From getting his big start as a DJ on Shadville Radio with DJ Whoo Kid to now being the official DJ for all of Soulja Boy‘ Tell ‘Em’s mixtapes, as well as the tour DJ for SODMG artist Jbar, DJ Woogie has quickly grown to become a well respected mixtape and tour DJ in the Hip-Hop industry. Having also traveled to Dubai, London, Tokyo and many other cities across the globe, Hip-Hop fans across the world collectively recognize the talents of the Scranton, Pennsylvania based DJ that has been able to accomplish so much over the course of his 12 year career.Since 2003 DJ Woogie has stayed relevant by touring, releasing over 1000 mixtapes and continuing to produce for several artists in the game. DJ Woogie has collaborated on mixtapes or projects with, Eminem, G-Unit, Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Young Buck, Swizz Beatz, DJ Scream, Ca$hi$, Fat Man Scoop, Sean Kingston, Max B and nearly every member of the SOD Money Gang. Due to DJ Woogie’s drive and continued growth, the list of artists that DJ Woogie works with seems never ending.AllHipHop.com: Just so that our readers know, tell us how DJ Woogie got into DJing?DJ Woogie: Well, I got into Djing when I was about 14. My 0lder brother had some equipment and I just used to play around on it, scratching the records. At the time, it was cool and new to do. From there, at like 15, I started getting my own equipment, and began to DJ bars in my local area [Scranton, PA]. I’m thinking, “Man, I’m 15 and I’m djing clubs and stuff like that!” It felt good. Then, I expanded to mixtapes when I was around 17-18. Around that time, it progressed to doing CD’s. But, I remember a lot of DJ’s like (DJ) Clue used to put out cassette tapes. I used to cop the tapes before the CD was even out.AllHipHop.com: Really?DJ Woogie: Yeah. We used to go to New York constantly! Just to go to the parties out there, meet and network with people, and as I got older, I began saying to myself, “ That’s where it’s at. I got to start doing tapes!” At that moment, is when is started doing my own [mix]tapes and that’s when things just exploded! Before I got down with [Eminem’s] Shadyville, I used to do distribution for DJ Whoo-Kid throughout PA [Pennsylvania]. So, he [Whoo-Kid] always used to say, “ Yo, when I start my DJ crew, I’m gonna put down, cause I see your work. You’re a grinder.”AllHipHop.com: That’s definitely good look, man. So, what was your experience like working more closely with Shadyville and collaborating with G- Unit?
DJ Woogie: Like I said, I got down with Shadyville when DJ Whoo-Kid made the crew. We had a show on Shade 45 [Sirius XM satellite radio], and DJ Me-Mel was one of the more popular DJ’s in the group. Me, Noodles, and DJ Epps were on the mixtape side of things, and I grew to be popular quick. Everybody knew who I was because I was consistent. It [the mixtapes] got a lot of attention due to the way Whoo-Kid branded the market. It got respect. When you said that name, people respected it. Set aside the beef that 50[Cent] had with a lot of the down south rappers, we couldn’t play certain records. We couldn’t play [The] Game; we couldn’t play Fat Joe or Rick Ross. Those kind of tracks, we couldn’t do because those records are affiliated with artist 50 had beef with. So, for the publicity and the fame, Shadyville was a great name, but on the DJ side, we had a lot of limitations, and things of that nature. Overall, it’s a great team to be a part of, and I’m glad that I had my time there. It was a wonderful time there over at Shadyville, and I want to thank everybody for everything that they did for me over there.AllHipHop.com: With that being said, what came next After Shadyville?Woogie: When you grow, you know, you can only work on some ones corner but for so long before you need your own block; before you have to make moves. Step things up a notch. You know what I’m saying?AllHipHop.com: Definitely.Woogie: That’s when the move came about for S.O.D. [Stacks On Deck] Money Gang.AllHipHop.com: Tell me about S.O.D. Money Gang. You’re the official tour DJ, right?Woogie: I am the official tour DJ for Jbar; Soulja Boy’s official mixtape DJ. Nobody else does his [mix]tapes but me. AllHipHop.com: What does S.O.D. have coming up right now?Woogie: Me and Jbar just left from being out in Miami! But, we got a lot going on. His [Jbar’s] album is coming. We just shot the video for “Daze”. We just got Hot 97 FM in New York to premiere it on the radio, and other Hip-Hop stations. So as of right now, Jbar’s record is doing really well. S. O.D. has a lot coming out with Soulja Boy’s new album this summer; Jbar’s album this summer. Soulja Boy’s headlining a tour this summer and Jbar is on that tour. So its gonna be crazy this summer for us!AllHipHop.com: Can you tell us about Soulja Boy’s upcoming album at all?Woogie: It’s gonna be “Legendary”. He has a lot of hot records on there, Like the song I just sent you guys [AllHipHop Dot Com], called Making The Cut that is on the album. You know, Soulja Boy has grown since the time he did Crank Dat to now in March of 2010. He’s grown a lot. He’s learned a lot more about the rap game, and said that himself in some of his raps. He said that he learned more, and people thought he was wack. He became more versatile, and look at him now. Everybody wants a favor; everybody wants a freestyle, or a feature. People used to sleep on the kid, now everybody is on ‘em more or less to say! AllHipHop.com: Now, how did you end up linking up with Soulja Boy?DJ Woogie: Well, I linked up with Soulja Boy when I was still with the Shadyville DJ’s. I called YUMS, cause I remember seeing a couple people wearing it. That was when Soulja Boy first got down with YUMS and YUMS first started. And, as a DJ I was shaking a lot of mixtapes as a DJ like This Is 50, Shade 45, and different things. So, YUMS hit me back one day and was like, “yo, we’ll send you some clothes, and you should promote us a little bit. “We [YUMS] see you travel all over the world. I been to Dubai, Paris, Russia, Switzerland; the Middle East, DJing by myself. So, they were like we want to give you clothes to wear on your tours and s**t. I was like, “Cool.” They[YUMS] also happen to realize that I had a partner that works with hoodpromo.com that does DVD’s. He’s a videographer. And YUMS happen to say, “ Yo Woogie, we’re at the Magic Convention Center in [Las] Vegas, and Soulja Boy is the lead face for our clothing line. He’ll be out here with us for three days, can you come out and film everything for us.” I said yeah, fly me and my partner down. He’s the film guy.AllHipHop.com: Right.DJ Woogie: So, we went out there, and we’re at the MGM Grand Resort, out in Vegas, and I first met Soulja Boy. They were like he’s coming down; we need you to follow him [Soulja] from here to the convention, all around the convention, when he’s talking to stars, and at the YUMS booth, and that stuff. So, at the booth, Soulja Boy was taking pictures with everybody for God knows how long, so E-X and me sat down by the counter and people couldn’t see him for a while. And I was sitting next to him, and I was like, “ Yo man, you know, I see you working with [DJ] Scream, and you got to send me your music.”
AllHipHop.com: Okay.DJ Woogie: This was before I even got down with him. He [Soulja] was like, “ Yeah, no doubt. You know Im a big Internet kid. I see you out there, man. I know you’re grinding, I’m going to start sending you my music.” So I said, all right cool, and we exchanged T-mails from our Sidekicks. So I waited like 2 days after we were out there[Vegas] for those 3 days, because I didn’t want to be jocking him too much. Then, I hit him up on some business tip, like “Yo, its Woogie.” And he just started sending me music from that day on! Whenever he leaked it[music], he would have me included in the e-mail to Scream. After that, I just stepped into it like, “ C’mon man, let’s do some tapes. I see you only did 2 tapes with [DJ] Scream. King of the South and some Superman Tape you did when you first came out. Let’s start flooding these cats. You do a lot of freestyling on the internet with Jbar and A-Rab on You Tube, so let’s put it on wax and start pushing these tapes.” He [Soulja] was like,” I’m feeling you! Let’s do it!” From that point on, before I even got down with the crew, he used to hit me on my phone like, “ Woog, let’s drop. Woog, Let’s drop.” I was like let’s do it, homie, you know what I’m saying!AllHipHop.com: Without question.DJ Woogie: So, I was on the phone with Jbar, I told Jbar, “ Yo Jbar, you gotta speak to the homie Soulja Boy. You guys see my work ethic. I been doing everybody’s tapes; you gotta get me put down with S.O.D. officially.” He was like, “ Imma holla at the homie, and see what’s good.”So, not even a week later, Jbar hit me back and said, “ Soulja said you’re good. Welcome to S.O.D. Money Gang.” I was like, “Word?!?”, and all of a sudden, like 20 minutes later, He [Soulja Boy] started blasting it on Twitter. “” Everybody welcome DJ Woogie to S.O.D. Money Gang, Meet the S.O.D. Money Gang member”” and so on. And I didn’t get it until an hour later, and it was mad messages on it. Everybody’s like “ Yo Woog, where are you?” “ Soulja has been trying to get a hold of you, Welcome”. Greeting me, you know. Everything just took off from there.AllHipHop.com: I heard you mention S.O.D. going on tour. Are all of you going on tour together, or how is that worked?DJ Woogie: This summer will be my first road tour with them. Because he [Soulja] appointed me to officially DJ for Jbar and s**t. Jbar already told me like “ Woog, once we go on the road, I want you to DJ all my s**t.” All the other artists as well. But, this is my first year on the road with them. I already started a promo run with Jbar. AllHipHop.com:: That’s what’s up, Woog! So, you mentioned that you have toured all over the world, can you speak about how that happen and what that experience was like?DJ Woogie: Well, just linking. I have an agent overseas, P.H.I. Promotions. He is a booking agent. He’s my agent through contract. You know, he books a lot of artist; a lot of down south rappers and people who gets s**t poppin’. He books for other clubs. And He[P.H.I.] booked Hot Road at the time when I was at G-Unit, and I was DJing for him. I opened up, I think I was DJing in the club, and they really liked me, and my boy told me like, “ Damn, I didn’t know you could DJ that good.” I was like, “ Yeah, this is what I do for real, man.” So, he was like that he was going to try and book me some shows. He booked a couple by myself, and other clubs on the scene started coming at him, asking for me to DJ. People started hitting him up, requesting me, and asking for me. Then, he started booking me shows, and people would hit me up directly, without the agent. Like if it was one show on the weekend, I would just book it myself, but if it was two or more, I would let my agent do it. Like if it was 4 or more shows he would book all of it. Book the flights, and everything, that way I don’t get lost or miss flights. He just organized it all for me.I still get people that hit me up personally. Now that I’m with Soulja Boy, people just tend to find my contact information, my Facebook, my Twitter, my MySpace, and be asking stuff how much would it for us to book you over in France? And, how much do you charge to DJ like this? So, I call my agent, cause he has a connection of people all over, and ask him like, “ there are some places that want to book me in France, can you get me more shows?” And, he’s like “Yeah. Have them hit me up, and I make sure there are a couple more shows.”AllHipHop.com: That’s great advice and something other DJ’s can take note of for sure.DJ Woogie: Keep grinding. Don’t ever stop grinding because regardless of how bad s**t may seem or may get, everybody has their down days, Just keep grinding, and it will work out for everybody. You never know whose hand your gonna shake. That’s why I’m continuously networking because you never know what position that they’re in or who they know that could help your career. So, you got to shake hands with everybody, man.AllHipHop.com: Can you tell us about the Willie Da Kid mixtape?DJ Woogie: Willie Da Kid’s new mixtape is out now, and it’s a big thing! DJ Drama has been re-twitting it. The whole Aphilliates camp; I’m also trying to get in that, but we’ll see. But, the whole Aphilliates Camp is loving the CD. Everybody has been twitting and hitting my back like the CD’s hard. We just put it out. Me and Willie Da Kid have been boys for a long time now, and me, him[Willie] and LA Da Darkman have always been talking about getting up and doing this project. Willie has been overseas with Drama, getting booked for Drama’s album and singles, and been performing them. So, we finally got the chance and sit down when he[Willie] got back and be like, you ready to get this tape together. He went in and did 16 exclusive joints for me. There’s Drama all over the tape. It’s a crazy tape! So, you can definitely check that tape on www.datpiff.com. Wille Da Kid: The Cure. Oh, Shout out to Jo-Jo Simmons too. Be on the lookout for that mixtape too.AllHipHop.com: Whoa… Jo-Jo Simmons! Really? Cause I know he’s dropping a album soon called, “ Most Improved Rapper”.DJ Woogie: Yeah! He just text me, and I was supposed meet him in New York to talk about it in detail, but things been kinda hectic with my schedule. But, I’m definitely gonna put that tape out with him.