For the past two weeks DJ Scream has been riding high off the success of the his newest mixtape release I’m Da Man Pt. 3, done in collaboration with Shawty Lo. The mixtape was released All-Star Weekend and has logged tens of thousands of downloads across the net.
The first release in the “I’m Da Man” mixtape series was the first mixtape to feature Shawty Lo’s debut hit “Dey Know.”
The third installment of the series features guest appearances by Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne, Ludacris and The Dream.
DJ Scream also has a weekly show on Sirius XM Hip Hop Nation called HoodRich Radio that airs every Wednesday at 10PM, as well as a show on at one of the biggest Hip Hop stations in Atlanta, Hot 107.9. on Monday nights at 9 PM.
AllHipHop.com kick’s it with DJ Scream to find out his history, his current plans, what he has in store for the future and some of the artists he’s checking for.
AllHipHop.com: For our readers that don’t know, tell us how you got your start in the mixtape game.DJ Scream: I came up being influenced by local DJs and started at the age of 12. By the time I was in high school I was making mixtapes. I was influenced by the Jelly’s [DJ Jelly], the Tony Touch’s, the Screws [DJ Screw], and the Whoo Kid’s. Always had a mixtape in my tape player. More influenced by the mixtapes than anything else
I started doing them in high school, I kept doing them in college. The first really ground breaking project that I did was I’m Da Man with Shawty Lo, but I’ve been doing mixtapes for a long time before that. I’ve been staying down for a long time. I feel I am a student of the mixtape game, so I feel like I finally graduated and now I’m actually getting my chance to shine.
AllHipHop.com: The definition of a mixtape has definitely changed over the years, can you talk about the definition of a mixtape and what a mixtape means to you?
DJ Scream: I just look at a mixtape as any type of street album or compilation. Anything that is not just completely polished. On an album stuff has to get cleared. That’s really just the answer there, its really just raw or uncut. It could be an artist rapping over other people’s stuff. It could be a rapper rapping over something like a sample that hasn’t been cleared. It could be a compilation of the artist’s greater hits. There’s really no rules or definitions on a mixtape. I definitely love what Drake did last year. I don’t know what you call it, but I don’t know if I would call it a mixtape, it’s a street album. It was dope! Anything but a mixtape, but it was dope, it was the best of the year, whatever you want to call it. Underground album or EP, but in order to call it a mixtape, I think you need a DJ.
AllHipHop.com: What’s up with the new mixtape with Shawty Lo. A lot of buzz around that. What we can expect?
DJ Scream: Shawty Lo I’m Da Man Pt 3 has really been anticipated. A lot of people are buzzing on the WTF ft Lil Wayne song that’s not even out yet, but he just shot a video for that recently. He talks about real life situations and songs like “Why Does Money Make Me Feel So Good?”
AllHipHop.com: So you got your radio show with SIRIUS XM Radio on Hip Hop Nation called HoodRich Radio. Can you tell me about that?
DJ Scream: Well XM and Sirius merged so now its Sirius XM radio. It’s not just 66 Raw anymore. It’s actually on Hip Hop Nation and I got a show called HoodRich Radio. It’s a real ground breaking radio show every Wednesday. It’s basically like a two hour mixtape where I break a lot of records. I always premier Lo’s record there, Wacka Flocka’s “Oh Lets Do It” was originally broken there. It’s was the first place it was played radio-wise. Travis Porter. Swag Surfin. I am always the one cracking the new records on there; I am always cracking that stuff wide open.
AllHipHop.com: Who have been some of the guests on the show?
DJ Scream: I like to interview people that the streets are interested in. I don’t just limit it to just rappers. I have Chris Johnson and Marquis Daniels coming up soon. Really anyone that the streets is interested in, and I have done really every rapper you can imagine. We actually just had Pinky come through; I’ve done a few p### stars. Young Buck has been on the show. Hell Rell, Killa Mike, the list goes on and on. I try to give it a different twist. Like how those people are view hip hop.
AllHipHop.com: Heavy in the Streets is your brand and mixtape series; can you talk about that briefly?
DJ Scream: Yea Heavy in the Streets, me and my manager were just chopping it up thinking about a brand to go with for parties and mixtapes. It’s just like my staple mixtape series. Anytime I think it’s something that I think the streets will be into, I stamp it as a Heavy in the Streets edition. I have been really fortunate for the streets to embrace it and accept it.
AllHipHop.com: What songs should we be looking for right now?
DJ Scream: Right now Travis Porter, Wacka Flocka, Texas got some heat from a few artists. Alley Boy, Big Bank Black from DTE are really doing well right now. They are definitely starting to pick up steam so I would definitely watch for those artists.