I should have listened to my mother a long time ago. She said to me, “Why do you have that big old chain on? Did you rob an African mine?” I was like this what Hip Hop people do! She told me I look really stupid!
People know who you are; everywhere I go I have my hat back which is my signature look. Now I try not to wear a hat because I don’t want to be recognised sometimes because I get annoyed. People just constantly hand me demo’s, if you look in my car I have about 22 cds in here right now, that’s why I try not to wear a hat, these are the problems I have to deal with.
Some rappers cannot go anywhere without wearing their jewellery, if you see 50 he doesn’t really rock all that heavy stuff anymore, we’ve kind of out grew that stuff. Not only does the chain cut your stomach, I mean I got cuts on my belly button! My necks all cold because of it, you know? Someone wants to punch you and your chain is tucked under your jumper he punches you and he gets cut!
(Laughs) Not to mention when you have a meeting with those corporate people you can’t be serious with some big ole chain on! I’m trying to get Red Bull to sponsor me for some overseas tour and I’m there with some big a** chain on they’re going to be like, “What the hell!!!” (Laughs) It took me a while to get my jewellery and I said to myself I’m not buying anymore.
There are some artists out there that wear fake diamonds or what we call cocoa puffs. I’m not going to name anyone but there was a certain rapper that came to the UK and there was some billionaire party that 50 Cent had to do. The guy had a camel inside of the venue, he wanted to re-enact the Sahara Desert or some stupid sh*t.
The billionaire of the steel company came through, the guy who owns the glass companies and the guy who owns the china, not to mention their wives and mistresses and whatever were all there with INCREDIBLE diamonds on. This one woman had like one big diamond on her neck which was worth like $2 million.
So, here came this rapper idiot with his fake diamonds, I had to run up on him and say, “I don’t think you want to wear that up in here!” These guys are billionaires they buy diamonds and understand what a real diamond is; they buy their wives the best of the best. You can’t have something that looks like it costs a million and really cost like, $30. I told him that no one has seen him yet so go and take the chain off and go back in there and everyone will be happy that you’re here. I didn’t want him to look like an idiot in front of these people so I had to tell him to take it off.
Oh my goodness! That would have been awful. So this was an American artist?
A BIG TIME American artist a BIG one! You dance to his music all the time, I was like, “Yo’ bro you don’t need that up in here, get yourself a groupie all the girls are paid for.” These billionaires paid for the whores do what you got to do but don’t drink the punch! (Laughs) These woman are hooked up so go back to where ever, take that multi coloured cereal sh*t off and leave it in the car. He did that and had a good time.
I didn’t want him to go in front of the owner of all the steel in China and his wife looking at him and thinking look at this buster over here! (Laughs) But yo, fake it till you make it. You see all these down south artists? They have tons of fake jewellery. They can’t go anywhere without their fake jewellery, that’s how bad it is. It’s totally different from back in the days.
Some people act like they are never going to be 50 years old; they’ll look back and think why did I do this? But as long as people still make music I can keep putting people on, tour the world and make money.
How do crowds overseas compare to crowds in the US?
When you go overseas people really love Hip Hop and their at the stage of enjoying Hip Hop that’s why I love touring I tweet from all the wild countries that I’m in. In Europe they love Hip Hop especially the old skool, like Biggie, 2 Pac, the Luniz “I got 5 on it” if you play that the club is over. Americans love the same 30 songs; I play all over in gangsta clubs even in white clubs and everybody love to pop bottles and to hear the same 30 songs. It’s kind of similar in the UK but you don’t have to play those same 30 songs.
But, to each his own, but to me I’m not really impressed with the music scene here but overseas? I always have a good time. It’s usually like 3000 – 4000 people just going crazy. Compared to over here with the weird 300 people that want to hear the same Rick Ross song 30 times, the same 50 Cent song 10 times and you have to keep playing the same things all night for them to pop bottles.
You said you play all over the world have you got a favourite country that you play in?
Man, I can tell you where I don’t like and that’s Kazakhstan, they gave me horse meat to eat and all kinds of bullsh*t. I love Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain I didn’t go there this year because of the riots even Beirut. People are scared to go there but the party scene is ridiculous they could drop a bomb there and the club is still open.
I just came from Thailand I did Singapore. I like Australia and I’m going there again, I go to Sydney and Perth, I didn’t know that Australia was so huge. I go there every year but the only thing I don’t like is the flight.
I recently went to Bangladesh, I’ve been there like 4 or 6 times, I don’t think many people go to India except me. I went there and we had a press conference in Mumbai it was me and Run DMC. The last time 50 Cent came and he performed in India. But I’ve been there 2 times before 50 went out there. But I guess the mixtape game got so crazy, even The Cataracs one of them is Indian and he said he’s been a fan of me for years and now an even bigger fan because I’ve been to India. I show people different parts of India, the food the culture and the nightlife. We film a lot of the stuff, but now Twitter came in the place so I tweet more now.
I love Morocco, anywhere in South America; I think Venezuela has the most beautiful girls. I love Asian girls, my kids are Asian, and so I love Japan. I live in Hawaii and I go back and forth. I’ve been to countless places and done shows but the weirdest place is Kazakhstan.
You mentioned earlier that you’ve met some incredible people. Can you tell us what was it like meeting Michael Jackson and how that meeting come about?
Yo, that was weird Sheikh Abdullah Al-Khalifa hired me to do Formula 1 party in Bahrain, but I lost my passport at Dubai airport, so they got me in the country with no passport and no I.D, just my gym I.D that’s all I had. He called the airport and everybody stood still and I walked in without being checked. I had to stay a week longer to get a new passport to get home but he sped up the process and I hung out with Tyson Beckford and a few others.
He said I could stay at his palace; he was so relaxed and nonchalant that he never told me that Michael Jackson was next door! He signed Michael Jackson to his record label and paid for his fees to leave America because it was after the molestation trial, so he paid Michael’s lawyers and he left his mansion, so he was living in the palace next door to the Sheikh. The day I got there Michael Jackson was in the pool just chillin’. The Sheikh was like, this is your section go to the pool, food is there, if you need anything just call.
I went over to the pool and I see Michael Jackson in some shorts! I was like, “Yo! That is NOT Michael Jackson! What the hell is going on!” (Laughs) In my head I was going crazy! But I held my composure and asked him what was up? He was like, “wassup man?” (In a Michael Jackson voice) and I was talking to him cool. So after I walked away and I started yelling at the Sheikh’s assistant I was like, “Yo! I’m black why didn’t you tell me Michael Jackson was here!!” He was like we signed him months ago and started laughing. The Sheikh said he hangs out at the pool for like 10 minutes and then goes back to the palace.
For some reason I guess cause he knew I was 50 Cent’s boy, I put him on to 50. He (50 Cent) was filming a movie in Morocco at that time so we were in the same time zone. I called 50 Cent, and said “Yo, Mr Jackson I got your brother on the phone”. 50 was like what you talking about? Then I put Michael on the phone and they were talking and laughing and whatever. When Michael handed me back the phone 50 shouted “F**k you!!” and hangs up (laughs) because I met Michael Jackson before he did! Before I made the phone call I sent 50 a photo of me and Michael just chillin’.
What was crazy is that me and Michael got so comfortable talking that we hung out for hours. I called Tyson Beckford and told him that Michael Jackson was over here and man he got to the palace so fast! He was battling him and breakdancing! Remember we were in a sandy desert and Michael was break dancing in the sand. Michael had these white shorts on and I was shocked because his legs were white!! I was like yo man! This guy was blacker than me and now he has like white legs!! I thought I was going crazy, I don’t think when I talk so I was like, “Yo man you got some white legs dude!” we were laughing and sh*t (Laughs)
You make me laugh! I bet you’ve got so many wild memories. I bet you never thought that DJing would bring you so far!
I did it as a hobby and I would never have thought that Snoop Dogg would be my best friend, meeting Michael Jackson and Nelson Mandela, go to Africa, that’s like every black man’s dream. I can’t believe I’ve done these things all because of Hip Hop that’s why I love Hip Hop man.
So when are you in the UK next?
I’m trying to organise a 10 club tour with Skepta in August because he goes on tour in September. There was a point where I was like in the UK every week! People thought that I lived there. I went everywhere in the UK, I went to Scotland, Ireland, London. Not to mention there are SO many clubs and SO many towns! You got gangstas; you got Asians, Arab clubs, college crowds, white kids. In Limerick they love me, I wore a jersey there they were killing everybody.
The Giggs fans are the worst; they tackle me in the streets not to mention that UK guys are everywhere. I went to Australia and there were guys from the UK there who were fans of Giggs. Giggs happened to text me and I showed them the text and that was the worst thing I did they were screaming! White people and Hip Hop man, there should be a video of white people and Hip Hop because that combination is too much, they go mad.
You should do an article on how white kids react to Hip Hop the DVD! Film them secretly and show it to them when they grow up, then they will see how stupid they look. It’s good to like a person but to be tackling them in the street! But it’s the same everywhere, in America it’s the same especially at the Spring Break. They be screaming!!
Let me tell you something about the UK, there’s one place that I don’t get v****a from and that’s Nottingham!
What! Really?
I don’t know, the girls don’t give it up in Nottingham. Maybe I need a Robin Hood outfit I don’t know! (Laughs).
Ok what about Birmingham?
I remember having a good time there but Nottingham? NEVER.
What about London?
London girls are the best oh my lord I love their accents and that certain glow. The mixed race situation there is amazing. People who are mixed race in America are weird looking, they have big noses and their hair is spongy, they look like aliens. Yo, Jamaicans mixed with Irish or British is amazing in the UK, their booty’s are…yo! you need to do 2 dvd’s one about how white kids reacting to Hip Hop and another about mixed race booty!
Whoo Kidd you’re a joker! So what’s next for you, you’re about to drop a mixtape with Wiley?
Yeah Wiley is next so the UK can enjoy that. Everybody is feeling the Tinie Tempeh one, he came to New York to finish the cd and all these top artist are showing not only the UK how they want to be listened to but other artists are thinking, I want Whoo Kid to do my sh*t.
Well they can because on your Radio Planet website you have the packages and prices to get a Whoo Kidd mix.
Yeah go to Radio Planet and click marketing everything is there. Obviously if you’re a big artist you haven’t got to worry about all that B.S. you’ll find me and contact me. Go to Radio Planet and all the new stuff is on there all the leaked UK stuff is on there. It gets tweeted out I put everything on Thisis50.com so they can get another big awareness, that’s my parent website.
t’s a never ending thing; I bring fashion into it too. KRSP is my sponsor, they send me all over the world, they like the fact that I deal with international artists too, so we always do events and parties. You see a lot of artists are wearing KRSP now. I dominated the music, the mixtape, the radio and fashion. There are 5 elements of Hip Hop that you have to understand and know how to manipulate if you want longevity.
If you don’t have a website or a sense of fashion you’ve just got to know how to dress and people will respect that and they just want to hang with you. Don’t hang with losers (Laughs) but at the end of the day everyone is a loser in the beginning and one day you will be a winner, you can’t be a loser for the rest of your life!
Well I can hear they you’re entering the club so I’m going to end the interview! It was great talking to you I could go on for ever!
I’ve got thousands of other wild stories like, smoking weed with Chaka Khan! The stories are endless!
Well maybe you could write a book that should be your next move?
Oh I don’t know! I’d be in trouble!
Have a great night and thanks for doing the interview!
I hope you got what you need.
Interview by Jai Boo
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