Fly Guy DC: The Ultimate Culture Connector In Atlanta

If you’re in Atlanta and you’re out turning up, it’s hard to miss Fly Guy DC. Responsible for bringing all the vibes and good energy into the nightlife scene in the A, DC is a culture creator, event host, brand ambassador, and radio personality with his own nightly show 6pm to 10pm on Streetz 94.5 in Atlanta. 

Previously on air with Ferrari Simmons, DC plans to continue what he’s always done: breaking today’s hottest artists from Lil Baby to DaBaby to Megan and Roddy Ricch.

Deemed the “voice of the millennials,” the 29-year-old states, “I do a lot. I’m a jack-of-all-trades to be completely honest. When it comes to the culture in Atlanta, I play a major role in a lot of stuff that happens in this city and in the Southeastern region.”

What sets Fly Guy DC apart is he has mastered the concept of hosting, and it’s nothing he can explain in words. DC states, The party is not about himself or the DJ, it’s about the birthday girl who’s in the club with 20 of her friends. The party’s about the people, and the average host doesn’t understand that concept. He explains, “The more you make it about the people, the better your brand will be. I’ve mastered making it about the people, you have to witness it.”

AllHipHop: How are you holding up with the pandemic?

Fly Guy DC: I’m holding up good. I’ve had the blessings of not catching COVID, so I’m holding up good. Literally incredible.

AllHipHop: Why you are the voice of the millennials?

Fly Guy DC: Oh man, it doesn’t get any better than me in the Southeastern region when it comes to the community. I’m in the schools: I do pep rallies, I do proms. I crash the proms and bring their favorite artists. I go speak to the schools on career days. I have panels at the schools. I do reading programs with my brother Ferrari Simmons at the schools, that’s the homie. I’m very big in the community of Atlanta, outside of the club and radio life. The people can touch me, I touch the people. I’m involved with everything major that goes on inside of the city, that’s one of the reasons I’m the voice of the millennials. Secondly when it comes to the craft I’m in, including radio and hosting, I’m the youngest doing it. I’ve progressed faster than anybody in the craft previously.

AllHipHop: What was the craziest prom you’ve done?

Fly Guy DC: When Dae Dae had the “What U Mean” song, the song was at its peak. We brought him to a prom somewhere downtown. Every prom experience is incredible. There’s one I did with Justin and Ferrari, we had them “Swag Surf.” Before the “Swag Surf” beat dropped, we spinned the song “Bad and Boujee” and that went viral. It went viral everywhere, it was when “Bad and Boujee” was at its peak.

AllHipHop: Talk about your roots in Atlanta, what was a young Fly Guy DC like? 

Fly Guy DC: My roots began in D.C. I played sports: basketball, baseball, football my whole life. Even in high school, I played all 3 sports. I pursued basketball and played basketball in college. I never had dreams of hosting or being in the entertainment industry, it was more of a sports thing for me. 

Growing up, my mom’s a single mom of 5. I was the oldest so I had to play the father figure role, which I set so many examples for my younger siblings. I have 4 of them on my mom’s side. My little brother, he’s 26. I have a little sister who’s 22, then my twin sisters are 16. I had to set the example and be the role model for them because there was no father figure in the house. Everything that happened in our household I was the first to do. I was the first to graduate college, I had to lead by example. My brother followed my footsteps now, next is my sisters.

In 2007, my mom moved to Georgia. I had an option to stay in D.C. with the rest of my family or move to Georgia. Me being the older brother, I had to move with my mom. It messed up a lot of things. In D.C., me and my little brother had basketball, football, baseball on lock up there. Anybody knows playing any type of sport, moving to another state — no matter how good you are, no matter how talented you are — once you get to a space, place, or school, people already have who they already have. Everything’s already set usually. 

I went to a school called Morrow High School on the Southside, they already had their whole basketball team. Everything was already made: the starting Point Guard, his mom and dad were over the booster club. I played Point Guard. My senior year, the spring football game was scrimmaging against each other. The defensive coach wants to put me at running back for some odd reason. I played defense, I played cornerback. The first play as running back, a lineman falls on the bottom part of my leg and broke my tibia and fibula. I lost every scholarship offer I had for every sport there was that I was playing, it changed everything for me. 

Luckily, I did still get a chance to play college ball. Went to Middle Georgia Tech, I won them a ring my freshman year. Got a gym built in honor of us winning that ring. From there, hosting started. A couple of my homeboys threw a party and asked me to talk on the microphone. I’m thinking “okay I’m a people person, I’m just going to talk.” I didn’t know it was called hosting. In the midst of me making people laugh, people started to book me. I went from being booked at one club to 3 or 4 clubs in a week. I started to take it serious a little bit. I was in for the perks. 

AllHipHop: What perks?

Fly Guy DC: In the industry, you know the perks. You have the females, the fast money, the networking, the relationships. It was that until I realized how much money was in it. I got my first out-of-town booking, they treated me like a god. They treated me like an artist. They paid for me to get there, to get back, for my hotel, for my security, for my food, driver, everything was taken care of. I got back to Atlanta and started to take it serious. I was booked 7 days a week. Every party promoter or club owner wanted me at their club or event. Fast forward to 2014, the owner of the radio station comments on one of my Instagram pictures and asks me to email him. Tells me he’s the owner of the station that I’m on now.

AllHipHop: He reached out to you? That’s crazy!

Fly Guy DC: He reached out to me. I never had no radio background, never was an intern. I emailed him. The dope part is he reached out, but he didn’t get back to me for 2 years. I didn’t hear from him for 2 years. He emailed me in 2015, I’m looking like “bro I emailed you 2 years ago.” He said “hey, I want you to come to the station. I want to meet with you.” From there, it’s been history. 2015, I joined forces and was on DJ Holiday’s show. 2017, a demand came for me in the city. There was a bidding war, I landed the 6pm to 10pm show with Ferrari Simmons from 2017 to 2020. Fast forward now into 2021, I have my own night show 6pm to 10pm. This wasn’t planned, it just happened. 

AllHipHop: Talk about the energy you bring, whether you’re hosting or on air. 

Fly Guy DC: This is me saying this as humble as possible: nobody can create the energy I can create when I’m hosting or on the airwaves. Not because I know my capabilities, this is what people tell me. Club owners, promoters, the people have spoken. My energy’s different. I don’t treat any event the same, I don’t treat any day on the radio the same. A person can be going through the worst in their life and come to an event I’m hosting, they forget all their worries.

I was hosting this after hours spot, a girl walked up to me and I helped her beat cancer. I know for a fact it’s nothing I can do to help that, that’s all God. She said her being out at events, my energy and me being the person I am helped her get over a lot of things. I get stories like that all the time. To hear stuff like that, wow. That’s how I know my energy is changing the culture and shaping the culture and reinventing what they call a host.

AllHipHop: When did you pick up the name Fly Guy DC?

Fly Guy DC: I used to go by Sucha Fly Guy DC in 2013. I was young, it had a ring to it. Because I’m from DC and moved to Georgia, my teammates called me DC. The Fly Guy came from how I dressed. Moving from D.C. down South, the dressing was totally different. I know Georgia didn’t get its first H&M until 2015. Up North, we wore fitted stuff. The stuff that’s in now, we’re already wearing it. When I came down here, the sneakers with the Wale lace where they’re not tied, we’ve been doing that since birth in D.C. I dropped the “Sucha” in 2014 because it sounded so young.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwdQYoxJBEE/

AllHipHop: What can we expect from your new night show on Streetz 94.5?

Fly Guy DC: New night show is incredible. Being in a top 10 market is very competitive. My show segments are insane. It’s a lot of energy. Of course it’s a lot of breaking new artists, which I’ve been doing since I’ve started radio. From Lil Baby, DaBaby, Megan, Roddy Ricch, all these artists that have come out since almost 2016, me and Ferrari have had a hand in them as far as helping them, giving them their first radio interview or them running around the club with us before the world knows them. They all can vouch for that. Every interview, they start off saying “thank y’all, y’all was the first ones to do this, do this, do this.” It’s more pushing the culture forward with my show, breaking new artists and giving artists that platform to where they could be heard because my stamp in the city means something. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fly Guy DC The G.O.A.T. (@iamflyguydc)

AllHipHop: I saw that Cardi B shoutout on her IG Live, what was your reaction? 

Fly Guy DC: Insane, to be completely honest. Cardi was already huge because of TV but when she first got into music, she was in Atlanta and came to some of the clubs I was hosting. I gravitated to her. On my page now, there’s a picture of me and Cardi B in 2015. She had red hair with a Corona in her hand, before she was Cardi Cardi. I have an ear for music, so I gravitate toward good music or people who are talented. I did what I could in Atlanta in the Atlanta market with my platform to help her. Now, it’s all love with her. 

2 years ago Superbowl in Miami, she was booked at a party I was booked at. She stopped everything and said “listen, DC been rocking with me since day 1.” I was on her Live when she released the “Up” record. It was 100K people in there, I typed “hey Cardi, I need a drop for my show.” She stopped everything she’s doing, she read my comment and did the drop live. I didn’t even catch it at the time because I didn’t expect her to do it. I had over 100 DMs of everybody who screenrecorded it, sending me the video which is how I got it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7f2edJYYm/

AllHipHop: What does it mean to be able to get all these plaques? Tou recently got one for Mulatto.

Fly Guy DC: It means a lot because it shows the appreciation from the label’s side, from the artist’s side. It means much more when a lot of people don’t get it. Prime example, only 5 people got the Mulatto plaque: her, her manager, her DJ, me, and Ferrari. A lot of people don’t take risks on artists until they see somebody else doing it. When Mulatto got off The Rap Game, she wasn’t nowhere where she is now. I had her with me going to pep rallies, going to proms, running around to all the schools. Those plaques mean a lot, especially when they’re limited. I know labels and artists have to do what they have to do to keep everybody happy, but when they’re limited and not too many people get them, it means a lot because we’re appreciated. 

AllHipHop: How is it working with Ferrari Simmons? What’s your guys’ synergy like? 

Fly Guy DC: Me and Ferrari’s energy is insane. Nobody can duplicate what we did on our run 6pm to 10pm in Atlanta from 2017 to 2020. It can’t be duplicated. It’s impossible. The energy’s unmatched. I mean, Ferrari’s the older, OG, more experienced version. I’m the young, more hip to the streets version. Together, it’s yin and yang. The stuff I don’t know or I’m not well-aware of, he’s already there putting it in play. The stuff he’s out of touch with with the youth, I’m putting it in place. It works perfectly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fly Guy DC The G.O.A.T. (@iamflyguydc)

AllHipHop: I saw you introduced Russ and Lil Baby, bring us back to that moment. 

Fly Guy DC: Me and Ferrari were interviewing Lil Baby, and Russ on the same day. One interview was at 9pm, the other one was once we got off the air at 10pm. Lil Baby got there earlier, so we Facetimed Russ and said “yo, we need you to get here now.” We told Lil Baby we’re interviewing Russ, Baby said “dang, he’s dope. I want to meet him, I never met him.” Russ arrived, we go downstairs and I introduce them. I asked Baby off the interview, “would you do a song with Russ?” I know Russ wanted to do a song with Lil Baby. Weeks later, Russ texts me “yo, we got one. I appreciate you.” This was 2018, the song’s just coming out but they’ve been sitting on it for so long. To be able to connect the dots and be a culture connector, it’s incredible. The stuff I’ve done for this city and the industry in general, nobody can take that away. That’s the best part about this.

AllHipHop: How important is consistency in your field?

Fly Guy DC: Consistency’s everything. You can fall off for 2 or 3 weeks, the next person’s ready to take your slot. Master your craft because there’s always a new young gunna ready to take your spot with more energy, way more excited. Don’t hate on the young gunnas, let them gravitate to you. Take them under your wing, teach them the game and ropes. I didn’t have nobody who took me under their wing. When I was coming up in the hosting game, everybody wanted to s### on me. It made me say f-ck all the OGs. I respect y’all but y’all ain’t want to give me the game then, how could I respect y’all now that I’m on? It’s very important to pull in some younger ones under you to teach the game to because your legacy will live on forever. 

AllHipHop: What is a normal day in the life of Fly Guy DC?

Fly Guy DC: A weekday? I sleep in till 3pm or 4pm, because I host late. The clubs out here, I’m double, triple, quadruple booked. Each club I’m not at for longer than an hour and a half. I get paid to be at clubs by the hour. All Star Weekend: Friday I have 3 clubs. I have Lil Baby at Gold Room, then I go to the Dome with Future and Moneybagg, then I have an after hour. I sleep all day because I’m not getting in until 6am. If it’s a weekday, II wake up, shower, head to the station. I’m on air from 6pm to 10pm. Once I’m off air, maybe a meeting then it’s right back to the club. It’s repeating the same process over and over again.

AllHipHop: Are you partying in these clubs? Are you sober?

Fly Guy DC: I’ve never drank or smoked a day in my life. I’ve never done hookah a day in my life. It doesn’t appeal to me. No peer pressure could make me do anything I don’t want to do. Artists from your Lucci’s to your Trouble’s, I get offered money money to say “yo, take a shot with me.” Trying to persuade me, but it doesn’t appeal to me.

AllHipHop: Were you at the cucumber pool parties with Trouble?

Fly Guy DC: I actually hosted that. I’m the reason why that went viral. [laughs] 

AllHipHop: Top 3 artists in rotation?

Fly Guy DC: Lil Baby and Lil Durk in the Top 2, they have the game. Oh, Pooh Shiesty! 

AllHipHop: Anything else you’d like to let the people know?

Fly Guy DC: If you’re in Atlanta, I guarantee you you’ll be somewhere I’m booked at. Make sure you tap in. If you don’t know who I am, you will. Ask your big homies or your favorite artists, they’ll know who I am for sure. 

AllHipHop: What’s next for you?

Fly Guy DC: TV’s going to be next, there’s no way around it.