This week we are featuring some of the hottest Djs from the West Coast to gain a new perspective on what a DJ looks for in a solid mixtape as well as what jams they play to rock a party. 

DJ Jam is a legend who started in the music business over twenty years ago from his hometown in San Diego, and at an early beginning in 1998 was a DJ mix finalist for the DMC U.S competition. 

Another prodigy from the West, official DJ for Warren G.,  winner of the US DMC Championship in 1993, and "The Box"  National DJ search is none other than DJ Rectangle. 

DJ Warrior,  is a two-time winner  of Justos Mixtape Awards for the best West Coast Mixtape DJ of the year, and was named Top Ten Mixtape DJ of the year by Rolling Stone.   

Tune in to DJs that won’t be accused of not speaking their mind, DJs take heed… 
 
 

AllHipHop: What projects are you currently working on ? 

DJ Rectangle:  I am doing a [Doctor] Dre CD, a club CD, and a new Hip-Hop CD.  Plus I am doing shows with Lady of Rage.  

DJ Warrior: Cali Untouchable Radio 17 with Strong Arm Steady (Dj Warrior & Dj Envy), Hot Box Vol. 2 with Taje, Rap Warz with Tyrant (Artist),  Dj Warrior  along with  Dj Green Lantern, 93 Fly with Jihad (Artist) Dj Warrior  & Dj Envy, Cashis (Shady Records), Dj Arkane, No Sleep Till... Nyc With Jayrock (Artist) Dj Warrior, along with Dj Envy, Dj Skee, Big Mike, and Bogish Boyz Vol.2 Cashis(Artist) Dj Warrior  & Dj Arkane. 

DJ Jam: I am working on my next CD/DVD project because I am bringing my CDs to life. I am also getting into a new realm of mix CDs entitled, DJ Jam Sin City Live. This is a mash up mixture between Rock meets Hip-Hop meets R&B meets Reggae. It’s a double CD. In the next week, find out more on my website, www.djjam.com. My website is merchandised differently. You will receive a mixtape free of charge when you buy anything from my smoking accessories merchandising company Puff by the Pound that I formed with Snoop. Today, I am starting a new project called Midnight Groove that is an R&B CD with female subject matter and hosted by Spinderella.   

AllHipHop: What do you feel is the best mixtape out now, aside from your own?   

DJ Rectangle:  I don’t know, I don’t listen to mixtapes. Actually, I don’t even listen to my own. When I’m finished creating one, I am so sick of working on it that I don’t even want to listen to it. I like listening to ‘80s music and old rap. 

DJ Warrior: Tony Touch's 50 MCs

DJ Jam: I always looked up to Dr. Dre and I make it a point to incorporate some of the things he does in what I do. As far as out here on the West Coast, the best mixtapes that I heard are from DJ Rectangle, Crazy Toones (DJ for WC and Ice Cube), and DJ TR from the Heavyweights.   
 

AllHipHop: What is the best exclusive you were given for a mixtape or radio show?  

DJ Rectangle: I don’t really get exclusives, I get freestyles. Eminem’s freestyle was pretty cool. 

DJ Warrior: Bun B, Sinful, Chace Infinite (self scientific/soul assassins) 

DJ Jam:  “Real N****z Do Real Things” by Notorious B.I.G., where he raps over all the West Coast beats. 

AllHipHop: What style did you originate?  

DJ Rectangle: I originated making a four-track sound like a sixteen-track. I combine all styles and I am good at all styles. For example, scratching a beat, sound/song selection.  It’s a combination of all. Normally, DJs are only good at one thing, they don’t combine everything.    

DJ Warrior: I bring out East Coast flavor with a West Coast mix and bring out a little more personality on the CD and in the mix.  

DJ Jam: Innovated – well made me who I am and it’s how I get my name – I use a drum machine sampler when I DeeJay. I would mix it with my turntables and I would put on a show or routine.  That was really different from what people do even today. 

AllHipHop: Are there any DJs that have copied your style? 

DJ Rectangle: Apparently, a lot but I couldn’t regurgitate their names at this moment.   

DJ Warrior: There are a lot of DJs in the West Coast that have copied my style. But no disrespect, we all learn from each other. I’ve learned a lot from other DJs and added my own twist to it. There is a lot of transferring style between us. 

DJ Jam: I am not going to say anyone bit my style. I hope that I’ve influenced DJs by how I rock in the club, or my stage presence, or rockin’ in Compton with Snoop, my mix CDs ,and the different interviews I’ve conducted. I’ve talked and given insight with DJs from all over the world and if we aren’t talking about all those areas I’ve mentioned, we are at least talking about one. Plus, I’m not stationed in one area for me to even notice a DJ even if he was biting my style. But, I’ve influenced these guys because they call and tell me all the time. And, I still pick up things from the new generation of DJs. I don’t do things exactly how I used to when I first got in the game. The whole mash up scene, especially Rock. The biggest influence for me was the entire transition between mix CDs into mix DVDs.      
 
 

AllHipHop: Who is the best newly signed artist 2007?  

DJ Rectangle: Did Jay-Z sign in 2007?  That was a joke. I am seeing a lot of young people but I am not really into down south music. I’m not completely up on my Hip-Hop so that is a tough question to answer. I like Lamont Bishop and I like T-Pain although I know he wasn’t signed in 2007. I still like the old artists like Snoop and R. Kelly. I know everyone wants someone fresh and new but you have to look at the longevity in the business. 

DJ Warrior: Lamont Bishop 

DJ Jam: Out here, [Young] Malay, and he can be heard on Crazy Toones latest mix CD/DVD called, CT Experience. You need to see this DVD because it will be a bearing on the  future of how record labels put out music. That’s a reason why my mix CDs will be DVDs. Glasses Malone, CPO, Bishop Lamont are other favorites.  They all have their own style.   
 

AllHipHop: What track do you play to hype a party? 

DJ Rectangle: The “900 number”, I still use songs with Fatman Scoop, that always works and Marvin Gaye, “Sexual Healing.”

DJ Warrior: Something from Biggie, “Hypnotize” always works for me. 

DJ Jam: “It’s a G Thang”.  [Dr. Dre The Chronic] 
 

AllHipHop: Which DJ really impresses you when you go to clubs? 

DJ Rectangle: Honestly, I don’t go to clubs. I’ve been working in clubs for the last twenty years, that’s the last place I want to go. Kid Capri impresses me because he knows how to hype a crowd with the mic and what to play.   

DJ Warrior: I have to give you more than one. I like Kid Capri, DJ AM and DJ Life.  I like DJs that can cater to more than one type of crowd, genre of music, not just Hip-Hop, such as Jazzy Jeff.   

DJ Jam: DJ LS One, I like his selection, style of how he plays, his demeanor on the mic, and how he talks to the crowd. I like DJ Rectangle because of his creative scratching and mixing. 

AllHipHop: What’s the best mixtape collaboration you've heard? 

DJ Rectangle: Honestly, I don’t buy mixtapes. I don’t care what anyone else is doing.  I just make what I like. I download music on the internet but that isn’t a full mixtape. I suppose I’m blasting out my credibility with every word I say? I listen to the radio, ‘80's music. When I go to clubs, I choose songs I like whether they are old or new. I’ve never  played something I didn’t like or because it’s “The song.”  I don’t play what is current on the radio. Most of what you hear on the radio is fly by night songs or songs that have a lot of money put behind them. It’s true. Most of the songs I play, aren’t singles.  The one thing I don’t like about listening to other mixtapes is that they couldn’t be played in the clubs.  DJs are too caught up with the exclusive songs. 90 percent of the time, those songs aren’t even that good that is why they didn’t make the album.  Not to say I don’t break new songs, but I am not going to play a song just because no one has it.     

DJ Warrior: Ice Cube Cali Untouchable Radio 11 and The Anger Management Tour by DJ Green Lantern.    

DJ Jam: DJ Truly OdD & Will Blast Collaborations.   
 

AllHipHop: What do you feel is missing in Hip-Hop right now? 

DJ Rectangle: I don’t really think anything is missing because artists like Common are using samples which I thought were missing before. True Hip-Hop isn’t being exposed as it was like underground Hip-Hop. Although, Hip-Hop was always commercial and the underground was never exposed on radio. KRS-1 is missing from rap and I think he should be rapping. He needs better beats. I think he’s too consumed with being a major part of hip-hop and tries to hard to keep it that way. Also, radio stations wouldn’t play that right now which is unfortunate.   
 

DJ Warrior: Songs with better concepts, more elements and better content and no "ABC" rap. 

DJ Jam:  Creativity in everything musically, music content and marketing 
 
 

AllHipHop: Which artists album release has the best chance in changing how artists put out records? 

DJ Rectangle: Ice Cubes first album. I think so many people are afraid of sampling.  Sampling was a major part of rap, they came from turntables. Nowadays, everybody is afraid to do that. It’s changed the way people rap and what they rap on. Money has basically changed everything with the licensing of rap samples.   

DJ Warrior: I would have to say Kanye West. I think he is diverse and universal. 

DJ Jam: Definitely, Dr. Dre.   
 

AllHipHop: What advantage or disadvantage do you have being from the West Coast? 

DJ Rectangle: I could go over to Mexico and drink when I was eighteen but I think I might be straying from your question. In the nineties, I don’t think there were as many opportunities in the West Coast at that time, compared to the East Coast where everyone and there mother was rapping. Other than that, I don’t really think there is an advantage or disadvantage in my occupation being from the West Coast.   

DJ Warrior: An advantage, we have an open market. There are so many different cultures and we have many opportunities over here and people copy our style. There are so many things going on that you can definitely learn a lot. It is so multicultural.

We don’t have enough people in top positions which is a disadvantage. Ice Cube, Snoop, Aftermath, and E40 are all we have. Also, the California atmosphere is too laid back and if we just got up off our a**, had a little more order and stuck together our disadvantage would be none.   

DJ Jam: We don’t get the publicity that the East Coast gets which is a disadvantage.  Shows such as MTV and BET are all based out of New York. If we had TV networks, we could put out some quality things too. We lack the media attention. 

However, because we don’t have that attention, people will pay attention whenever do get a chance, people will look at us because they don’t get to see that worldwide. I travel worldwide and they don’t know a lot of are artists because it is hard for them to get video play in North America.    

AllHipHop:  Top three West Coast Artists (Tupac doesn’t count) 

DJ Rectangle: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and DJ Quik 

DJ Warrior: Snoop Dogg, Eazy E and Ice Cube 

DJ Jam: Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and The Game 

AllHipHop:  Wow, no Eazy E.   

DJ Jam: Eazy E was a smart business man. He started a whole revolution but when we are talking about being an artist, going in and making music, no. He had his couple of songs, people liked his voice and that separated him. People thought he was very young, his entire aura was good. However, we are talking about being an artist and creating an album.   

AllHipHop:  I admire you because I thought you were going to pick Dr. Dre solely based on your connection to him. 

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