SPEAKER_05 1:45

Go Hill Top Go I Tack.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Good afternoon, good morning, and welcome to the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we are excited to have Ronaldo Wilson, also known as DJ Puff, as our guest. DJ Puff's love of music started in high school where he was influenced by various DJs such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Tiesto, and many others. Since then, he has become an experienced disc jockey and has performed at major nightclubs, private parties, and even for political officials. DJ Puff is not only limited to the Southern music scene, but he he also has taken an industry learning experience overseas to enhance his knowledge on the disco and dance club experience. He has worked with major artists such as Nicki Minaj, Gucci Man, and Eric Benay, to name a few. Aside from his passion for music, DJ Puff is also an advocate for fitness and health. He has worked as an educator at Luluman and is a member of Cool Camp, a group that caters to all ranges of entertainment, whether it's nightlife or community slash cool events. Recently, DJ Puff was featured in a reality show called Queen's Court, produced by Will Packer, where he was a suitor finding celebrity love starring Evelyn Lazata, Tamar Braxton, and Nivea. Although he did not find love on the show, he is still out here on the market for all the ladies out there. We are thrilled to have DJ Puff on our podcast and can't wait to learn more about his experiences and insights in the music industry. Thank you for joining us today. How are you doing, my brother?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Thank you for having me, man. I'm great, man. Great, great, great.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Man, we are so happy to have you. Go ahead. Lululemon. I said it all weird. Don't worry about me. That's a new company. Yeah, it's Lululemon my fault, y'all. I was looking at it. I was like, I know what I'm supposed to say, but this is a good one. It's been a long day.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Don't feel bad. I've heard people say Lulumon before, but it's because I don't wear it either.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

So I'm not, you know. It's expensive. My lady, she likes what's that stuff? She likes Fabletics and them other people. So I don't get to see the other one. So it is what it is. But um, we still like it. It's good stuff. So um the one thing we always like to start off with asking folks, and this is to bring everything down to um base level. Um, can we get a little background? Story of your life. Can you tell us a little bit more about your childhood experience and what it was like growing up?

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Man, like honestly speaking, I probably had one of the you know, easiest, like non-story telling childhood ever, man. It's just like that. It's a good thing. It's just, hey, I grew up, um grew up with my mom, my dad, you know, um my dad, they got divorced, so I was, you know, between households. I mean, my father moved to um he moved to Arkansas. So I was back and forth from here in Arkansas, you know, during the summers and all of that stuff. So I mean, but for the most part, man, you know, growing up as a child, you know, I it was it was great, you know, coming up as an athlete. And then uh sports football, basketball, and baseball. And see, oh, you play baseball? Oh, funny story. Baseball was my natural, natural born sport. I'd be telling black people play baseball. Play baseball. Listen, my dad, he he kicks me in my butt to this day. Yeah. Because I probably, I probably could have gone pro high school. I believe it. I believe it. We don't play baseball though. I was not good. Wow. Yeah, I was that good.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

That's a fact that no one knows about that.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Yeah, nobody, yeah, nobody knows that, but I was that good. And then right after that, I worked out. This was years. I hadn't touched baseball in years. I went to go work out with the uh minor league team here. It was the uh the blow, it was the blowfish back then. Before, yeah, that's all. Before the before the uh fireflies. So the manager told me, you know, after the whole workout, he was like, Man, you're about you're about a season away from where you need to be. And when I heard, I was like, I hadn't touched the baseball in over 15, 20 years. Good gracious. Like, yeah. So don't and when he told me that, I was like, wow, but being young, younger back then, I it didn't register, and I was, you know, DJing and doing all kinds of other things. So my my focus wasn't there. Yeah. And you know, I I passed up an opportunity, and it's just like I look back now, I'm like, MLB.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

Like, I can't I like my baseball because we grew up. Yeah, we grew up baseball. Yeah, that's what the era we grew up in, Ken Grief Jr., all these guys, that's what our thing was. I mean, I thought that I was gonna go play baseball. I want to play baseball, um, but then I wanted to be a preacher after I learned how to preach. I'm not gonna lie, it's a weird term. Weird term, weird term. But um, I always it was always um interesting to me that a lot of black athletes we want to go into uh football, basketball. I'm like, there's limited positions. The money is actually not as long as it is in baseball, and we just like went away from it. And so they had to go get black baseball athletes from out of the country.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So I always thought that was strange. And I was just scary to say, like, predominantly, you know, baseball now is you know, Caucasian, yeah, you know, your Latin, your uh Hispanics, yeah. Like all of that.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

All of that. And and it doesn't, and with the Latin, it doesn't matter if they're um black or not. Right. All play baseball and they bring us over and they're like, well, we got black people playing baseball. I'm like, yeah, but they're speaking. Yeah, black people. Right. They like baseball. And I'm like, dang, good point. I mean, you gotta think about who the MVP for the NL was this year. You gotta think, like, it's is that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

We're supposed to be playing baseball, y'all. And then the skill level, like, it's not like you just gotta be this outstanding you know, athlete. I mean, you have to be good, but you know, in basketball, you gotta be able to just a glide from the free throw line.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

You have to be able to shoot for 35 feet out, pinpoint range while somebody who's 6'8 has their hands up there.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

You're not shooting like still, you're not moving around on the court like LeBron. You're you know, you ain't playing playing overseas.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

With that being said, that your window might not be closed.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Baseball's different. You can play later in the league. You can play later.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Is anybody in the in the league? Yes, over 40. Yes. Pitchers, too. Yeah, you can play because look. And that's my position. I was pitching third base.

SPEAKER_05 7:49

You see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Because, like you said, a skill set. Right. So, like you have to have hand eye, hand-eye coordination. You have to know how the how to play certain certain um situations when the ball comes to you, that's what people don't realize. It's not IQ, yeah. It's a high IQ. So if your mind works, you can play the game long into your career. Like Randy Johnson played late into his years. I mean, he wasn't pitching the same way he was at the first place. He's pitching late in his 40s, like you could get away with it.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Man, no, don't listen, don't gas me up.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Listen, because you messed me up with that, man.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Once I get confirmation, affirmation by subject. We're gonna have you on the mind leaf team and after that. You're right.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

Yeah, man. But um, continue. My fault. We stopped because he hit me with baseball.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Oh no, you you're good, man. But uh, you know, after a while, you know, had a sister. Okay. Um, you know, my parents remarried, so my dad had a sister from his side that uh I'm pretty sure you guys are familiar with her, Asia Wilson. So um I like how you said it like that. Yeah, yeah, I'm familiar with her a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So um, so yeah, I that that whole situation there was crazy because you know, I used to change her, change her diapers, you know, holding her, stopping her from crying, because that was the one crying soul there. But um, but I never, never thought that we would be in this position, you know, that that she's in right now. Yeah, yeah. You know, on the level that she's on.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Would she train with you?

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Well, we we at times when I could make it to the gym and train on the weekends of my dad, like he had her in the gym. Like, she did not like it. He's put this weight vest on her. Oh, wow. And like she did not like it. Yeah, she she was a volley. We thought, you know, she was gonna be volleyball. She ran track for a minute. Track makes sense. And yeah, so uh I never saw this, you know, this basketball phenomenon come. And now she's like reached levels that haven't even been thought about yet, you know. And I remember watching her, especially at her age. Yo, you know, seriously, that's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Like, I remember watching her and hearing about her in high school and then watching her in the uh collegiate level, and I was just like, you know, she's better than candy. Because in my because I've watched basketball hard. Like, ask ask my wife, like, what was I doing this week? I was watching women's basketball and watching all the men's basketball, all the basketball games. Because like Kevin, this is what we used to do. We used to ride around and you know, we have all the tournaments and stuff that come during the holidays. So we would go watch all the tournaments and watch all the high school basketball players and see who's coming up and et cetera, so we could be aware of it because we like sports. Like, we really are little people we like sports. And so uh watching folk come up, I was just like, I want to see the league. I want to see how how people are able to play against it. I was like, nobody can stop it. Like I didn't see anybody in the way. I could not see anybody that can compete. And this is like you have some great players in the WNBA, even people that come from overseas to play. And I'm talking about like amazing people, like some of these people are huge too in comparison to her, because you think she's big. No, there's way more dominant strong players. No, her her skill set. That's what I was gonna say. Her skill set.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

So we're not the height level of like I'm 6'4, she's 6'6. Yep, jeez. So yeah, she she makes it like when we when we're together, she makes me look like a you're her little brother. Yeah, like the real, like I'm the little brother. Like I'm the shortest, like my dad's 6'8.

SPEAKER_05 11:09

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, uh baseball, he'd have been amazing in baseball. Yeah, that would have been scary. I'm gonna keep bothering you with the biggest.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

We're gonna keep bringing it up.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

That's fine, man.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

I couldn't have him be in a homegrown South Carolina baseball plugin I'm wearing jersey and rooting for right now.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

The first 40-year-old introduced into the MLB. It's possible.

SPEAKER_02 11:31

Nothing with my age and everything. Yeah, you are. You are, man. It's all right, it's all good. It's all right, but um no, I appreciate your candidates on this because a lot of times when folks have siblings and et cetera, like that, they don't want to talk about it. But it's a it's a good story. Yeah, you should let people know about it because um, for a lot of folks that listen to our podcast, um, specifically locally and whatnot, it's good to know, and I like them to hear you're in a happening place. It's not like it's not a dead place, it's not a dead zone at all. Um, despite what you may hear, you don't need to run to um Atlanta or Charlotte for everything. And that's one of the things I know a lot of folks do here. I'm like, no, we have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Saturation, man. It's saturated. Like we that's why, and that's one of the reasons why I'm glad that she stayed home because she could have gone to Yukon, she could have gone to the Yukons, the Tennessees, the wherever. And you know, they rolled out the red carpet. I mean, when they say, when I say star-studded treatment, yeah, and you know, she it was a story behind. I mean, I can't, I'm not gonna sit here and tell the whole story, but you know, it was times where you know, like her grandmother couldn't even, you know, walk across the USC campus. She had to walk around the campus to get to where she was going. And now she has a statue on the campus. Like, who does that? Like, she stayed home, created her whole, her own vibe, her own story, everything.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

That's a full circle moment.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Yeah, yeah. Like she created everything that's going on now, she curated that herself. Just by you know, being the person that she is. Man, I'm trying to say morals, morals. Like, who it's only I don't you can't go to any college campus and find statues of, for one, a female African-American athlete. No, that doesn't really exist. George Rogers is the only with a statue, and he's okay, he's African-American, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Yeah, he had to win a Heisman.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Yeah. Back in the old school days, playing like that's that's rare. Like, that's history. Yeah, I don't care how years, years down the line, she can say, I did that.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

I did. I did that.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Like, you go look at that and you're like, oh, that's a black woman. Yeah, that is. Yeah, that's a black woman on there. Man, so I I gotta ask, okay, so you're having this experience. You're you're you have a younger sister who's also in the limelight, both of y'all are in the limelight.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Um did you did you attend college? Yeah, I attended uh Benedict College. I graduated from Benedict, I went to Clemson Force. Okay, good short spurt. You know, I went to go play football, but then came back.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Which did you play?

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Wide receiver. Did you enjoy it? I did. It was some, you know, some NCAA issues going on, so I couldn't do what I wanted to do. But you know, it was an experience in itself, and then you know, came back home. I guess it was like, yeah, you need to come back, you know, bring yourself back, get out of trouble. So uh yeah, I played um I played three seasons uh at uh at Benedict. Dope.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Did you like the experience at Benedict?

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Loved it.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

You like what they're doing now?

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Nothing like, oh man, understanding. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I don't want to lose, you know, in the in the uh playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

In the playoffs, but you know again. You know, we we didn't do that like that. That was unheard of. Come on. Right. I hope he stays at coach. I hope the coach stays. I hope he don't go. Please don't take it Oh no, he he's not going anywhere. I'm pretty sure he got another bone, another bonus.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

He's better getting that bonus. Because when you again, when you get stuff homegrown like that, again, this is another issue with South Carolina. Like, normally things don't stay here. And I'm like, man, you're like, stay here, don't leave. Like, grow it here.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Like, give us something to be proud of. And this is an HBCU, not a PWI. Exactly. So hopefully, you know, that'll help with recruitment.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

Yeah, it's definitely gonna help.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Enrollment, all kinds of things.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

It puts money back into the school to allow for scholarships and stuff for stuff outside of athletics, right? So people just come and go to school there. Yeah, um, yeah, all kind of stuff, you know. Yeah. Now, another thing I asked you, um, just with because I know this especially with DJing, etc. When did you start DJing?

SPEAKER_01 15:38

So I started DJing back in 2002. I graduated from high school, and um I didn't know I I was supposed to go overseas to play basketball, okay, but uh some things happened and I couldn't leave the states. So I was like, well, I gotta go to school. So, you know, being that my family, my whole pretty much my family upbringing, you know, came through Benedict. My grandfather, my grandfather was a was a was a chaplain at Benedict. My grandmother taught at Benedict. Oh wow. So it was like, and then my dad, he you know, he coached there for a while. So it was like you gotta go to Benedict's. Right. This is yeah, you gotta go to Benedict. Like I I had to go, so it was, yeah, it was no other, uh, no other way. So uh yeah, I got accepted to other schools, but it was like, nah, bro.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

See, like don't you dare because why like I tell people, like they they built that lineage, like you're gonna get basically what you get at all schools. It is, it's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

It's just a different different atmosphere. Like my smallest class at Clemson had 90 something students in it. It's like you just a number. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

You ain't getting paid.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

You gotta email, you gotta do an email to talk to the professor. You're not even talking to the professor, you're talking to the to the T A. Yeah, there you go. So it's like, what's the point? Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

No point.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

It is, you know, you you really gotta be in that mindset to handle that type of education. Yeah. So uh, you know, I get to go to my my person's office right there. I get to go knock on the door. Yeah, you know, I need help. Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

And your classes are more intimate. There you go, right.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

Yep. Right. 15, 20 students, you know, sometimes 30. I mean party, but it's still so small in comparison.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

I tell black students all the time, yeah, these nice schools are big, you know, the PWIs, but if you get accepted to an HBCU, don't look at it as a funny, as a step down. It's never because what they don't realize is credentials are the same overall. Overall, the board, they're all the same. So as long as it has its credentials and things are there, you're gonna get the same exact education. It's about the amount of work that you put in.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Right. And it's about how it's presented. Yes. Like you can you can you can tell me some stuff about some stuff that's going on right now that somebody else has to go do research on. They don't know about it. There you go. Yeah, they don't know about it. I don't know at first hand. So you know, it it works both ways. Yep. It works both ways. But I'm I'm I'm glad that I, you know, stayed at Benedict and, you know, got my degree from Benedict.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Yay, thank you. I like that you said that because our our audience needs to hear that, especially because we have like some millennials listen to us, um, younger folk. I know I have uh high school students and et cetera, that listen to us. I have my um folk that work with their children, so they listen to our podcast. I make sure they listen to it. They can hear it, right? So when they hear it from us, okay, I can do that. All right, that makes sense. Um and it makes them feel confident in their decisions as well. That's one big thing about our podcast.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

I met my first girlfriend coming out of high school, uh going to Benedict. I used to see her going, I used to go to the basketball game and stuff. She was a cheerleader. Oh so I used to go to the games, and I was like that one right there. That one, that one. I'm gonna get that right there. And sure enough, I got to Benedict, worked that magic, and I was a mind you, I'm a freshman.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Freshman, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Whoa did you spray out some of this stuff that's long enough that what he talked about?

SPEAKER_02 19:10

He had that he had that lust in his eye.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

He smelled the peaches look good. I'm a freshman and she was incoming that year, I think it was 2002. I'm gonna say she was, she's either a junior or a senior. But I know she was she was about to get in. I tried that. She was about to get in.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

I tried I had tried it that too. I was finally this girl classes, I was carrying her books at all, bruh. I was trying to get in there, bruh. I know where you were at, my G. Bro. I ain't gonna lie, I'm telling you how you do it.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Hey, I did it, and we did it. You know, we were together my whole my whole college career. And even when I went to Clemson. Oh, cool. I would that was dope. That's good. Yeah, we would we would find ways to, you know, see each other, make it happen. See? And yeah, yeah, we've been together for a good four years.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Yeah. That's pretty for a college, that's a long time. And me being young now, I'm a freshman. All over the place.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

And I was an athlete.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Right. That's what I was talking about.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

He wasn't worried about that.

SPEAKER_03 20:13

Like you went to a whole other school.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

So yeah, like you said, you have you found what you wanted. Yeah, yeah. Sucking me into being, see, this is another thing that people don't know either, you know. Um I was uh I was on the chile and squad. Oh, really? Yeah, as a lifter.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

I was a I be telling men to go do that, and you can get scholarships.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Listen, we got clients, it was a buddy of money, but um Justin, Isaiah, it was a few of us. You know, I went to them, I was like, matter of fact, we were walking, we were going to the gym and you know, watching the cheerleaders and stuff. You know, we yeah, you know, this is before we got into the football thing, and the Chilean coach shot them is Mills at uh Benedict College. Shout out. Um, she was like, you know, we hey guys, you know, y'all want to join a cheerling squad. We like, what? Nah. So we looking at the girls, you know, they're doing stunts and stuff, and I see, of course, the girl who I was talking about. Nah. So uh we was like, man, well, let's just try it. You know, let's try it. So we went through the practice, whatever. And we was like, you know what? She's when she said you get a scholarship. Told you. I said, Oh I'm there. Yeah, we did. We didn't stop me. What do we gotta do? Now I said I will not be doing this to my mom. No, we're not doing that. So, yeah, we ended up being lifters. We were like the first male lifters to come through uh through Benedict. And now we got we got clowned for it. But once they saw what the first game and what we were doing, hey man, y'all got some more spots, cut it.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

I try to tell men that all the time, man. Like, you think I had some gentlemen with it, this was when I was uh counseling at the College of Charleston, and they're like, Yo, I need some more money for books, etc. I said, Hey, did have you um just as a heads up, like, would you be interested in cheerleading? Like, they said, No, I said no, like going to like lift them up so they can do stuff, get your little megaphone, yell at the crowd. And he said, What? I said, Have you ever not paid attention? I said, You're gonna get a scholarship that hard to get men to do that, but they need the men for it because there's no woman strong enough and capable enough of throwing up. Yeah, I mean, they are, but you know, you need a sometimes you need a man, you need a male for it. Man, listen. That's my point. I'm like, this ain't no pushover dues. Going to chilling competitions. Oh my god. It's professional.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Imagine you got five, six hundred thousand women running around with skirts on and shopping and screaming and jumping and kicking and flipping. I'm gonna throw that in the water. I'm gonna throw that in the water. No competition either.

SPEAKER_02 22:45

Ain't no competition because it's you and probably like 20, 30 other guys. We stand in the same roads, and we like, oh, kick my care. I'm here. Nah, I remember I put this first time. He said, you know what? Um I went to go ask, and they said they'll take me and they'll give me 15. I tried to get you $1,500 every semester. It's three grand a year. That pays for your books, don't it? And he got some money left over. He was like, Thank you. Um, I appreciate that. He thought I was joking.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

And not to mention, if you have other scholarships, that's money to get.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, it's you don't even have to worry about it, it's free money. You don't have to pay that back. So, just so y'all know who's listening, if y'all have some children going to college, yeah. They need to support. Hey, tell them, let's go ask the chili. Hey, would you can I can I help out with the dance squad or such such. Yeah, man, it's necessary. Absolutely. Um, I gotta ask this what what was your first set of turntables?

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Who my first set of turntables? Um, I started out, I was diving back and forth between um It was this box. It was like a new mark. I think it was called a new mark. And it was like it had a small little wheel on it. It had all the buttons, you know, forward, back, place.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Like how Hercules was.

SPEAKER_01 23:57

Yeah, it was yeah. It was something real small. These CDs. So you know CDs pop out. So that was when I initially started, but then you know, I started with turntables after that. Well, you know, with vinyl. I didn't really, you know, dive into it like I wanted to because the around this time, you know, technology was kicking in. Oh, you were getting your drive.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

It was coming. You had you had before you had Serato, you had um Stanton with their final scratch. Right. It was moving fast. Right. Everything. So I was just like, let me hold off uh before I I want to know what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Because before that, it was virtual, they had a virtual DJ. So people started breaking away from virtual DJ, and I couldn't stand that. People I saw, I was like, You ain't no DJ. Virtual DJ pretty much did everything for you. It moved the record. Like you moved, you can hit the sync button and everything. Just sync up. I'm like, oh, get out of here. It's not DJ. It's not, it's not. So um, so yeah, then I started with the uh CDJs, the uh pioneer, CDJ 1000. Best in the world. Started with those, and then uh went back to vinyl. Yeah. So with and then, but it was it was more uh technical than so everything was on the laptop. Yeah, you know, everything went digital. Yep, everything. So it just went from there. Now it's just man, every little new piece that comes out, now it's like we we gotta get on. So I can pretty much go back from now all the way back, and whatever the pieces of equipment that's there, I can work it. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

You got something like now that you don't even need needles, right? We don't even need needles.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

I got virtual needles. Like, put the just drop the listen. These new DJs have no idea what it's like. They have it, everything's laid out on the platter.

SPEAKER_02 25:39

They got no excuses. No. They don't know how to work when it's hot. Could you imagine they had to work different when it was hot than when it was cold? Oh, temperature mattered. Your stage where you were set up, whether or not people had proper um um sound buffering. So, like when they shake your table and stuff, like back in the day, house party, people don't know why it was so funny. When they hit the table, it's like stop people. They don't know why it was real, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

Like I used to have the table now, uh like pieces of I used to, and it's so crazy, it wasn't anything specific for that. You had to make it your curated, like you had to make like you had to grab a t-shirt. Yep. Because sometimes when that bass, when the bass hits, it would be a little bit in it. So it's like you can hear it in the record, and it's like, oh God, it was the words and people bumping the table. Yeah, like that's a real thing. That's a real thing.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

But like now with inequited, they're like, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_01 26:26

My such and such, it's fine. Now you can just bang, jump on the table, bang out.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

That's why those, that's why the Pioneer CDJs, them thousands, when they came out, was such a big thing because it was hard to manipulate with CDs, but when they bought those out, I was like, oh, I can treat this like a turntable, and I get no skipping. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

They have things right now. Technology is set up to where they have things for every DJ. Okay. Like every type. I get I go some places, and some of my celebrity DJ friends, like, man, why are you still using those? Man, man, get you a a um a board, get you a control. I'm like, man, listen, I'm stuck on this vinyl. I rock out better this way. I got this, I like the feel. Come on. I got big hands.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

I'm about to say, especially as an athlete. Yeah. The tactile, the tactile feel of actually controlling the sound on the record. Yeah. And making a move like in the transitions. And like, I can have it set up nowadays because it's virtual too. If you got the right system, you can just have two turntables and still control four different decks. Oh, yeah. I tell people, what do you mean? I need I can still use my turntable. What are you talking about? This works.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

But like you said, like every DJ is different. So, how do you make money as a DJ? Like, what are your different ways to make money?

SPEAKER_01 27:37

So, really, right now, I just put myself in different areas of the music market. Like, I'm not stuck in the hip hop clubs, thank you, you know, the the here. Like, it's to the point now here. Um, you know, I know when they see this, they're gonna be like, Well, what you talking about? But I don't mind not DJing in the club every, you know, every night. Yeah, every night. And, you know, in certain in certain places, because it's like same thing over and over and over. Like, I DJ in five points now. Yeah I DJ for, you know, the the Caucasian crowd now. That's what I was about to say. I know I hate you yet. I have fun doing it because your range is much bigger. Is much bigger. Like much more acceptable. And you know, no disrespect to nobody or no other venue or club, you know, whatever the case may be. But the type of DJ I am, I'm I'm down the road. Yeah, like you have range. Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Yeah, and not be able to show it sucks.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Yeah. So it's like a skill set. That's what people don't get a DJ supposed to break record.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

And it's like DJ is a not supposed to play the hot records right now. Like, that's not DJ. DJ played it. Right. DJing is creating a vibe, creating a story. Yes. Like, I can blend tracks together, and you'd be like, what the hell? Like, you'd be like, I was not expecting to hear that. That's just about a journey. Right. Like last night, like when I go to Five Points and I DJ'd at Vista Union last night, and I took a hip-hop track and blended. I took the instrumental and shout out the stems. Thank you, Lord. Oh, yeah, stems are dope, too. Thank you for stems.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

So you can stems is for those of y'all who don't know, stems is you can take, you're just, you're like a producer. Yeah. I can take the vocals out, I can take the chords out, the bass line, I can just do all of that right in front of me on my board. So I would take the vocals out of one song, a hip-hop song, and drop the a cappella of a country song, and they go crazy. They be like, oh my God. And so the beat is already infectious and they know the word.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

And it's like, and you can't do that in certain places. And I just like to be free. Don't get me wrong, I would I would go any place and do what needed to be done.

SPEAKER_02 30:06

I've been in the track clubs, I've done the track clubs. Get y'all gangster and ready to fight. Cool. I could do that. I could do that. But yeah. It's nice to have the freedom.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Listen, I have some of the best times when I go down to five points or when I do any party of that sort. Because it's like they listen to everything. Yeah. They like everything. Like if I play Nelly in one eye hip hop club, and it's Nelly.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

So what do you listen to as a DJ? What music? What's on your playlist like right now?

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Because when I'm in the car, I listen to nothing that I play in the club. Right. That's how it's supposed to be. Nothing. That's how it's supposed to be. Because like I have this curative mind to where I listen to other things, and then a image comes, it's like, oh, you get that ear. It's like I could blend this with this. I could blend this with that. That's just how I am. And it comes off the fly. Like I have I've never practiced. I've never set up and say, okay, I'm gonna do this in the house. I've never done that.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

You've got your 10,000 hours in though. I've never done that.

SPEAKER_03 31:12

You know 10,000 hours is not DJ Mastery, right?

SPEAKER_02 31:15

So now it's not tell people what a DJ is supposed to be. And people like they don't understand this. A DJ is supposed to be a person that introduces you to new things and that breaks records. Which means when you don't know that something exists, that DJ heard it before. And back in the day, the big thing about hip hop um and just DJs in the club, even coming from the disco era, was always crate digging and finding things people didn't know. So you would have this record, right? And you'd be DJing. You'd be like, what the heck is that sound? It's kind of dope. And they would come and try to look at your table and see what you're playing, and you put tape over it. So they wouldn't know who it is. Because the big thing is you want them to go and try to find it. You gotta figure out what this is. I bet you aren't even in the right shop to find this because you only go to such and such shops. I'm down the street at this at this um shop that sells only um weird jazz and exotic um Indian flute. And that's what you're hearing, and you don't know that. That's a DJ's job, and that's what we're paying you to do. I'm paying you to listen to stuff I don't listen to, so you can expose me. Right. And if not, then I could just listen to the radio.

SPEAKER_01 32:13

Listen to the radio. And that's one thing I like to say. Like when I'm talking on the mic, I was like, yeah, we not playing the radio. You know, we're not playing that, you know. Because I like to dig. Like it's thank you. Sometimes I get songs, depending on where I am, and I'm like, oh, this would be a dope blend. But I was like, nah, I'm in here, I can't do it. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_03 32:31

That sucks being a creative, though.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

It it does. It does. You can know you can only pull it out when it's necessary to pull it out. Sorry, right.

SPEAKER_03 32:39

All right, they say it's last call.

SPEAKER_02 32:43

But do you see the skill that it takes to be a DJ? And I explain to people all the time, like, um, one reason, like I I don't DJ anymore is when uh when, especially after the pandemic, like I did like my last little party and stuff, and then I left. And I was like, man, I don't have the time to deal with the politics.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

It's politics and everything, though. That's why I don't play basketball no more. Because I don't like the politics.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

You can't even coach it.

unknown 33:05

Right.

SPEAKER_02 33:05

The politics. But when someone's able to do that job well, like yourself, I I applaud you. Because I understand the amount of work and stress that goes into making sure that you're doing well at your craft. So when I come to a show that you're doing or wherever you're working and I'm enjoying myself, I'm like, man, I'm so happy this motherfucker was up there listening to the strange albums and stuff. I'm up here having a good time in here right now, and of everybody else. Because I'm like, you went and did your job. Right. And that's what, and that's what is appreciated. And so I do want people, especially people who are listening, um, who may want to become a DJ or et cetera. But one thing I have to realize is that you cannot worry about the politics and be good at that craft. No. Almost have to, in almost a sense, be an asshole and not care. And I know that's what I used to do as a DJ. I remember I used to be in Charleston, I used to be at some of these clubs, and people be coming, I'm gonna hear such and such. I don't care. All right, and I keep worrying, they'd be like, dang, I'm like, but you see how you still dance, you still shaking that monkey though, right? Because that was the point. That's what you came to do.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

I think that's the worst part about being a DJ request. Oh I think that's the worst. Really? You're creating, you're trying to create a vibe, like you're going somewhere. Like it's like a it's like traveling. It's like, okay, we're not there yet.

SPEAKER_05 34:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Boom. We're not there yet. Let me get to the side. Let me get there. And they ask for songs where they know you're gonna play. I'm like, oh my god, can you please just come down and just vibe out? Like this might not be your area of music right here, but just it's coming. I got you.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

We need to get y'all a shirt that says, I don't care, I got the shit. I got you. And then you just wear it. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

And when they come, you point to it.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Oh, like please, like just Do you have people try to give you money? Oh, yeah, all the time.

SPEAKER_02 34:50

Have you ever had ladies try to flash? It's time I've taken up the channel. No, they do whatever. They do whatever to try to get your attention. And I'm telling them what I know. This is why I'm asking them these, because I'm like, I want to know. And these answers.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Yes, it is. I've taken I've taken money sometime and still haven't played the song. Not because I wanted to, but it's like, when you DJing, your mind is thinking about you. Like, I'm not thinking about you. Yeah, I'm thinking about everybody. Like, granted, you cannot make everybody happy. Yeah, you gotta please the majority. But it's like, I may be, okay, I got the song coming. And I get into a vibe and forget all about it. Yeah, oh shoot. I done missed it. Forgotten to play the doggone song. And no, sometimes they come back up, you play my side. Sometimes I get the money back. Oh, you know, sometimes they'll forget and leave, and I'll be like, oh, they had a good time. I got $40. So I mean, it's it's nothing, no, you know, no pun to anybody who's who's ever done that. But it's just, they gotta understand, like, we're like we're artists at the same time. Yeah, it's like telling somebody how to paint. Like, it's like telling. Right. I don't do I come back to the same thing. Do I come to your job and tell you how to how to type this letter here to do this, this? No, I don't. I don't do that. So, you know, and like like my brother, man, shout out to Louis V, man. That's that's my dog. You know, that's that was one of my one of my guys coming up, you know. He really wanted to learn how to DJ.

SPEAKER_05 36:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

So I said, man, come on, I got you, bro.

SPEAKER_05 36:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Like we he came to the club, you know, he watched, followed, and everything. And so that's normally how I teach. I teach how I learn. Yeah, that's how I learn. Yeah, you're coming out. I learn by watching. So I just I take, I don't need no instruction manual because it's no, I don't want to do that. Let me see it and I got it. All I need to do is see it once. Then I'm gonna put my own thing to it. Yeah, I'm gonna create my own vibe. So uh uh Louis V said in one of his uh in one of his uh interviews, it was like it's not sometime, it's not always a uh a request. Sometimes it's like a reminder. Like, and it depends on how the delivery is. Like, oh hey man, you got that. So you be like, you know what? I do a dream. I got that. I'll make sure it's I got it. Let me let me let me get to that, let me create it. But when you get them requests, hey man, can you play that up? Yeah, can you play that like six red? It's like come on, man. Especially when it don't be the vibe for it. Like I'll be some I'll be in my RB vibe and then want to hear goddamn. Can you somebody get shot up?

SPEAKER_02 37:28

I'm just saying that because I want to say a specific song. Can I get somebody get shot up? I need to hear the club.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

You can see them right here, they're enjoying themselves. I got you in a minute. Yeah, so yeah, it's it's a task. And we we as DJs, well, most of us, we think we're like three, four songs ahead. That's what we're doing. We've been playing a song right now, but we're like, okay, I got this song next to the song. Already. Because something you gotta be on the fly sometime. If something ain't working, boop, in and out.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

Yep. You're gonna get uh 30 seconds. Right. Because at 28, that's the level. That 28 is magic. Yeah, you know what you count as.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

You've played at a bunch of venues. So what is your best venue so far that you can remember it?

SPEAKER_01 38:12

Ooh, man. Favorite concert.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

It was one here in the side of camera outside, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

Okay. Um well, I will say the biggest, the best concert was that I've done was Rod, I think it was Rod Wave. I think it was a Rod Wave concert. Um man, uh was it that? It was at the Colonial Life Arena.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Oh wow, so that kind of a couple months ago.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Yeah, that was kind of like that. No, I didn't know. This was like, this was before COVID, I think. Okay, this is before he had, oh, this is Was this before COVID? I can't I I can't remember exactly when, but shout out to my dog Cadillac, man. Uh we doing, we, we worked real well together. Like, we got this like this mental telepathy thing. We like, we already know where we're going with stuff. So he was like, uh, you know, puff, hold on. I got watch this for a minute. So he, you know, had the crowd going. So we stopped the music, he was talking and whatever, whatever. He told everybody to turn their lights on. So I remember, like it was yesterday, I dropped um, it was Kodak Black, um super superstars. Oh, that is. Man, when I dropped that, the place went crazy. And I when I tell you I had chills all over my body, because when you like people don't realize being in the club versus being at a concert is different. Like you really have crowd control at a concert. Yeah. Because it's not, you don't have to keep playing, keep playing. You can stop, do whatever, yeah, do whatever you want to do. You're really performing. So, man, when that happened, and that place erupted, and we were like, oh my god. Like that was one of the probably one of the best feelings I've ever had DJing. Um DJing a concert. And then club wise, oh man, I remember back in dreams. I don't know if y'all remember Dreams. Yes, dreams. Man, it used to be so smoky, like not smoky, but like hot, like people got steam coming off them. Yeah, the back of the club, it was like this big, huge, long bench, and it had glass behind it. When I tell you you couldn't even see the glass was just fogged up. That's how you know you're doing your dance. And that's the thing. Everybody used to say, Oh, a puff got his shirt off. He's going in. It's going in. It's over. Yeah, it's over. So yeah, I used to remember that, man. My shirt came off. Oh, yeah. It's time to go. It's time to go. So yeah, that's probably yeah, club dreams. And off the top of my head, yeah, club dreams and um, yeah, the colonial life arena. And I've I've done other venues, you know, out of out of the state. Um when I used to DJ, I was DJing for Nicki Minaj for a minute. Yeah. Before she got that uh the Young Money deal. Uh, it was cool. Like, um, how was the work environment? It was, and we we really weren't like around each other like that until it was like really like showtime. Yeah. Because I was really dealing with uh her manager back then. Gotcha. Um, and you know, we would talk on the phone, and this is back when she was with Safari. So I also had contact with Safari for a while too. And um yeah, and it's Chris Lanka, don't it? He actually had me working on the Beat Me Up Scotty mixtapes.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Oh, shut up.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

Yeah, like I don't I don't really talk about that too much, but he had, I was really, I literally was working in the studio at Quantum Beats.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

On the Beat Me Up Scotty. And, you know, things didn't work out how I wanted it to work out, but you know, it was crazy because you know, I'm doing it. Next thing you know, I hear DJ Holiday. I'm like so I'm like, okay, cool. All right, you know, it is what it is, but you know, that's that's that's just the music industry. You know, it is things turn quick. Things turn quick, yep. Quick, quick, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:03

So excellent, man. Excellent. Did have you have you been out of the country?

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Yeah, I um went overseas to play basketball. Uh went to Sweden. I lived in Sweden for a while.

SPEAKER_03 42:13

Oh, how was that? Oh man, that's they love the late, they love the uh black men over there, right? I've heard that. I'm telling you, listen, they spoke to you.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Sweden, like the part I was I was in Copenhagen and I lived in a I lived in Copenhagen and a small town called Kalmar. So um, yeah, the women there, like, they're built. Like, you ever seen like those volleyball players?

SPEAKER_02 42:41

I heard they're built different. They're built. They're like tall and slant, like it looks like they're about to pull some kind of super blond hair, and it's like, oh my god, these are some beautiful women over there. They're different. And they ain't got too many of them fat, chubby ones that it's not too many fat people over there.

SPEAKER_01 42:55

You don't eat like the air is pure over there, the water is. You go to the restaurant, it's water already on the table. And don't you dare ask for a fresh glass of water. You walk in, you're gonna drink that water that's sitting on the table. It's good. Good. It's worth the water. It's great. That's just how pure everything was. Everything is so clean. Like it wasn't a lot of the preservatives and none of that. Like it was just clean. We can't even sell our vegetables over there. Think about it. It's nuts. But you know, the the experience was was like no other. Like, and I love the shop. Yeah. So over there, you had all your designers. You had your little pride. Like the whole house of fashion was there. Man, I I had a ball. I had a ball. Did you want to come back in? I had a ball until they tried to make me go to school. And I was like, bro, I just got out of school, bro. Why did they try to make you a bad school? Because I didn't have my citizenship. Oh, so to get you. So you either had to have a visa, a work visa, or you had to go to school. So at the time, they were working on my paperwork, you know, while I was playing basketball to get me all the way in the game. And you know, back then I was young. And you know, I'm thinking in my head, oh, I'm going over offseason, I'm about to make this money. Yeah. Yeah. He worked like that. No. So, like, and you know, they was like, well, you can go to school and until we get everything. And I'm like, you know what? I'm getting homesick. I'm ready to go back home. I done had enough of it. Right. So after a while, you know, I was like, you know what? It's time to go. Yeah. I can't, I can't wait over here. It's not like I'm in my I'm in Mexico or it just popped back home. I mean, yeah, I could just catch it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's a whole 16-hour flight. In process. Like it's not just happening. It's not, you can't just say, hey, I'm gonna come home next week. And I'm no, no, you there. Yeah. Unless you got some kind of special military passport. Yeah. And then um I was living with one of my dad's ex-teammates' son. Oh. So yeah, that that was cool. And then I was trying to get it acclimated with, you know, speaking the language. Swedish is not an easy language to speak. It's mean and it's crazy. It sounds like, yeah, it sounds like you yelling at somebody. It's not bad at all. But I mean, it's not that bad, but I I I had to learn how to, you know, communicate. How did that work?

SPEAKER_02 45:29

How did that work?

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Just I just had to be around my teammates. And it's like just listening. Like I could, if you were talking to me, I could understand what you were saying, but I couldn't say nothing back to you.

SPEAKER_05 45:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:39

So like if you were saying something, I was like, oh, something about to go down. I, you know, remove myself. Yeah. Clubs over there, totally different from clubs over here. Like they go to work. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, they're going to work. They go in, they suit up. And everything over there is from house, techno, pop, all genres. And they're playing your music too. They're playing music. Nothing's missing over there. They're playing all genres in one night.

SPEAKER_00 46:09

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Oh, tell them how long that night lasts. Oh, they don't. When you come outside, the lights are looking like you outside. Yeah. Like the club in Miami, I think it's called They Have Something. Ibiza. Yeah. Yeah. And there's another one. It's based from Overseas Concept. So you go to the club, 11, 12 o'clock, you leave out. It's seven, eight o'clock in the morning. Oh, and they still sometimes they write. They got like three hours. Four hours set.

SPEAKER_02 46:40

Someone else comes and do another set. Another one comes. And they're not regular, they're top flight DJs.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

Yeah. That's what I want to do. And that's that's how those clubs are.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

I'm not gonna come back.

SPEAKER_03 46:49

I need to work in country.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

And like you were saying, they love black. They love dark skin over there. Everybody over there, you know, they're they're contrast. Right. Yeah, everybody's pale. If you, if you, you know, African American or whatever, you have, you know, some sense of color, they think you're over there, you either have money, there you go, you're business, or you're some type of athlete.

SPEAKER_02 47:13

Specifically, if you're if I I'm gonna say this, specifically if you're non-African. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

Because they know a lot of come over refugees and stuff. But if you're um American black, they're gonna treat you a little deal. They'll take you into the jewelry stores. Oh man. They'll get you get stuff on consignment.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

They were rubbing on my, like, I'm in there, and they was girls. I'm standing with my team, and then girls just like, I'm like, I'm like, is this like an extra? I was like, why are they rubbing on me like this? Like, I really, I honestly, I kind of felt violent. Like, yeah, like, man. They're like, I'm gonna give them this chocolate bang. And my homeboy, he was like, yo, you know, it's cool. He was like, they they like this. Yeah, like this is something new for them. And it was like one of the girls, I think she was, I can't remember what she was, but she was like, Oh my god, your skin is so beautiful, and da-da-da-da. I'm like, my black skin, black black.

SPEAKER_05 48:06

I'm welcome to this.

SPEAKER_01 48:09

Yeah, yeah. And it was crazy, and how they how they would invite you, how they will let you know that they are interested, they will invite you over for tea. Oh, that's a come on. So it was like you know what? You know, like tea and coffee. Like, would you like to come over for like and they have like anything that comes from over here? Yeah, like uh the crumpets and tea and all of that stuff, and uh what's the thing called? The um uh little smoke cookies in the background.

SPEAKER_02 48:39

Like that means I want to smash, yeah. Yeah, homie, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

You ain't even having no tea. And I was scared because I thought it was like my whole time thinking about you remember the movie Hostel? Oh, hostile. Yes, and you forget that was big, that was like and that's how it looks like that over there in certain parts. That's how it looks. So it's like I ain't if my teammates ain't come, I ain't going to have me tied up in a bunker. No, some more trumpets.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

Like uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 49:09

I was the first time I had to travel by myself, so I had to go, I had to go to practice and I had to catch the bus. No interpretation. Listen, I didn't know they gave me the uh uh footing of what to do, but I'm still overseas. I'm like, oh my god. So I caught the bus there and had to catch the bus back. No, I think I got dropped off. I got dropped off there and had to catch the bus back. Oh my god. So this is when my my spider scissors kicked in. I look at landmarks. I had to learn landmarks. So if I knew, if I saw that building, okay, I know I'm close. So I ended up getting off a stop ahead of where I was supposed to go, and I ended up walking and I made it. I made it back to where I was going. I was listen. Man, you're talking something. Yeah. He's like, I may not make it back to the Columbia. And I didn't go anywhere at night unless I was either with my teammates or somebody, you know, I knew like that.

SPEAKER_02 50:12

That's smart. I'm not gonna lie, that's let the audience here that because specifically right now, traveling as an American is not as safe as it was back in the day. Yeah. So make sure you're with the right people. They're different.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Like clubs over something, they're different. Like it's a door, it'll look like something like a dungeon or something. You won't even think it's a club. Yep. But you open that door and go through a little thing. Next thing you know, oh, this is what I look like blade. It's like you were in Blade, right? I like it. Right, it's like trap doors.

SPEAKER_02 50:41

We got a lot of clubs over there that are trapdoors, little backdoor areas where people are in there smoking um, it's like some real life movie stuff. Yeah, where do you think it comes from? That's why I tell people when they see that, I'm like, nah, because that's real, that's real. It's real life. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 50:54

So we have coming up next.

SPEAKER_01 50:57

So, glad you asked. So I got my hands in so many pots right now. So I just started my business probably about a week ago.

SPEAKER_02 51:06

Oh, yeah, congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

Yeah, I haven't launched yet, but uh got my paperwork. So I'm going into uh fashion and image consulting. So yeah, basically what I'm doing is I have a lot of people who call me, message me, hey Puff. They send me pictures. Hey, what do I need? How do I need to put this together? What do I wear with this, or what I do with this? So I'm like, okay, yeah, I get you right. So I'm thinking, like, you know, they say if you have a uh a trade, yeah, yeah, yeah, make it a business. Make it a business always.

SPEAKER_03 51:36

Especially if you love it. Like you said, you love shopping.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

Like, so why not? So that's that's what I'm gonna be doing. I'm gonna, you know, I come to your I'm throwing out some stuff right there before I launch, but um doing wardrobe consulting, so I'll come to your house because people like to throw stuff out, and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We can work with this. Yeah, a lot of people just got stuff sitting. You're right, and they don't know what to do with it. So, yeah, so I'll come to your house, go through. We I will throw stuff out if it needs to go out, but yeah, we do the whole nine. I'll personal shop, so I'll travel.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

Oh, good.

SPEAKER_01 52:11

I go pick up whatever you need, styling, style it, profiling, whatever. Obviously. Yeah. I mean, yeah, this standard, I'm light stuff today, man. I like how people say this is light work today.

SPEAKER_03 52:21

Like I wanted to ask the question, because you know, we always like stuck to our questions, but I won't start asking random questions. What made you put this outfit on today? Like when you woke up this morning, what made you say, All right, this hoodie, this pants, what what was your thought process?

SPEAKER_01 52:36

It's it's crazy. My thought process is is is wild. Like, I just get these visions and of just how I want to look that day. And I get inspiration sometimes through through Google or through Instagram. Like I see people wearing certain pieces, and I'm like, how can I redo that and put my own twist to it? So it's just like, I don't know. I just I'm just uh have a thing for fashion. So it just comes to me like it's really no, I can't even give you an explanation. It's like, and I like colors.

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 53:11

So I mean, yeah, most of you don't get to wear no pale yellow.

SPEAKER_03 53:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 53:14

I got some my my wife bought me some sweatpants like that. And I was looking at it, I was like, I was not, I was about to put I'm about to wear them today, right? And I was like, I'm gonna put this on my suit. I was supersonic. I'll put my supersonic stuff on, right? I was like, I can't get away with that. That wouldn't look good on me. So I said, let me just put on this thing.

SPEAKER_03 53:29

That's his thumb process.

SPEAKER_02 53:30

I said, I'm gonna put this on today because I was like, it's supposed to be cold, I'll be comfortable. I wear my green watch. I love my little my wedding watch. This is my wedding band. So I'm like, I'm gonna wear this, right? And I always gotta wear this with my daggate. So I'm gonna put this on. I'll look normal. Yeah. Yeah. So like you put the pale yellow.

SPEAKER_01 53:45

I mean, I just I take like I don't I don't like the matchy matchy. Like I hate, I hate looking like a mannequin. Yeah, I hate that. I hate that, and people don't understand, you know, fashion, you know, is is real trendy. Yeah like a lot of things from back in the day, that's what we're doing. Like people think these new fashion stuff people doing now is new. It's not. It's just been recycled, yeah. Recycled, and people put their own thing to it. So I just like to, you know, mismatch things, you know, and put my ticks you got on. Yeah, man. These I I did, I couldn't stand these shoes at first. I was about to ask you, I couldn't wear the hard to get it. That's that looks like that's so I saw a vision. I'm like, I tried them on. I'm like, you know what? I can work with these. I can work with these.

SPEAKER_02 54:29

I'm telling my brother about colorways and like people won't wear certain things or like prices for shoes will drop because of colorway. Yeah. I'm like, you can make that work.

SPEAKER_01 54:36

I'm gonna buy that. And I've I've I've come to my fashion sense has really opened up, like opened up a whole lot. Like it's stuff that I wear now. I said, I would never have worn maybe two years ago. Never. I just bought a pair of boots uh by Balenciaga that the average eye would probably look at those boots and say, What? But and I said that myself, I said, What? Are they stranger than Prada boots? Listen, listen, this this is a weird boot, but when you put it on and you accessorize it, you put the right things on, it looks amazing. So it's one of those things, it's a piece. You put that piece on your build around. Right, and I buy pieces. Statement pieces. You gotta have statements. And that's why when I step out, is it looks like, oh, Puff really got dressed. No, I didn't. It's just I have pieces, I buy pieces. So when I come out, you would think, oh, I tried to put this. No, it goes. I just grab this, boom, grab it, boom. And it looks like I really got dressed for something, but it's not like you got on standard black, got your pale yellow, got your shoe, like, but your standard. This is right, but somebody else would just have on a pair of sweatpants and something else. But I mean, to each his own, you do what you want to do. Like more my ex used to say, you don't have no regular clothes. I'm like, what are regular clothes? Some regular clothes. Like, what are regular clothes?

SPEAKER_02 55:59

Oh my lord. I'm using you have some regular clothes. I'm gonna talk about that. Just put that on. What are regular clothes? And then the other one. No, you gotta get the other one too.

SPEAKER_03 56:11

I'm in the brand. That's what she does. I love it. She's just good on that.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

She's good on that.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Okay, for the women, we didn't get to talk about Queen's Court, but what type of female are you looking to attract in your life?

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Okay, I could run through that real quick, real quick. So get ready for that. So now I had just got out of a relationship and it was like, you know, I'm like, what the hell? You know, try some. Well, what you know, what am I losing now? That's true. I lost my girl. Yeah, so why not? So yeah, so um Will Packard was producing a show, and I've done a show previously called uh Blind Date. That's the show I was famous for. And they were saying I was, yeah, we're not gonna get it out of there. I'm gonna go back and watch it. So, yeah, so um I was casted out of I don't know how many thousands of entries. So they picked 21 guys.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 57:04

And I was in the first group of eight who they put on the show. So they did it in. We didn't know, we didn't know ourselves. We thought we were the only ones there. So they brought us in. We met the girls, um, it was Evelyn Lazata, Nivea, and Tamar. So it was a series of dates to where the first round were dates or things that they liked to do. And then once we moved in the house, it turned into, okay, it's the guys' time. So now we when they broke it down to 11 guys, they moved us into a house. Uh, and we all lived in the same quarters.

unknown 57:37

Really?

SPEAKER_01 57:38

Could you imagine 11 guys? Just say like a room like this, like just say this whole space, take the knock the walls down, right? Just take this whole space, put 11 beds in it, put a kitchenette, put a bathroom, and yeah, we had to share two bathrooms. 11 dudes had to share two bathrooms. It wasn't it wasn't like a uh type situation, but it was grown-ass men. Grown ass men. So you would think, okay, somebody gonna fight, somebody's gonna slam. No, we all we all loved each other, we had a thing for each other. But uh we we we actually kind of helped each other out, oh you know, with the dates. Yeah. Because, you know, some people were there for the actual love part, some people were there for their own. There you go. But, you know, um, so I you know, fast forward, I made it down to the last, it was supposed to be last six. Each woman, each woman had two guys, two children. One of the guys got sent home early, and um it was five. So, you know, I shout out to my guy Lavon. Uh, that was the guy that Evelyn chose, and they got they got engaged and with everything, and you know, they went on to do that thing, and uh they broke up not too long ago. So everybody's calling me like yo, Puff. She was just shouting, like, and I like, man, no, I'm good. She's she's cool, like yeah, she's cool people, you know. We she she always good at the time. Yeah, yeah. And she always a whole piece of me because she told me some real stuff. She was like, you know, granted, you're not my king, but you're gonna make some woman one day a very happy woman. And when she said that, I was like, I can't be able to do that. That's crazy. Because it's like she really only she's only known me for X amount of 10 yeah, X amount of time, 10 weeks. Yeah, yeah. So it's like just our interaction and conversation, it's it said a lot. It spoke volume to her. And I was like, I was just being real, like it wasn't no facade in the world. I was about to say it's a lot of things. If the ones who saw the show, they saw, and I felt that I was too reserved. I could have gone harder, but you know, it's just me. Yeah, that's you're being yourself. I play the room, I watch the room. Yeah, I watch how everybody move, it's chess, not checkers.

SPEAKER_00 59:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Watch how everybody moves and make my strategic moves after that. I mean, it it it I felt good to date somebody of that caliber, you know, financial-wise, you know, where she is in life, all kinds of things. It's like it's show who I was as a person. And you can fight your own. Why am I chasing but I could be attractive? You ready? Why am I chasing somebody who ain't even doing what they want from somebody else for themselves? You know what I'm saying? They require us to have all of this, do this, do that. But what do you have this? Do you have this?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:30

Thank you. Thank you for saying I like that just chasing.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:32

No, I'm not chasing you.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

Yeah, you don't need to go get no sexy red. I've heard this guy, I'm gonna say that you said that, right? There's this guy. I listened to this. Um, I subscribe to this thing on YouTube. It's like gangsters talking, right? I like listening to the gangsters talk, right? And this guy got tattoos all over his face and stuff like that. It was crazy. They're like, yo, you would you date sexy red? He's a rapper. He said, No, why would I do that? I there's a sexy red right there. There's a sexy red right there, there's a sexy red right there. Sexy red just got a bag. He said, I want to date that. And I was like, good point. Even the guy with tattoos on his face knows that. Right. So I tell people you have to know, you have to give yourself value. And like you said, like you have to make sure that the person that you're gonna want to be with, and this is a lot for a lot of millennials, it's hard for them to understand this. You gotta make sure you know what you're getting yourself into, and you have to make sure that you are valuing yourself properly before you decide to jump. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:21

Exactly. A lot of these women I see these days, they want to they want a ready, ready-made person. And I'm saying, you know, you people have standards, you know, there's nothing wrong with wanting that, but then again, you have to realize what comes with what you want. Yes. Stipulation to everything. Always. You want a made man, but does that made man want, yeah, you cute, you pretty, you fine. Yeah, I want I got a nice piece of arm candy. But at the end of the day, if you don't have, if you're not on the same level or close to the level that he's on, yeah, he can go, he can say, you know what? I don't need you no more. You holding me back. You want him back.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:56

Matter of fact, there's a there's a number attached to it. Right. So for every man who makes over 80 grand a year, the less likely that they'll be uh faithful to you if you're not underlevel. Right. So if they're making 80 and you aren't making 60 to 80, they'll walk out. It's not a personal thing. It's just like it's not.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:16

It's an option. I mean, date, date with expectations of helping each other out of the way. There you go. It's always I'm not I'm not Captain Save You. Captain Save a host. I know. See, you write it. I mean, I've been calling the captain. She called it like it yet. She's literally like it. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not your let me be your savior on a love, a mental, stimulation level. I don't know. I can have money, but guess what? That money could be gone tomorrow. Yeah, something could happen back. Then what? What we got? We're both out, we're both ass out. Right. Let's help each other build. Exactly. Let's build an empire. And that that's that's always been my thing. And you know, my last my I used to always say to myself, I'm trying to build an empire. Yes. Like people want this Jay-Z, Beyoncé this, uh, whoever, these power couples out here. No. No. Like Beyonce wasn't on Jay-Z level.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:12

No, it went, he saw something else in her.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

Then she jumped him. And then she, yeah, they built this. They built it together, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:20

So, you know, that's it. You know, where can uh they find you on social media?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:24

Yeah. So really, I don't really, I don't do Facebook. I have a Facebook, but I don't really use Facebook, I don't use TikTok, I don't use Snapchat. I really just use the go. So, yeah, so my Instagram is the real t-h-e-r-e-a-l, Djpuff S-C. That's my Instagram. Well, that's what my puff, my page got hacked. My DJ Puff S C page. I was about to ask. That makes sense now. Yeah. Okay. Let me go follow the new one. That page was hacked while I couldn't. And I didn't, and this was during COVID. I got hacked during COVID, so I was down bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:00

So that was.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:01

So then no one could get in contact with you too.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:04

That was that was fuel on my fire.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

So do you like post any of your like playlists or anything?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:11

Like I used to. I used to do uh SoundCloud and all that stuff, but it's like I I need to, and my manager told me, it was like we need to start posting more content. And I you're a brand new. And it's crazy. I have crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:24

I was like, Serato, like the Serrata playlist. Bro, you know you can do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:28

You're right, you're right. And that's that's one thing that I listen to. I'm gonna hold accountable to myself. Yeah. And that's why I like accountability people around.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:35

Yeah, we we got you. We got you.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:38

Because like we run the playlist for our stuff, man. You put your playlist up. We'll pull some players. Yeah, we'll put your playlist up. Share it. So that's what we do. And people listen to our playlists. Listen to your stuff.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:46

And it's it's part, it's my fault because I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to dab into other things, and it's just like time consuming. Understood. Understood. You know, you know, I don't want to be working for nobody. I don't want to make somebody else rich when I can make myself rich. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:03

Exactly. So, man, say we're about to wrap up. But I gotta say, man, I enjoyed this talk. Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:09

Like I see you in the street. I never had get the chance to like sit down and like talk.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:13

We always talk about this. Is one of the things like because I hate to catch people when they're working or doing things. You can't really have a good conversation. It's not possible. Um, and I'm gonna remind you, man, baseball, baseball, baseball, baseball. But before um we wrap up, just want to say um thank you everybody for listening to the Hill Top Club Podcast. This is DJ Ann What.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:31

Tamai.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:31

And in the background, we got Skip, our esteemed guest, DJ Puff, baby. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:36

Appreciate you guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:37

We want to thank everybody for listening. Uh, make sure you tell somebody next to them that you love them, that you appreciate them. Until next time that we see you, peace.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:44

Bye.