SPEAKER_02 1:45

Welcome to the Hill Talk Love Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Nathaniel Perkins, aka DJ Carolina X, and his wife, Sylvia Darlene. This entrepreneur and father started his career at a young age of 18 as a party promoter, specializing in both events in high school and colleges. He then went on to study the history of DJing and received a mass communications degree from Benedict College, BCBC. DJ Carolina X has been in the industry for over 12 years and has proven himself to be a major staple in the Carolina scene. He is currently a resident DJ at 102.5 the block and 105.3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. DJ Carolina X is known for his involvement with his community and creating experiences with the youth. He is also the official DJ for the Charlotte Knights baseball and a brand ambassador for Villain Friends. Alcohol? Okay. Brand ambassador? Okay. He has produced for numerous artists in the Carolina area and has the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Amigos, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, The Baby, Kevin Gates, Post Malone, Future, a whole list of people. Just know he's in there with everybody.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

And Sylvia, Darley, a mother, podcaster radio, our personality, was born in Bronx, New York, but raised in Columbia, South Carolina. Her passion for broadcasting is open doors into the world of media. She started off doing local interviews with our co-host. Yes, Carolina Queens. Yes, so we're gonna definitely talk about that to my album under Carolina Queens, which led to her next journey, starting her own podcast called Save More Podcast. And essentially, and I'm gonna go ahead and sell everybody this. If it wouldn't have been for the Save More Podcast, you guys wouldn't have this awesome, lustrous Hilltop glove pod. Appreciate all the other awesome things that we do outside of this. So we'll give you y'all flour. Appreciate it. None of us would be here right here. Real tall. Making us blush. With that said, both bodies of work lettered being discovered by iHeart Radio and producing a midday show on 100.1 to beat in Columbia, South Carolina. Today transferring to Charlotte to be on the street, to be on Streets 103.3 radio station on the weekends. She has hosted numerous events and interviews, including Kiki Palmer, Real Housewives of Potomac cast member, Giselle Bryant, Platt and recording artist Tuesday, City Girls, Michael Rainey Jr. from the hit show Power. How are you guys doing today?

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Good.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

I mean, I already know y'all whole life, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Just long and restroughs career now. We're just noble people, man. I appreciate the love. Appreciate y'all having us for real.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Yeah, I'm just so proud of this, man. Literally, I have to give my flowers to you guys as well for this empire that y'all built. So, yeah, thank y'all for having us on here. And I'm super duple proud of all y'all. This is a good thing. Thank you. But a lot of people don't know that we work together because, of course, you guys are married. I was in the wedding. Kev shot the wedding. So a lot of people don't know that. Full circle, man. You know, full circle, full circle moment. And like you said, when we first started doing Carolina Queens, we didn't know what we were doing. No. We just knew you like to give interviews. Um, I like to do the same thing, and we just like to collaborate with people. And then that led to meeting X with uh the beat in the Columbia, and then everything just merged together after that. So we have all grown over the years. Almost eight years. It's been a while. Like me and somebody was in a hustle and bustle with Carolina Queens, and we didn't know what we was doing. Just looking back, we didn't know what we was doing. We just know we worked. Yeah, we just work hard, that's it. And right, we just love content. So I think our love for content is really what grew, which built all of this because if we didn't start that and then we didn't meet you guys, and then we wanted to say more podcasts or to stay on beat podcasts, that led to beat um beat con. And then that led to this. So people gotta understand it's a triple trickle effect. You never know where you're gonna start, where it's gonna end, just do the work. Exactly. Exactly. Keywords do the work, proud of y'all know for the work. But no, we we got our stuff from you because when you were doing uh Say More podcast, we were looking at how you were editing the content, and and Kevin he watching everything. Oh, how he did the lower thirds, the logo, the branding, the logo on the back. Oh, yeah, so we all feed off each other.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah, I think that as far as what's gonna stand out from other podcasts and also what's gonna make us look official, like uh official podcasts and stuff like that's why I always be observant when observing other podcasts, as far as the lower thirds that you said, like the intros, like the cuts, the breaks, things of that nature, stuff like that. I take that crap very seriously as far as making sure our brand looks official. Even though we started out, even though we're a beginner brand, I want us to look official from the jump.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Now, did you go to school? You went to school for that. Self-taught. Self-taught, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Self-taught anything. Self-taught Photoshop, self-taught, what's the other program? Uh not Adobe Photoshop, but um audition, premiere, final cut pro I was just teaching myself because I just be at home bored. And that was another thing as far as me DJing. I wanted to stand out as far as a DJ is concerned, too. So I just want to make sure that my image is good too. So what makes sure that makes your image look good as far as a DJ? Video, graphics, pictures, promotion, advertisements.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

So talk about graphics. You do your own graphics?

SPEAKER_00 7:38

I do my own graphics. Everything that you see on my page, I do. Now I'm trying to lean back from that uh when it comes down to it because it shoots me in my foot a little bit. Because anytime that I like making a major announcement, it seems, oh, he made that, so it didn't come from the official person. So that's my mindset. That's the way that I think when it comes down to it. So if anything that you see on my page going forward, it's gonna come from that exact organization just to make sure that it looks official. Oh, okay. Like how our heart does it when they come, announce the artist and stuff like that. Oh, Lil Baby is about to perform. Here's his graphic and stuff like that. I could easily make that graphic myself and makes me look like a capper a little bit. So that's why I can lean back and let the organization do their thing and make things official.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Is it hard to give them that trust?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Then that's another thing. I glad you put that up. I'm so of a mental person, I want things to look the exact way that I have pictured in my mind. If that doesn't happen, I kind of contact them like, hey, can you put this right here? Like a perfectionist when it comes down to advertising myself. So I get it. I definitely get it. But other than that, yeah, I do my own thing as far as like graphics, videos, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

And you've done Sylvia's website. Looks bomb. Thank you. I was like, yeah, I'm like, oh my god, they did our website. It looks so good. Literally.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

So my graphics are she put me on a lot of vloggers, and I look at their vlogging content, so I'll try to mirror their well, not copy, but put her content in far as her personality in the way she will want to be projected. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Okay. You be getting on them? A little bit, a little bit, not as often because like he'd be ahead of things. I was like, hey, do we have to do this? Oh yeah, I'm getting that done right this and that and the third. Like, he'd be ahead of the game sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

I surprised her with a website. She didn't even know I was meaningful.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

I was like, well, he really surprised me with my website because I kept saying, Oh man, I need a website, I need a website, I need a website. And next thing I know, he sent me the link to my website and the passcode and all this. I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, what's this? He was like, Oh, this is your website. That's what I like about X. He be surprising. He's like, whoa, I was like, That's it.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

And she hates that about me too. Like, she hates when I do surprises and like announce things later. And when it comes down to it, because she wants to be involved in everything that we do when it comes down to it. When it comes down to her, I'm gonna keep it a secret. I don't care. I ask for forgiveness later. I just try to make sure that she keep that surprise factor for anything that she asks for, I'm gonna make sure I do it for her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

And I I loved it as far as like with my website and getting into blogging, it's been so much fun capturing like some of the events and some of lifestyle movements that I'm doing as far as what skincare regiments that I use, and then what makeup regiments that I use, and then what artists that I meet at a meeting group or what event that I'm attending. And on my website is just a diversity of certain things, it's not just labeled as one element, it's like a variety, and that's exactly like what I want to capitalize now because I know I was at one point just one-dimensional, but I'm like, no, it's more to me that a lot of people I feel do not know about me. They just know about me, oh, doing local artists, doing artist interviews, and maybe a uh celebrity here and there. But I was like, okay, no, there's another side of me that I'm just gonna put it all out on the table, and that's exactly what my blog is for, and especially what I'm doing currently now. So yeah, people don't know that about you. You do know a lot of products, skincare products. Sylvia knows everything. The brand, I just know what it looked like. What color is the bottle? She knows it's this type, this brand, they'll do this, and I'm like, oh, okay. I get text messages from our friends, our friends group like, hey Sylvia, what's a good dry lotion to use, or what's a good uh cream to use? What's a good moisturizer to use? And then I will go so detailed. Like, okay, Sylvia, I need all that. What else can I get out of you? Yeah, it's like using her products. Yeah, it's my brain at the same time, but you know, I just I'm the type of person I'm just not a gatekeeper. And I just would rather make sure like you get pros and cons of if you're gonna buy a product because at the end of the day you're spending money. Yeah, and I look at that angle, but I just want to make sure you get something that's right for you at the same time. So I've just always been like, yeah, that's definitely influencing because people want to brands want you to tell what why people should pick this certain brand. Yeah, so you do affiliate uh like marketing, so like when you put the link or you get paid off of having a link on your page and an info. Unfortunately, not that is definitely a goal to like tap into the influencer world. I just need to do a little bit more education on it as far as like my research, and that's what I'm currently doing right now, just like researching what I see, it's just basically me doing it on my own spin. It's like I'm influencing my friends' group versus influencing the world on my social media platform, because that's a different thing, yeah. But it's just so many of my friend groups and like personal friends and family is like, why are you not capitalizing off of this? It's just weird because I just like doing that. I just even do consultations, you can capitalize on just having a consultation. Exactly. I just really love doing that. I just feel like it's just a way of me connecting with the person. So that's why I like doing it. But that's in the future. Hopefully, if it's in God's favor, I can get to that aspect of my career is secure the bag.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

I gotta give uh I gotta give Nate credit because one of the things that I'll that I've learned from Nate, and this is crazy because Nate's younger than me, right? But I've learned so much from a creative perspective in a way, because it's like you tap into so many different skills that people take for granted when it comes down to branding and creating an aesthetic and having the ability to do it, and people don't realize until you start doing those things yourself how difficult it is. Yes, and it wasn't really until, like I said, not only just even through the beat con stuff, but just as far as starting with the Hilltop Glove and figuring out like how we want to set things up, present stuff, and just even like even with the content piece, I was like, Man, they used to lie.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

I looked at your flyers, that's when I started being interested in doing flyers. I know Photoshop, but how do what layers is that on?

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah, I was teaching you some things too, like not only for graphics, but like videos and stuff too. So I'll just be researching YouTube like on a free game for all my graphic designers and videographers out there, lenofx.com. That's gonna be your free game right there.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

I ain't gonna tell you much. Just type in their website. Hopefully they break me off a check. Leno FX taught me a lot of things when it comes down to branding off of videos, off of Photoshop, uh, for color grading, off of making sure that your video is timed correctly, cut correctly, um, all the special effects. I just take my time out on the weekends and I'm not DJing, I just sit down and just learn.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

So talk about that. How did you guys grow your brand? Each of you have your own brand, but how did you officially grow it?

SPEAKER_00 14:33

That's the funny thing about it. You mentioned earlier that I started off as a party promoter and stuff, and I always tell this story. I never wanted to become a DJ. Like that was not in my bingo parts at all. So, as a party promoter, of course, you book the host, the DJ, you know, the promoters, the team. There's one time that I booked this DJ and he didn't show up for a party, and it was a big party. It was a big, huge event. So luckily I had my laptop with me, and I was just mixing the songs myself during that time. I was like, I can get used to this. Okay. Yeah. I like the way I blended this. I like the way that that didn't blend it together, but still, it was still good. So I just wanted to practice myself just in case I ran into that issue again where I booked somebody and they don't show up. I'll be the backup. So when I started learning the true essence of DJing, especially with my um my first mentor, DJ D Tech, he taught me the true essence of turntablism, how to blend music, the history of the different genres of music, of the locations of where you have to play, things of that nature. So I took that into effect as far as becoming a DJ, and I fell in love with it. That's when I fell in love with it.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Shout out to D Tech.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Yeah, shout out to DJ D Tech, man. He the one. There is no Carolina X without D Tech. There's no there's no J-Rock. That's what the old name was. DJ J.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

What? I didn't know that. I didn't know. I did, but I didn't confused. Yeah, I was so confused. I thought it was like a family name or something.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah, so J-Rock was trademarked like three times for the life. New York and DJ's in Atlanta. That's when I got a teeth on the tip. DJ in Atlanta. That was crazy. I'm like, what is this? I I didn't even know what the term teeth on the tip was. So I'm like, at first I thought he was giving me a prop. Then I'm like, he was like, You got good taste today. He gotta stop using my name, fam. So I was like, okay, cool. Okay, I was like, how can I change it up as far as like changing the lettering? I was playing this video game called Kingdom Hearts. I don't know if y'all ever heard Kingdom Hearts is basically like a game that involves Disney characters, but it also involves enemies and stuff. In the game, when you die, your name and you you die in the game, you get reborn, but your name changes with the letter X in it. So they rearrange your name with the letter X. So Tamaya, if you like pass away and come back, the X will be the later on in your name somewhere. But the name would be completely different. So I got the idea from that as far as okay, let me change it to DJJ Rock's. My cousin didn't like that. He was just like, just keep it simple, just say DJX. I trademarked it, nobody had it. I was like, okay, cool. Yeah, then I got another season this.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

There's another season with this.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

There's a DJJ X in Atlanta, which we are extremely cool today. Oh, wow. So that's why Carolina X came into play. I like Carolina X. Because you're in the Carolinas. Right. I had a lot of people tell me don't do Carolina because you're eliminating yourself when it comes down to that name. But that's where you started. That's where I started, but you see where I'm at today.

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

I mean you can't lean over South Carolina. Right, right. You got people called Miami Mike and all that. DJ Bay K. You got people called stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

It's still global and doing things in Miami, doing things in New York. So it I was thinking that too, after a while being in the industry. I was like, I gave up.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

If I get enough seats to assist for Carolina X, it is gonna be sue me. I got a trademark now, nobody else has it, so I'm sticking with that. So the day I die, I'm gonna rep Carolina everywhere that I go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

And then talk about Sylvia Darlene. How did that brand come about? I mean, I know the story. They don't know the story. Well, Carol, Carolina Queens, I was just what, Sylvia? Yeah, I was just Sylvia. And Sylvia Darlene came when I got officially on 100.1B. When I was training with my mentor, Louis V. Did you have Louis V? Yes. And he's like, okay, what you gonna go with? I said, I guess I'm gonna go with what's your stage name on me. I said, I guess I'm gonna go with my name if I need something else. So I was like, okay. I said, what about my middle name? I said it's like an old lady name. I was like Sylvia Darlene. He's like, I actually like that. So he ran about my PD at the time, another mentor of mine, Tutu. And he was like, I like that. Let's stick with Sylvia Darlene. So it flows. Yeah, and I'm not gonna lie, there were some people like, oh, why don't you do Sylvia D? And this and that and third. And I was like, Yeah, I got made fun of. I never spoke about this, but I got made fun of my name from people that was in the radio industry. I did. And I was that was one of my biggest insecurities was like my stage name. I was like, okay. So then as I started, you know, learning my craft and saying my name, it started ringing. Hey, okay, I was like, okay, finally, like it's getting accepted and it's getting notoriety and stuff like that. But that's how I came with Sylvia Darlene and then transitioned to my podcast. To be all the way honest, Sylvia Darlene started when we started up Say More Podcast. Say More Podcast with Sylvia Darlene. So I just did that because I say I didn't want to Sylvia Darlene then it's my previous name at the time. So I was like, okay, let's just take that off, but not still thinking that would potentially be a radio name for me. So I was like, no, let's keep it that way. So we're gonna roll with that. And then next thing you know, that's when I got on air, and then I had stuck with that. And then I started building the brand by trying to capitalize, you know, doing other things as far as like interviews, doing local artist events and workshops, and it just ran with the brand, but now I'm tapping out into a different, you know, a different type of form, and I'm really trying to get into sports now. A lot of people do not know that that I am dabbling now into sports. I'm still dabbling into entertainment and lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

She's got more sports than me.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Yeah, I'm dabbling into sports, and because of the fact is I'm in fitness now. Yeah, I train six days a week with my trainer, shout out to James. And I train at Steph Curry's gym. And I train literally twice a day. And with me training, it's just ESPN is on, everything is on. Yeah. So I'm just like, just while while I'm doing the stairs, I'm just watching ESPN. I'm like, okay, I'm starting to like to get knowledge more of certain things. So that's what made me want to gravitate more on sports. But realistically, the real reason is I'm a huge WWE fan. I am a huge WWE diehard fan. People don't know that about you. Nobody knows that about me. I am a WWE fan. And to be honest, I was a fan as a kid, but he put me back on back in 2010. He put me back on and got me back into the formula of the storylines. Yeah. And I'm like, oh my God. And I caught it caught my interest. So now all is my Insta stories, my Instagram, WWE history. Talking about this. I'm so random, it's not even a shit. That's good. That's a field or an area that a lot of women are not taken serious in. So that's the whole avenue that you can create for yourself. And I am mostly geared towards the woman's division. Good. So that is really what I do. I always like put something every day dealing with the woman's division, dealing with like old history of WWE, like something we're dealing with, Eddie Guerrero, flashbacks of Rey Mysterio. Crazy. Literally. And then Yeah, and then with me being such a fan, and then I gotta give credit when it's due with him having a partnership with WWE. It gathered me to have one too, as well. And I got to interview my favorite female wrestler, which is Bianca Belair. That took me to the that took me to the moon. That's good. So yeah, um, I'm dabbling into that. I'm starting to get a little bit more knowledgeable of sports, but my biggest core is just going to be in wrestling because of you know my knowledge and history and then also my relationships. But a lot of people don't know that.

SPEAKER_01 22:32

Alright, so I heard a question. Alright, so back in the day. Not the first because you got your wrestling, you got pre-2018, yeah. Post-2018. Yes. So who would you say was your favorite wrestler pre-2018?

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Pre-2018, my favorite wrestler. I like female or male.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Uh-huh. You can do both.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Um, I will have to say my previous 2018. Could it be the attitude era or it has to be the PG era?

SPEAKER_01 22:59

Yeah, which one? You know, let's go attitude.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Attitude? Oh, stole code. I was about to say, why didn't you say that? Sorry, that's my favorite. Let me just make that my favorite wrestler of all time. Honestly, that is my goal to interview him and to at least spend a day with him, like picking his brain. Because literally, I love him more than his favorite wrestler. The rock.

SPEAKER_03 23:21

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

I love Stone Cold.

SPEAKER_03 23:25

It's all good. Yeah. It's all good.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Uh what's it? 360? What's the guy? Ray Mysterio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there's somebody else. One more person that used to do the back flips.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

It's a lot of dudes. It's a lot of dudes. It's a lot of them.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Right now it's a ricochet. We have ricochet that does a lot of like acrobats and stuff in the green. I'm a Say probably back in the day, if you're looking at the attitude era, it is Ray Mysterial, but it's a lot of wrestlers that have a lot of acrobatic skills, but they just can't use it in the ring because of who the owner was at the time, which was Vince McMahon. He withheld a lot of that. So with that being said, she dug down the rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

She does she digs the rabbit hole, boy.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

So there is a lot. There is a lot. Like a lot of people don't know. I don't know if you guys know Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins does a lot of acrobats. But he can't do it because of the type of wrestler they want him to be inside the account.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Yeah, because you got yeah, because you got it, because you got the roles that you got played. Because that's what people don't get. A lot of them play.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

And a lot of females do it too in the ring, too. Like there's so many. This new women's division is so good, and I'm just so happy to be a part of the knowledge and the history and just taking notes and keeping up with the pay-per-views, keeping up with the episodes on Mondays and Fridays with Raw and SmackDown. So yeah, my knowledge for it is up to you.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

And then also, which is really dope about that too is, and this is, I guess, more like on a serious note, that gives that's something that you guys could bond on too. And so that's really dope. Because you know, I gotta um gotta mention that. And so I guess so. If you guys had to pick, which one is your favorite? You got are you more of a raw person, you more of a smackdown? Because you're very different, very different.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

I'm both, I'm both, but who I like on the roster right now on which brand I'm gonna have to say SmackDown because Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns, and they just added and announced yesterday Jay Cargill. Literally, Jay Cargill that is about to make history. I'm sorry, Bianca Bell there's still my top, but no say it at all.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Y'all gonna be here all day talking to wrestle with her.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

So let me crank it up, crank it up. Yeah, I would say smack now because of the roster that they have. My favorite female, my favorite male wrestlers on there right now. So yeah, but Shade Raw, still tune in for Raw, but in our Raw for sure. Talk about like successfully landing a brand deal. Because you guys both work in different areas, but you seem to merge it together where you guys both have brand deals. So, how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 25:54

It's just basically stepping outside the box as far as a DJ being concerned, as far as I do a lot, a lot of hip-hop clubs back in the area, but I always wanted to expand my brand as far as like different genres, as far as like top 40, reggae tone, Latin, reggae, things of that nature. Doing those different avenues lead to different people. Those different people have different brands of their own, so they have their ear listening to me when it comes down to hey, I could use him for this type of event right here. That leads and opened doors for other opportunities. As far as the brand deal I have with Dylan, that was basically radio based. So they wanted to pick all the influencers from Charlotte as far as like radio is concerned, uh parties are concerned, things of that nature. And I was shocked when they hit me up here just emailing me.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

That's a really good drink.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Yeah, it's a it's a great drink.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Did you think it was a scam or something?

SPEAKER_00 26:51

That's another story that everybody gets into as far as these brands is concerned. But nah, at first I didn't think it was a scam because it was so well thought out as far as them contacting me. But Brett Barrish, he broke down everything to me as far as what the actual brand and what the actual cognac is. It's a sister brand based off of Bel Air.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

And cognac is amazing. You can mix it with damn near anything when it comes down to it. A lot of people already sponsored as far as like DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Red Ross, Helvic. So it's it's a lot. So I was very appreciative of that. And those brand deals leads to other brand deals as far as like the recent one I got with ESPN. Going back to your question, I thought that was a scam. Because the way they were emailing me and contacting me, oh yeah, we want to use it for this event, but we can't release the information as of right now. So if you agree to it, that's when we can tell you exactly what it is. And I'm thinking, like, okay, let me leave this email up. Then they email me three more times. You need to answer ASAP.

SPEAKER_03 27:57

I was like, pour me the email real quick.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Okay, let me entertain it. So entertain it. Let me entertain it. Let me entertain the phone call at least. But shout out to Aaron. He he's well versed. Um he's part of uh Mosaic North America. So they're a promotional brand out of Canada that promotes events all throughout the normal North American region. And they teamed up with ESPN as far as bringing, you know, the ESPN bet app to North Carolina because North Carolina just passed a law we can bet now.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

So what's that? Like sports book uh prize picks, okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

You bet on the games as far as like the album. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Exact same thing. Exact same thing. So North Carolina just passed a law that we could officially bet here now with no restrictions, so that was a huge thing. ESPN Bet wanted to take advantage of that, so they reached out as far as okay, we need like a personality or DJ to play music throughout the whole thing. Oh, cool. Surprisingly, I was in the number one pick. Oh, that is a fact. I was like, yeah. I was like, and that's the same thing he said too. You don't want to respond back. I was the top one in Charlotte, and I'm not even from here. Right. So that's just a testament of the fact of hard work and knowing the right people in the right places and stuff because it came down to recommendations that they came up to me. Charlotte Knights is the same thing as far as the radio station. I got recommended because I was on a radio station and I was implementing top 40 songs. So it's just the fact that stepping outside of the box from what you normally do creates an opportunity that's gonna take you further when it comes down to it. It's gonna open a lot more doors. So don't be shy and restrict yourself from opportunities based off the fact that you're scared to take this opportunity. You're scared to do this skill, you're scared to do that skill. Just practice that skill and it's gonna open a lot of opportunities for you. Just like it did internationally, Japan, Bermuda, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Hard work definitely does pay off. It does, it does the groundwork and the favor where everybody likes to say play your position. It's really doing the work, doing the hard work, and it'll take you further than what you think. Because you might think that nobody's paying attention to you and nobody's showing you support. Because I was feeling like that too when I I announced my blog and everything like that. Of course, I got you guys the support, but you know what I'm saying? I'm not on that level of motion or like they call it, but people actually see what I do, and like the notoriety and some of the comments I get on my blog is very heartwarming and touching. So it is all about the hard work, it's not about the likes, it's not about oh, the shares. Sometimes it's really just about you putting the work because regardless of the fact of a person not showing you any like love or any share love, as long as you're doing it, they don't say, Okay, yeah, she's doing it, he's doing it. I think we in a day and age where social media feels like you have to prove stuff, whereas I just my advice is just take your time and just be consistent. Yeah, talk about that a little bit more. Like, how do you rebrand yourself and like how do women present themselves on social media and men present themselves on social media, like the difference between that? Oh, yeah, I would like to tap on that because of the simple fact is men have to present themselves a different way than women. Women should not try to present themselves the way the same way a man does because it's it's different, it's really, really different. Because the way that you put yourself out there on social media, you just gotta be careful because at the end of the day, you are your brand.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

Okay?

SPEAKER_02 31:31

And if your brand, which is your name and your brand tied into another brand, just be very mindful. That's why you wanna be able to write down certain things on how you could brand yourself on your social media platforms or any other platforms outside of social media and make sure that it's the lucrative move because you gotta make sure your image one. A lot of people do not like to discuss about that because they feel like, oh, you just gotta be yourself. Your image will take you farther than you think. I'm gonna be honest with you, it is an image, it is an image thing, but the image and the hardware gotta coincide together because you are your brand. Because I have seen things where as though it would not be in certain people's favor, it's because of that brand saying, hey, well, you don't keep yourself up, and the way you carry yourself on social media, this is not the what we feel like would be a good representation of us. Women really truly, honestly, I'm just speaking for women have to be careful how they carry their brand. If you want to carry your brand this certain way, if this is your audience that you want to tap into, that's fine. I'm not hating on that, but if your brand is in a certain type of range, just be mindful because whatever the outcome is and the goal that you want for your brand, those people are looking. So be sure that you one keep consistent and be careful what you put out there because it does travel. So that's one thing I did have it online. Sharing your stuff and you don't know about it. Yes, ABD and this is like real quick. Why she got this dress on? Why she got this dress on it? Screenshot. Screenshot.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yeah, rolling your cool. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

Let's talk about fatherhood, motherhood. Let's talk about that. You guys got a little one just waking up. So, with all the the knowledge that you guys have learned over the years, of can you tell us a little bit more about the journey in becoming new parents and having a child and growing together and also growing separately? What's that like? That's my rival right there. No, it was a true blessing. This little one is a true blessing because let me tell you something. I had one of the most struggling pregnancies. I literally had a high risk pregnancy. I had HG, and then I also had precleantia had on my son. My son came two and a half, three weeks early, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 33:54

And it was just like the baby shower.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Right after the baby shower, actually.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Yeah, right after the baby shower. He came. He came that Thursday. That following Thursday. Yeah, and it was just it was a struggle. That's also a reason why I had to kind of like sit down for two almost two and a half years because it was a lot to recover back from having him and then just being sick that whole year. Yeah. So like I was bedwrapped. Yeah. But the gender reveal and the baby child was extremely sick, and it was just like a miserable feeling. But the blessing and outcome was him. Lord, it was him. And I love motherhood. It taught me a lot, and it taught me to be extremely strong. So I'm loving it. And now it's time for me to get back to where I need to get and still be able to balance being a good mom at the same time in a in a good way. Sometimes. But no, definitely it is a good balance now for me. It does take some time to balance all of that, but I'm in a good place where it's all balancing both. So I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

She could be the first one to tell you like I value my sleep more than anything. So if I don't get the proper sleep, I'm the grouchist.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

How? You DJ, you stay up all time.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

That's the thing. So like my time schedule has kind of like flipped a little bit. So I'm extremely nocturnal. So when it comes down to it, ever since he came, sleep is not in my vocabulary anymore. But I adapted to that. I definitely adapted to that because fatherhood is extremely important. Like he forces me to be the best person that I could possibly be when it comes down to it. And also in my mindset, I have to create that balance as far as I want him to see me doing all these amazing things when it comes down as far as traveling, doing this brand, doing that gig, or anything of that nature. It kind of slips in my mind that I have to create balance to actually be there for the both of them as well. So it's like, yeah, he motivates me to do bigger things, but at the same time, he also motivates me to actually be there for them. So that's a balance that I'm like struggling with to this day as far as being there for them and also taking the opportunities to make sure that he's gonna be settled for the next 18 years because he ain't gotta work for nothing.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Yeah, I swear to God, he ain't gotta work for nothing for life.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

He ain't gonna work for the rest of his life when it comes down. I'm gonna teach him hard work when it comes down to it. But if any time that he falls, we're gonna be there to pick him up. And so that's what we're working at as far as fatherhood, motherhood. It was rough at the beginning, it was extremely rough, especially with sickness and stuff. But that's why it was very important for me to be there for.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

And I'm glad that you mentioned too, because a lot of times when people, um, especially when you're in the creative world and you're an adult, not that people who are of age aren't adults, but when you have responsibilities outside of just your creative, your creative work, right? When it comes to, like I said, significant other child. A lot of times people aren't really honest about struggles to be able to make sure, keep all those things on the same page, right? Or prioritize those things. And that's what's really great about us having this conversation right now, because a lot of times people won't tell, hey, sometimes it's tough, you gotta figure it out and stuff. And this leads me to this question. Is he a napper? Oh yeah, you saw him, he was napping. Yeah, like during the day, is he something like consistently like a napper during the day?

SPEAKER_00 37:26

I would say he'll nap two times a day. Yeah, two times, maybe. So through the night, but once he wakes up during the night, he wakes up. Yes. Okay, so uh uh uh we have to put on Gracie's corner.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

It's like my son.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Nah, go back. He he's he's a napper, yeah. He's very laid back, as y'all can see right now. Like he's just chilling right now. But um, y'all chill.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

I mean, yeah, y'all chill.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

And that's the thing, he picks up after us, but once he gets in that mode and wants to play, yeah, it's like times 10 when it comes down to it. He wants to talk about so when it comes down to it and stuff, it's like me and her, we we planned it out. Like marriage, baby, job, all that. All that was planned out when it comes down to it. Y'all know, like, it's just the fact that it's just the fact that as soon as he was born, it's crazy. All these opportunities just came knocking at the doors.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Like you followed your purpose.

SPEAKER_00 38:25

Where were y'all when there was no babies? Like I can easily. I was thinking about that. All these opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

Y'all really handling it though, balancing it real well. So, how do y'all balance work in life? Because you communication, you you travel international. Communication is the biggest key. And the calendars. Y'all share y'all Google calendar.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

No, we about to.

SPEAKER_02 38:53

But the thing is, you know, we has uh he has an assistant manager, and one thing about it though, like she's really good. I'm I stay away from that. Yeah, I stay away from that because the simple fact is she be on it with him. You know what I'm saying? And one thing about being in the industry, we married, but I ain't on top of his stuff. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Because I have my own stuff and everything like that. So he's in good hands. But with the summer picking up and him getting like more, more than yeah, like I'd be like, yo, share with me. Like, so we can communicate and figure out because nine times out of ten, what I do, I could be at home with my child. Right. Him, he has to travel, he has to get out there. So it's a balance now for sure.

SPEAKER_01 39:33

It's like, what you doing with my passport, bro?

SPEAKER_02 39:35

See?

SPEAKER_01 39:37

And we keep the saying too, man, because it's like I say, it's real, right? Yeah, it's real.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

Do y'all have any projects coming up?

SPEAKER_01 39:44

A lot.

SPEAKER_02 39:44

A lot.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

A lot. And I'll let you know.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

Oh, you want me to say build the beans? You want me to build the beans.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

So, uh, as far as like the podcast is concerned, we're dubbing up another podcast called the Five Star Podcast. It's gonna be a podcast that's based off of wrestling, entertainment, sports, movies, things of that nature. It's kind of like an all-around thing. Yeah. And she's gonna be the forefront of it.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

You know, she loves movies. Some people know the worst of every movie ever. It'd be like, dang, are you like a you just memorize everything? This is why I love Mama Stephanie because Mama Stephanie loved me. Yeah, she's a mama love movie, so yeah, they could talk about that for hours. I'll be in her room on her bed just talking about movies while smart be like, oh my god, go away. But yes, I'm super excited about that to get back into podcasting. That was my first love to be honest. And I'm just super excited, literally, to start back into this. Is it gonna be just like you guys? Are you interviewing other people?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Oh no, so we're gonna have um two more co-hosts this yeah um that we're gonna announce later on soon and whatnot. We're just trying to get everybody's schedules, you know, to correlate with ours. Okay. Um, but definitely we're gonna be interviewing other people, like major talents, uh entertainment. The same thing, same thing that y'all doing.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

Yeah, we just link you up with uh the girl in Charleston, GC One. Um what's her name? Yeah, we're all like, hey, I need you as a co-host.

SPEAKER_00 41:12

I'm up here today.

SPEAKER_02 41:13

I need to be able to do that. I need your opinion on this, and I can't, I don't think this person's gonna get it.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

I don't remember y'all can always be taxing. You know how we do it, man. We families.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

I just thought about because we did a playlist every week. What if we just drop one of your playlists?

SPEAKER_00 41:28

That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

You see this. That's cool, bro. Yeah, I see like it.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Yeah, we take this. I got you. I got you on that. Okay. I come up and you let me let y'all know like the new songs or some of my personal favorites. Yeah, yeah, I can definitely do that.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

Yeah, sometimes some of them come out in his mixes. Like, I'd be like, okay, because I'm not tapped in no more. I feel like I felt off when it makes some music.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Who's this? If it ain't sexy red, she don't know it.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

I love shout out to sexy red. Oh, and no, I'm still a Cardi B. Hold up, you ain't no Cardi B man no more. I mean, I like Cardi B, but I mean, it's other people coming on it. Oh, Nikki? No, no, Neg. Meg. Oh my gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Yeah. I might need to pick your murder. Let's see.

SPEAKER_02 42:16

I really I'm just gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

This is that simplified. This is a six-year finesse. She knows what she's doing.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

She knows what she's doing, but at the same time, I'm ready for the album. And the better, you know how sometimes the second album's always the second album always flops. I think that's what she's afraid of.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

I think so too.

SPEAKER_02 42:31

Yeah, because every second album flop.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

It was a perfect time. Like her album couldn't have hit any other time. It had hit that time. It would have been like a year before or a year after, it wouldn't have done what it did. Right. Because it hit right there, it got so big, I think it's the answer. You know, it's me, it's that it's that fear of disappointing your fans.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

Yeah, I'm and it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

That's exactly what she said on her live. Exactly what she said. Just fear of disappointing the fans when it comes down to the quality of music that she puts out. Yeah. So she wants, she's a perfectionist too. She wants everything to be great.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

That's why she flagged a lot of records. Like she was freestyle on Ice, she uh had a feature on Ice Spice song, um, her first album, first uh record, Munch. And she scraped it. Cardi B, she was like, I could not catch the beat. I did not like it, and I kid you not, her verse was really good. I said, Dang, she ate on that one.

SPEAKER_01 43:18

But the thing is, regardless of what you were saying about her, she's somebody, and I and this is something I know I hate when people think about it this way, but she's somebody that actually tries and she cares. Yeah, she cares. That's something that you don't hear a lot of.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

Some of them don't know.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

She wearing hard on the sleeve, though.

SPEAKER_02 43:31

Yeah, she didn't wear a hard on her sleeve. I ain't gonna say that's a Bronx name, but you know what I'm saying? I just didn't feel like that's really um hard. You think that's a bronze thing? Look at how you look at it. I don't like the Bronx no more. I I done I've been to South Carolina, my pivotal years in South Carolina. I don't want the pivotal years. So you from South Carolina now?

SPEAKER_03 43:51

She's from Little South Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 43:53

I don't know, I don't know what I'm sorry. Mom and Dad still, because you know I'm saying, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but not me no more.

SPEAKER_01 43:59

But you know y'all New York folks, baby. I'll be right to New York, baby.

SPEAKER_02 44:02

I'll be right back in South 15, 20 years, why did you move here? Because my mom got a good job. Okay, then be quiet. Let it go. Let it go, let it go, have a seat. Have a seat.

SPEAKER_00 44:12

Check a little super ass.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

When I did live in New York, when I did grow up, it was uh no limit, it was cash money, like they were running New York so I don't know. Yeah, the locks, yeah, with the locks from New York. But I'm just saying the South was still pivotal when I was living in the Bronx. I don't know what people be talking about. Oh, oh, did Down say I was still this and that and a third? It's okay. Bye. Let me see.

SPEAKER_01 44:36

Before we wrap up, this is a question I had. How did you how all how did all three of you guys meet each other? Because I know you guys I always knew you guys knew each other. You guys wanted better than it. I don't want to tell my story. Surviving Benjamin. So somebody has to tell the story.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Me and Sylvia we met through her best friend Nikia. Who Nakia was I was close with Nakia because we was in the same class. And then when I started hanging out with Nikia, that's when I met Sylvia, and then we started doing your mom and Nikia used to work together. Yeah, they used to work together. Her husband. Mm-hmm. Nikia husband in Charleston. This is family. This is family. Yeah. And then we met X through uh the beat. We started working with the beat because we were doing content. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

Oh. Yeah, I met you through the beat. I mean someone else. Yeah. So I was working at Target. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

She was my manager.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

She is she was my baby.

SPEAKER_02 45:39

Because I went to school for the patient.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

Her friend, no, not Gina, but Pam walked up to me. Like, yeah, that's your manager right there. I was like, Oh, the one with the fat ass in the target.

SPEAKER_02 45:50

Really? I was like, then you had your eye on the thing before you came on the beach.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

But then I was like, I got fired from Target. Oh wow, that is full story.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

Yeah, and I was like, I saw it maybe like three or four times, and the next thing I told her now you got fired. Oh, okay. So this is definitely divine. Yeah. Yeah. No, we were authentic friends. Authentic friends, literally. And when you go through struggles and stuff like that, and then you're able to share and be able to relate, the friendship grows strong. And then boundaries are put in place too, as well. So that's what made it even bigger. Because he had we had boundaries. You know what I'm saying? When me and Tomiaya joined the media squad, we had to be able to do that. He didn't even, yeah, he didn't even say that he liked her enough. That's why I didn't know he wasn't that target. That's why I'm like, yeah. Well, hey, what's up, Nate? But he did tell me he he wanted to get serious about her. This was time afterwards. Afterwards, yeah. Time after. Yes. Like you said on the wedding speech, oh, red dress. I said, I said, I said, don't play with her because she ain't nobody to play with.

SPEAKER_01 47:01

But you know what? I'll give you guys props for because y'all don't have been in media for so long and you guys haven't had a relationship for so long. Um, you know, of course, obviously before you got married. One thing I'll say is, man, y'all always kept it really professional. Thank you. Y'all kept things compartmental. And I remember even like um when we started working with each other and stuff, I remember I would have conversations uh with Sylvia, and I remember one conversation we had was about, I guess, because you guys were in a relationship, but she really wanted to communicate that you guys were in a relationship to the community. But she couldn't. But she couldn't. And that used to frustrate her so much. And I wanted to talk to me about that. Because you know, because you know, because to y'all outside of this, we're like me and Lisa are like the old, we're the older married couple. The relationship goes in a sense.

SPEAKER_02 47:49

I definitely think to you about that. Yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 47:52

And just the way y'all handled that, because I know, man, so many times things can get so messy with that. Absolutely. And you can have a really beautiful thing that you guys got here that can just be like deterred stuff. And it was just really awesome just seeing you guys just navigate through that and just be where you guys are too much.

SPEAKER_02 48:05

So probably all that I gotta give credit to our first PD that kind of said the same thing to us. He knew, and I was scared to tell him. Tutu, I was scared to tell Tutu so bad, I was like, uh, Tutu was about to kill us. I thought he was like, he's about to kill us once he finds out. Because I said they started to say the whole time. He knew the whole time. He said, Well, I did not say nothing to you guys was because you guys were keeping it professional. He was like, I was testing y'all. Okay, and we're gonna remain keeping it. Cast with flying colors, and now y'all need city. And she would not take them off. He's like, I'm not switching y'all. Y'all gonna keep this going on. Melody would not take you off middays. Nope. I thought he was gonna take them off, but he did it. Alrighty. Alrighty, time wrap it up.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

Time to wrap it up.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

Well, we're just gonna wrap this episode up. Thank you guys so much, and we definitely can't wait to collaborate with you in the future. Absolutely. And especially if we can promote anything you got going on, let us know because content is content. Same our page is your page.

SPEAKER_00 49:04

Stay tuned for a big announcement next week. It's a huge one.

SPEAKER_03 49:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 49:10

I'll shock. But things I can release is that I got Sydney, Australia this year, I got Iran this year, I'm going back to Tokyo this year. It's a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 49:20

Big things coming.

SPEAKER_00 49:20

A lot of big things, big things popping.

SPEAKER_02 49:23

And when people can find you guys on social media, stay locked in. I'm Sylvia underscore darling still. S Y L V I A underscore D-A-R-L-E-A-E. Yes, you'll get Instagram later.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Yeah, you get to Instagram later. Follow me at DJ Carolina X on all social media.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Alright. Thank you guys for a great episode.