And while many mixtape aficionados rightly place him in a class with popular DJs such as Clue and Green Lantern, the truth is that Kool Kid really is in a class all his own. 

The thing that separates Kool Kid from the rest of his peers is that he isn’t like many of today’s mix tape DJs who are more inclined to play records and freestyles from known artists. And worst yet, a lot of DJs are more apt to play music from a certain genre or geographical area as opposed to playing what’s really good. Not the Kid. Kool Kid is never afraid to take a chance on new artists that he feels are hot, regardless of where they’re from or who they’re down with. Hence the reasons his mixtape series like Hood Legends, Rap’s New Generation, Denim Underground, and his new “The Diesel” series are a must have for hip hop fans around the world. Even his R & B mix tape series R & B Chicks and Touch Me, Tease Me routinely sell out. 

“A lotta DJs are what I call name brand DJs that play what’s popular, whether it be D-Block or G-Unit,” says the Bronx native who moves an estimated 10,000 (that’s excluding the bootlegs and downloads) mixtapes every time he drops. “On my mixtapes I don’t play the same thing everybody else plays. I cater to everybody. I want to be national and international. I play music from every area and do my thing with it, as opposed to every DJ that’s in the city.”

As a result of his willingness to push the envelope, DJ Kool Kid has become one of the more sought after DJs when record labels want to break a new artist or record. He was instrumental in breaking D-Block’s J-Hood on the streets of New York and played a major role in helping to establish multi-platinum recording artist 50 Cents’ lyrical reign on the streets. This is one of the reasons he was invited to join the Violator DJ Crew. 

Aside from breaking records on mixtapes, ruling the party circuit in NYC and around the country, and running with the Violator DJ Crew, Kool Kid served as a DJ on Nickelodeon for four years while in high school. He replaced DJ Kid Capri on Russell Simmon’s HBO Def Comedy Jam, a position that he held for two years. He has served as the official tour DJ for such artists as Keith Sweat and Jason Weaver. 

He was also a member of the early Desert Storm DJ crew. “I was with them back in like 97, 98 just before they made the transition from No Question to Desert Storm. It was three DJs back then -- myself, DJ Rated R and Clue. That’s when Desert Strom was like the Terror Squad of the DJs. We were running around wilding out. I remember instances when Clue and Envy were like enemies. They were in a war where they would actually make each other wreck each other’s cars. It was really on some crazy stuff. If you go to a party, you’d never leave the party without some type of drama. It was wild man.” 

In 2002, Kool Kid set out on his own and along with his partner, Big Dev, formed Konkrete Kaos Entertainment, a production/marketing company that also does artists development. Kool Kid is currently developing is an independent underground compilation that will showcase some of the best rap artists from the North and South. “What I’m trying to do is an indie album that will be on Konkrete Kaos/Pure Pain Records,” says Kool Kid. “It will be a down South meets up North type of album.” 

And if all of this isn’t enough, Kool Kid still is one of the most sought after party DJs in the world, DJing parties from NY to Cancun to Germany. He says that there are plans for him to do both satellite and commercial radio plus a whole lot more big things in the very near future. “Right now all kinds of opportunities are opening up,” says an exuberant Kool Kid. “There is certainly more to come.” 

Recent Writeups: 

Ozone Magazine- http://www.ozonemag.com/jun2004/text-djkoolkid.html
MTV- http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape/072604/
Violator- http://www.violator.com/story.html?story_id=42
Rap Mullet- http://www.rapmullet.com/_sgt/m1m1s1_1.htm

http://www.violator.com

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