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From The Bronx to The O2 Arena with DJ Ominaya
153 Plays15 days ago
This week I am joined by Dj Ominaya, we talk about growing up in the Bronx. Where his love for sneakers started, how he started DJing. Where his hustle comes from and where his love for hip hop came from. How he and A Boogie with The Hoodie connected. How he is able to work with him and Lola Brooke. How everything comes back to sneakers and much much more!
Where to find DJ Ominaya:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/@djominaya
X: https://x.com/djominaya
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/djominaya
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Early Memories
00:00:00
Speaker
Because you're standing behind something that covers your feet. Yeah, you can't see. But then, you know, back, like, you young, once you come out the booth, you want the girls to be like, he look good. He clean, he got his kicks.
00:00:14
Speaker
I remember one time, i couldn't afford Timbaland boots. So I went to, like, Fava. uh-huh and bought just so a pair of black boots that look like tim's yeah you got and i wore some bootleg i wore some bootleg jeans yeah and covered the whole boot yeah but it looked like they were tim's so i got away with it yeah after i had on everything else was clean but those was not tim's man i'm
Meet DJ Omanaya
00:00:45
Speaker
What's good, everyone? Welcome back to My First Kicks. And this week, I bring to you special guest, DJ Omanaya, man. What's up, bro? How's everything, man? Thanks for having me. oh Big, big honor, man. you know Thank you, man. You've been traveling the world, and Martin hit me up and was like, got to have you on this podcast. Shout out to Martin, man. Put this together. Shout out to Martin. Flawless Crowns. The whole thing.
00:01:07
Speaker
um Yo, first off, one, thank you for for for pulling up. you know You are DJ that's traveled with, and you back, I don't know, is it called backing?
00:01:20
Speaker
that what what is the What is the right term of like, just the is you just like, I'm just DJing for... Oh, no. ah Well, yeah, it's like kind of a DJ and, you know, I'm kind of like a music director yeah for for the artists.
00:01:35
Speaker
So it's a little bit of both. you know Yeah. the The music directing part is. yeah And then also i like I'm like the hype man as well. Yeah. I don' mean, that's tough. I feel like that's like so like even just the the idea of of being on a stage and like you got to amp the crowd before the person comes along. It's like such a big undertaking.
00:01:56
Speaker
So that's the that's the thing with ah working with an artist. you gotta have your ah stage presses presence on point You got to You got to be able to get it to where the the artist, when they come out, it goes to the next level. so Definitely pressure. Yeah. Does that phase you at all? just ah I mean, I'm used to it now. yeah It's been so many years. So it's kind of like, you know, clocking in to work.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you got a fun job then. That's what I'm saying. Love it. Love it. Yeah. So but you're here to answer the question that I ask everybody
Sneaker Culture and Hustle
00:02:31
Speaker
each week. And that question is, what's your first kicks?
00:02:34
Speaker
What's that first pair of sneakers you absolutely need this to have? um Back in the days, I can't remember exactly the first pair of kicks, but I know ah getting Air Force Ones was one of the highlights for me, getting a fresh pair of white Air Force Ones.
00:02:52
Speaker
White on white? Yeah, all white joints, because I couldn't really. didn't have money like that back in the day. Where did you originally grow up at? In the Bronx on Tremont Avenue. hey Also on the other side on 174th and Vice. so um You know, grew up with my mom and my dad separated, but I would be on both sides of the Bronx.
00:03:12
Speaker
Oh, so one of them lived on Tremont. My mom lived on Tremont and like Walton side, four train. My dad lived on the two and the five train side. So. Damn, you got it. was.
00:03:23
Speaker
What's that? There's like, isn't there like a strip there where it's like stores? Yeah. Southern Boulevard, Simpson. And the other side, of Burnside, Fordham. All that stuff is on that side. And did you go there for the all line White White? All time. Hung out over there all the time.
00:03:39
Speaker
Got my first joint set at Dr. J's though. Okay. Southern Boulevard. Hey, Dr. J's. Man, Dr. J's, man. I miss Dr. J's, yo. yeah Dr. J's was like the, the this it was always packed before high school. like Crazy, man. Before high school started, yeah it was just packed to the brim. But then you still get, i remember being in the, yo, I remember there was one time before high school.
00:04:03
Speaker
And I don't know if it was like after this came out or before it came out, but you remember when Iceberg did the Fat Albert collection? Yeah, for sure. Oh yeah. Yo, I was so hyped to find a pair of shorts with Fat Albert on the back.
00:04:15
Speaker
oh I was like, oh, I need these. You was lucky if you was able to buy those, man. Or like the, you remember UNK? Yeah, course. With the NBA logos, yo. Oh, man. They had a lot of stuff back then. I'm like, you know, it was Averix jackets, Vances. All that stuff is coming back around now. So it's like.
00:04:32
Speaker
It's true, yo. Averix is starting to said like pick it up with the. They going crazy. They going real crazy. The Hellstar collab is going crazy. Yeah. That Hellstar, we were just recently talking about it with the DNA. I had DNA on here. And he was just like, yo, you seen the Hellstar collab of AvaRex? And i was like, yeah, it's crazy.
00:04:48
Speaker
When I went to, I didn't know how big Hellstar was. And i'm pretty sure not yeah I'm pretty sure you know how big Hellstar is. Well, this you want to know a funny story. ah Before they they blew up crazy, we were out in elm we was out in l LA. And then we was actually doing a show.
00:05:06
Speaker
And they gave us a box of gear. Mm-hmm. And it was like, we all wore it. And you know, like it was sweatsuits. We was on tour buses. So I was like, I left mine on the tour bus.
00:05:17
Speaker
Literally like a couple months later, people paying like three, four, $500 for one hoodie. And that's the hoodie I left him on like the tour bus. No, it was just like, we were running around and we were at the last city. Everybody just wanted to go home. Nobody looked in their bunk.
00:05:32
Speaker
usually they'll ship you back yes what you leave on the bus they'll call you like yo did you this is all that's on the bus did you leave this they didn't call us back from they probably kept it all like yo you know that that shit went on grailed like immediately but shout to them man they they definitely put that work in and got that brand up yeah for sure the like what was your journey like with sneakers were in in in the bronx did you go to school in the bronx Yeah, I went to school in the Bronx, high school.
00:06:03
Speaker
And then um i don't I don't know. It was like when I became like 14, 15, was actually like selling sneakers, not sneakers, selling T-shirts at Yankee Stadium. Okay.
00:06:15
Speaker
Like illegally. But Yankee, they were Yankee shirts? Yeah, bootleg Yankee shirts from like 28th Street. And it was a bunch of us. It was like 20 of us, 30 of us from the block.
00:06:26
Speaker
And we had, you know, a couple of OGs that would would have the boxes of shirts. Like, yo, we out to Yankee Stadium. You know, you get X amount for per shirt. Yeah. And we would sell shirts every night. And we would come back to the block, play dice, box sneakers, go shopping. And that's when sneaker addiction started. Oh, man. That's crazy. but Like I said, ah you know, i my mom, she was just, you know, working. My stepdad, they was just working to really pay the bills.
00:06:51
Speaker
And um I had a little brother. Got little brother and on my dad's side, you know I was the only child, but you know he was doing his thing. was like, I'll get you what I can, but I can't you know i can't go crazy. yeah So when I started making my own money, that's when I started buying sneakers. Like, yo, I want these. couldn't get these before. I want these. So selling t-shirts was the end to get the bread. Yeah.
00:07:15
Speaker
that's I mean, look, that takes engine ingenuity, bro. Man, got arrested, man, Tom. For real? You got arrested? The good thing is ah back then I had like a crazy baby face. So by the time I was 18, I still looked like I was 13. I had no facial hair. yeah Like I looked like a young, I was real skinny. I used to play basketball.
00:07:36
Speaker
So they always like, I never carried ID. So I was like, you do it yeah, they took me under the stadium one time. like literally right across from the yank Yankees locker room. yeah um I'm just like, what the fuck?
00:07:49
Speaker
So was like, damn, this is crazy. I mean, that's crazy for you to and then be like, all right, you're like, I'm 13. They literally, yeah, they literally grilled me and was like, you know, what's your ID? What's your ID? I'm like, I don't have id I'm only 13. They like, oh, man. all right. Well, you got to stay here till the game's over. So we know you don't sell no more shirts, blah, blah,
00:08:10
Speaker
Crazy full circle moment. um but I don't remember if it was last year the year before, but we did the Hip Hop 50. Yeah, that was ah two years ago. Two years ago. Yeah.
00:08:21
Speaker
And um I was in that same area. Really? That I was held. ah we we like We were like one of the headliners for the Hip Hop 50. That's crazy. a Boogie. Yeah. Yo, that's crazy. That was a full circle moment for me that day. I was walking through the same hallway they arrested me in and walked me through. Did you see your younger self? Like just... Man, I was just like, I was just i can't even believe I'm back here doing this. like It was just like, wow.
00:08:48
Speaker
That's crazy. you Playing Yankee Stadium, man, did you ever think that that would actually happen, him man? Nah, man. so Always a dream, you know but never thought in a million years like I'll be performing there. like And then especially for hip-hop 50th anniversary. like yeah grew
The DJ Journey Begins
00:09:04
Speaker
up on hip-hop. It saved my life.
00:09:06
Speaker
Well, like, how did that start? How did you find your journey into into hip-hop? So, I always liked music. um And it wasn't just always hip-hop. I just loved music in general. So, you know, I have a Hispanic background, of Dominican, Puerto Rican. But growing up in the urban area, you listen to hip-hop, you listen to reggae, you listen to Spanish, listen to little bit of everything. Yeah.
00:09:28
Speaker
Long story short, I always loved music. And then I met somebody who taught me how to DJ. We used to play baseball together. And from the DJing, you know, it just turned into loving all aspects of music, house, hip hop, old school, whatever. like So that's when everything just started.
00:09:48
Speaker
Just connecting. Yeah. And I'm like, man, I really like doing this. Did you, so like, did, so from going to selling shirts for sneakers, right? Then did that become like selling the sneakers for, you know, DJ equipment or? Nah, I never had to do that, thank God. Because for a while, ah we would just use my boy's equipment. And I was still super young. was like 15, 16. So for me, I was ah i was selling t-shirts still.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I was DJing at the same time, like at his crib, you know, on the weekends when I was, after practice, we would all hang out. His mom would cook lunch for us and we'd just mess around. But with my little money I had and he had his little money, he was a little bit older. Yeah.
00:10:31
Speaker
We would go to a record shop called Flipside, which was on Simpson Street on Southern Boulevard. And we would go buy vinyl every weekend. Man. So we would just chip in. Bigger the crates. Yeah. Like would chip in, buy vinyl and we'll be happy as hell. Like, yo, we've got three records. You got three. All right, cool. Let's go rock out. Uh-huh.
00:10:48
Speaker
And that's how it all started. Like, you know, did that was that like the like old school? Well, old school. I don't know. But the like like DJing the technique style where it's like you're mixing record like you're you're scratching from left to right. Yeah. Is it that or is it, you know, you're just. Yeah. No, it was all of that.
00:11:05
Speaker
I still use techniques like I still have my twelve hundred. So when I stream live on Twitch and TikTok, my ah so I still have my twelve hundreds up as fire.
00:11:17
Speaker
People love the art of vinyl now. Like vinyl is coming back. It is. So it's like a whole trend now. Like, you know, it's funny you say that because like um I got like I was recently talking to a younger cat and he was like he was like, yo, you know, I want to I'm going to buy a ah CD burner and start burning CDs.
00:11:36
Speaker
And I'm like, yo, yeah we going backwards. Let me tell you, my daughter's nine. My youngest daughter's nine. And she has a collection of vinyl. I bought her a record player for her room. yeah And she listens to her vinyl every day. Now, the other day, she asked me, like, I want CDs now. I'm like,
00:11:55
Speaker
Then she asked me about cassettes because i still have a few old cassettes. and she was like, I want a cassette player too. I'm like, this is crazy. We going backwards. She's going to be like, can I get an A track? um Right. I'm thinking like, let me can I just give you a thumb drive with a thousand songs on it? Now I want records. She's going to ask for iPod.
00:12:15
Speaker
yeah All that. iPod. iPod MIDI. Yeah, it's crazy. I just bought her a record, like a special edition record. like, Shit was $89, bro. That's crazy. For one vinyl. Yeah.
00:12:27
Speaker
i was just like, yo, what is going on? I'm a sucker, though. So I was like, right, get it. Because the fact that she's into it, i love that. Yeah. It made me excited. like You want vinyl?
00:12:38
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Is it it's vinyl for a newer artist or like? Yeah, it's newer artists. You know, she was just like the Melanie Martinez, Sabrina Carpenter. I was going to say Sabrina Carpenter. But I took her into the garage where my studio space is and I showed her. still have seven or eight crates of vinyl, like original vinyls from back in the days. yeah And I showed her and she was like, those are records too? I'm like, yeah. I took one in her room, played it. yeah She was like, this is crazy.
00:13:04
Speaker
Yeah. So I'm like, yeah, this been around for a long time. It didn't just start. That's crazy for people to be like, yo, you ever heard this thing? Vinyl, man? Right. Like, confusing. I used to, I listen to my music on Apple Music, but when I'm in the house, you know, it's vinyl. They're like people telling you that. You'd be like, Okay. oh Yeah. Like, yeah, sounds better. It's a trend, man. It's trendy. Yo. Yeah. Because I remember in ah college, when I was going to college, I think there was like a small little vinyl boom where Urban Outfitters were selling vinyls like crazy. They still Yeah. And they still do now. But they were selling the vinyls, the vinyl players.
00:13:38
Speaker
And I felt like it was like this small little rush. That's when it started, man. Now it's crazy. Yeah. Now it's absolutely Like vinyls are selling. Like they're doing merch bundles with vinyl now for artists. Yeah.
00:13:50
Speaker
It's insane, bro. Do you add that into your music directing or is it just like, yo, we should... Nah, Boogie does it already. Like Boogie does it. Lola hasn't done it yet. But Boogie does it and he also does CDs.
00:14:02
Speaker
So we've done like a, you know, a collection where he's autographed a bunch of them. So when you were actually crack open the CD, you might have an autographed copy. Yeah. Same thing with the vinyl. Like a Willy Wonka style? Yeah, it's like a surprise. Like, yo, if you get that, you know, you get VIP to one of the concerts. This happened before, though.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. ah For people, because we didn't say that you were. Oh, yes yeah. So, DJ O'Manaya, DJ for A Boogie, and Lola Brooke. Yeah. And Shave 45, all that Yeah, all that stuff. But, like, when you, because, I mean, you know, we talk at Kix, so, you know, do you A Boogie go off on, like, sneaker battles on tour? Not battles, but...
00:14:44
Speaker
If I pop up with some shit, I'm going to curse him. like, all right, my fault. If I pop up with some shit, he's like, yo, come on, bro. What's up? Can you get a nine or whatever? I'm like, let me make some calls. And vice versa. If he got some, it's like, ah, you got them already? All right, cool, cool. Don't wear them tomorrow. I'm going to wear them to the tomorrow. I'm like, all right, cool. I mean, do you have anything? Because you brought some with you. Yeah, I got a couple pairs, you know, nothing crazy. No, but like, yeah, let's talk about, you know, let's break out a pair. Let's talk about the story behind them, too, because, you know, you mentioned, you know, that what was coming on. Yeah. Some of my favorites.
00:15:26
Speaker
Of course. this' ah Those are classics. there There's some people that, I mean, and the last episode or two episodes ago, you know, we talked we talked about how ah jason my boy Jason, who I had on, he works at Sock and he was like, he doesn't, he's like, they're cool, but it's not like the pinnacle of like you gotta to have nah nah but they're just you know they're a staple pair like cement threes is i guess that's what they called yeah black black cement threes if you're if you're a listener i'm not yeah i'm not i'm not good with the names because i literally just back in the days i couldn't afford them so now like i get every pair i couldn't get back when they actually came out so this is you know one pair it's like an everyday pair though yeah i'm not one of those guys that buy sneakers and just leaves them and
00:16:11
Speaker
I actually wear all my kicks. Yeah. Like I wear a lot of kicks. Yeah. um But this is, you know, one pair that I felt that I needed from back in the days that I didn't have. But this is like my third pair of this pair. Yeah. So is that the 2024? Yeah. These came out. yeah So for the listeners, if you're listening, DJ Ominai pulled out a pair of black cement threes.
00:16:34
Speaker
ah I call them. I think they're one of the most comfortable sneakers. like Yeah. These are like my everyday sneakers. yeah People look at me like, you wearing those in the rain? I'm like, bro they're shoes yeah like exactly they're on my feet they're gonna get dirty anyway who cares yeah for sure and um the other pair that i have like probably like five pairs of are the bread fours i have the suede and the leather i
Sneaker Collection Habits
00:16:55
Speaker
have like three pairs of each and those like are my favorite fours are my all-time favorite kicks yeah but very I rarely get people out here that say that. They're always they're picky-toe killers. Nah, nah, nah. Fours are my favorite all-time kicks. Fours is my jam, yo.
00:17:11
Speaker
All-time favorite kicks. And the bread fours are. like Bread fours. Classic. Cement fours is the white in cement. Those are absolute classics. still got mine from 2014 or 15. But the bread fours, I'm with you on that. like I got the 2015 pair of bread fours, and they I literally like...
00:17:30
Speaker
I wore them. It wasn't that pair, but I wore them and they just fell apart on me. yeah See, that's why you got wear your kicks. No, no, no. I wore them to the point that they fell apart. Oh, I thought you had them in a box and brought them out and then they fell apart. Nah, what I do is so like, I mean, obviously I have a ton of pairs, you know, you know, I think you have 300, right? Yeah.
00:17:52
Speaker
yeah So like, i you yeah, I'm at like 200, I think. But I always keep at a minimum is like five pairs. DS was like that. stuff Yeah. Dead stock. I know some of the slang. I'm i'm not not not that far in the woods. But my my problem is um i just buy impulsively sometimes. same So it's like, oh, these just came out. Let me get them.
00:18:14
Speaker
Even though I don't really like them like that, I'll just buy them. So. ah Martin and myself were having a conversation other day because I do a lot of like community work too. yeah I just gave away like ah like probably like 100 pairs of sneakers that I was just like, I don't wear these. yeah Brand new Adidas, Yeezys, Jordans, like all type of random ones.
00:18:35
Speaker
It was just like, I'm just sitting on these at the crib. I'm like, nah, let me get rid of these. yeah I just put them in a bag and I just went and donated them. the what like What is your process? like Did you find a spot or did you just go to place?
00:18:50
Speaker
you know Sometimes I'll go to shelters yeah where ah misplaced families because I do like turkey drives yeah and um I do like toy drives and stuff. That's amazing, yeah. Yeah. Some of those shelters have teenage kids because the mothers had them young or, you know, they're just misplaced families. So I'll go there and and see if anybody is those sizes.
00:19:11
Speaker
And, you know, I'll have my my daughters old sneakers as well. And, you know, anything that I could donate. um And then other than that, there's a place by me that they do pickups. So you make a call, they'll come pick it up and they donate it to charities as well.
00:19:25
Speaker
I've been, so like, yeah, ah my I feel like I've gotten, my collection has gotten out of control. So I've been thinking about doing that. But I think, I don't have like a ton of pairs that I'm going to give away. I think I'm just to leave them around the city. Yeah, that's cool too, man. Or like if I see somebody that's like. Yeah, or you could go to an area where there's, you know, there's a lot of people that are are living outside or whatever that may need shoes, man. Like, you know, I got to a point where I'm like,
00:19:51
Speaker
Yeah, i got them, but it's like, you know, there's people that need them. yeah They actually don't have shoes. so Yeah. I feel bad. Like, I mean, you know, I spent a hundred and something sneakers and then I see somebody on the train, no shoes, nothing. I'm like, damn.
00:20:04
Speaker
It's different. Yeah, it is. And I'm from DR in Puerto Rico. So, but, you know, DR is, there's parts of DR where it's like, it's bad. Like these kids are running around barefoot. So,
00:20:15
Speaker
We used to send barrels. My grandmother, when she was alive, God bless her soul, she used to send barrels back to DR. I would put my clothes in the barrels. These kids are out there wearing Versace and, like, you know, all this name brand stuff in the hood with, like, white Air Force Ones. You know, you wear Air Force Ones, like, a few times. You're like, all right, these are done. Yeah, these are done, yeah. For us. But to them, those are brand new. Like, you wipe them down, they literally brand new kicks. Yeah.
00:20:42
Speaker
you know, she sent me a picture one time, like, you know, from out there, like, they she still developed pictures. She's like, look, the kids wearing your clothes. I'm like, wow. I sent jerseys out there, all type of stuff.
00:20:54
Speaker
And it was cool. Like, you know, shirts from Yankee Stadium. Nah. You know, i wish I had some of those shirts still, man. It would be super dope. With G-Dow on the front? Yeah, man. They had the cartoon joints. We had the joints that had the field on. We had a bunch of different styles, man. That would have been fire. Imagine you like, yo, I'm tired of being arrested. Here, Grandma, put this in the barrel. Everybody rocking these old Gaggy shirts. You know, think to this day, my mother still doesn't know.
00:21:25
Speaker
That I ever got arrested doing that. Really? I couldn't. i and then I mean, I didn't really technically get arrested, but I was just held. But I never told her. You were in Yankee jail. Yeah. I never told her that they detained me for selling bootleg shirts. Was she just like, she was just like, oh, how was the game when you got home? Nah, she knew i was selling t-shirts, but she didn't know it was like illegal.
00:21:46
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Couldn't tell her that. and yeah I'm hopping a train to go there. They had no money. Everything illegal. Yeah, it was bad, bro. I had no money, bro. I got to take the Ford train down like five stops.
00:21:59
Speaker
Sometimes we would go in cars with the OG guys. Sometimes we had to meet them there. You want me to say gate four? We're going to break the shirts down up the block on Gerard Avenue. and you know Everybody dip off with their bag and go sell shirts. Yeah.
00:22:13
Speaker
So what was like what was it like when you got your first DJ gig? Like, your first paying gig for you? So my first gig was actually with my boy George, the guy who who taught me how to DJ.
00:22:26
Speaker
We did, like, a house party. And um we were in a separate room, and the speaker was in, like, a whole other room. Okay. So we're DJing in somebody's apartment.
00:22:37
Speaker
Bro, no, we had one speaker in there and one speaker out there. And it was just like... we can't see the people but we could hear them partying and that was like exciting but i never actually like those days it wasn't like getting paid cash like i would get paid in white castle white castle yeah like because like a crave case or just yeah no we would go to white castle and just buy like 30 burgers like we would all just eat and then you know i don't even know i wouldn't even be able to make make it through i would have to go to the bathroom no we was young man you know you're young you eat whatever
00:23:08
Speaker
Yeah, but why can't we- And it was like a bunch of us that would go. like We would all meet up there and go eat there and then walk home. Or we would have to take a taxi, like a van taxi back because of all equipment. Yeah.
00:23:20
Speaker
So sometimes we would leave the equipment at the person's house and go like the next day because it was too late. Yeah. It's just like, we can't bring this outside. We can't get a taxi. This before Uber and all that. Oh, yeah, for sure. It's like, you got to call a cab. Like, yo, pick us up.
00:23:35
Speaker
At this time, like, ah, there's no vans available. You got call in the morning. and'm like, damn. i would and that's And that's in the Bronx. Yeah, definitely in the Bronx. Yeah, and it's probably deep too. Yeah, it was. I mean, but that was that was the form of payment early on. But then as I got older, I started doing like community room events, you know, stuff in the park and different stuff. So that's when I started. I was like, oh, I can actually do this. Yeah.
00:24:01
Speaker
So, you know, it just turned me on to making it a business. so Where did did your because you were hustling basically yeah t-shirts right did your your did that transfer over into definitely yeah it's like it makes you you know makes you understand business at the end of the day and like demand and supply and all that so you know as far as djing i definitely applied a lot of that stuff and you know stuff i learned in school because went to I went to college for two years, didn't graduate, but I took business marketing and business management. You were like, I'm good.
00:24:35
Speaker
I got what I I'm out. It was just like, you know, some people's like, yo, you know, school is for them. And some people, you know, they try it. It doesn't, it's not for them. So for me, I tried it for two years. i did it part time because I had to work.
00:24:49
Speaker
And it was like, ah you know, I i learned enough. Yeah. I'm out. This ain't for me. Yeah. And I was paying for it myself. Right. I was like, all right. Rent or fucking tuition? i'm like, nah, let me me up pay this rent because I'm on my own up here. But yeah, man. Did you still continue to collect or were you just like, all right, let me jump off of this for a bit while you used stood while you were still on your journey?
00:25:13
Speaker
Yeah, no, i i still like I was still doing stuff here and there. like i couldn't really get much, but I would just have so like certain sneakers that I needed to have, but yeah it wasn't a lot.
00:25:25
Speaker
I probably had like four or five pairs. was there Is there like a go-to pair that you're just like, I got to have these for all my DJ sets? um My go-to pair was was back in the days. Yeah.
00:25:40
Speaker
Nah, I would just get whatever I could afford really, to be honest. You weren't trying to style on them? Nah, I would always have clean kicks, but yeah it wasn't like you know the high end stuff or you know like the craziness now. Now it's like, I need those, those are tough, need these.
00:25:56
Speaker
But definitely, um always had a clean pair. Yeah. mean, I think it's definitely like, because you're standing behind something that covers your feet. Yeah, you can't So like, yeah. But then, you know, back, like, you young, once you come out the booth, you want the girls to be like, oh, he look good. He clean, he got his kicks.
00:26:15
Speaker
ah I remember one time, i couldn't afford Timberland boots. So I went to, like, Fava. and hu and bought just so a pair of black boots that look like Tim's yeah you got fan and I wore some bootleg jeans yeah and covered the whole boot yeah but it looked like they were Tim's so I got away with it yeah after I had on everything else was clean But those was not Tim's, man. I'm going to tell y'all now. So if y'all ever saw me at that house party with those black boots in the late 90s, early 2000s, those was not Tim's.
00:26:51
Speaker
Those was like some favor boots that look like Tim's. I just covered the whole boot. You had the boot cut jeans. It was so wide leg It was like, it covered the whole boot. They like, yo, you looking fresh, bro. I'm like, yeah, son.
00:27:07
Speaker
I see you with the Timbs, man. yeah Crazy. yeah that's that That's the old fake it till you make it. I brought a couple more pairs. Yeah, for real. Pull them out. This is another pair. got my too long ago Yeah, the unions, man.
00:27:24
Speaker
DJ Ominai pulled out the the union ones that recently came out. This is the shadow on top, Chicago on the bottom. Yes, sir. These are something i'm wearing daily now. yeah ah like these a lot.
00:27:36
Speaker
These are like another style that I wear like every day. um what is What is it about those ones that you were like- They're comfortable too for me. and I feel like they go with everything. like I could just wear anything with it.
00:27:49
Speaker
I feel like with ones, you don't have to match. In my head, ah that's how I feel. I'll wear anything with ones, though. I feel like, yeah, ones are very universal. Yeah. Unless, because I have a couple of ones that i I can't do that with. Because I got the top three ones where it's like the, it mixes the one, two, the the Chicago, the bread, and the- Oh, word, yeah What's the royal blue or whatever that ah it mixes them all together. And it's it's like two shoes. But it's like, yeah, it's it's like all mismatch.
00:28:19
Speaker
And then I got the I don't know if you remember there. Carmelo Anthony had a one where it's like Nick's colorway. Oh, nah, I didn't know that. So I got those. And nah, you can't. You got to coordinated with those. yeah I just be, I wear whatever, man. I'm like, I don't even be caring anymore. But a lot of times I'm just wearing black.
00:28:37
Speaker
Yeah. like today. Yeah. Always. mean, the fit crazy. mean, you know, he got on the Timbs again. What are these called? These are the Reimagine Fives. Reimagine Fives. Yeah, those are, these are another favorite. love those because I'm a big, I'm a big fan of 3M.
00:28:53
Speaker
So when they added those 3M hits on there, was like. These are, yeah, these are all crazy, like everyday joints. and Yeah, I gotta to get another pair. I'll beat these baby. And then, you know, ah we spoke about yeah we spoke about the bricks even the crazy part is haven't even cracked almost warm i haven't even cracked them yeah look i didn't even i didn't even open the the seal or nothing yes i'm gonna leave these on ice look i haven't even cracked it nothing the i haven't even opened a zip lock nothing the no those are like you so i was but debating because like i've worn them you know i took them out the plastic and everything Yeah, I'm already getting people trying to buy them off me. Damn. Yeah, they're crazy. they're going crazy.
00:29:36
Speaker
you Once you put them on, you're going to not want to take them off too. Yeah. And you a force guy i guy like And then I brought one
Defending Black Air Force Ones
00:29:44
Speaker
last pair. These are like the most elite. They get a bad name, but these are elite.
00:29:50
Speaker
The Yeezy socks? The
00:29:55
Speaker
good old Black Nasty's, man.
00:30:00
Speaker
the robberies The Robbery Air Force Ones. I don't know why these get a bad name, but I always keep a crispy pair of these, man. Don't judge a book by its cover. These get the job done, man. I think it's such a... The Air Force Ones, black Air Force Ones, they... um I think there's just like, they there was my those were my high school shoes. I wore those. Because it's like, I mean- You was one of those guys going to school with a trench coat and black Air Force Ones on, bro?
00:30:27
Speaker
ah I was looking like I was in the Matrix. Like, yo, this guy here. the It's funny because I mentioned that like in the first episode of this podcast that I used to go to school with black Air Force Ones and my boy was like,
00:30:39
Speaker
He was like, was on that type of time. Yeah, he was on bad time. I was like, no, I wasn't. like crazy It's bro. I just think because when you grow up and I'm pretty sure you probably know the same thing where it's like your parents is always like black shoes, black shoes because they last longer.
00:30:56
Speaker
Always beat them up. Beat up anything else. you know Yeah, and my mom drilled that into me. and shoot and then so I was just copping black Air Force Ones as much as I could. these these i mean Like I said, I ain't wear these yet, but I'm stashing them.
00:31:11
Speaker
I don't want nobody to Try to buy em more for me. I'm keeping them in the stash. You heard it here. You heard it here. Probably till the summer. I don't know. Let me see. Depends. I mean, if kind get a if if we have a big show or something, I might um might bring them out one time. But for now, they they stand low.
00:31:28
Speaker
You got to, I think, definitely for a big show. Big show. Let's see. We got a little college tour coming up. hey maybe, you know, one of the big schools or something. That's that's I mean, that's crazy. for for Like, what is it like traveling with such a big artist and like having to, you know, you're like the backbone of everything? Because as soon as something doesn't play, what are we doing at me? Like, yeah what the hell? um you know it's a lot It's a lot of pressure, but you know for the most part, we we do what we got to do. um we We run a tight ship. We got a good team.
00:32:01
Speaker
Shout out to Starlin. Shout out to my man Trevor. Shout out to SDOT. Shout out to M. you know Everybody that plays a part. ah Malachi, Rob, Drake.
00:32:12
Speaker
um Not Drake the artist. But we have a tight we have a tight team that that does everything behind the scenes to make sure that the show runs smooth. So we try not to have any hiccups. We do our sound checks.
00:32:26
Speaker
We do our technical checks and all that. So, you know, we we just, it's it's a lot of pressure because we're not in front of like small crowds. We're doing arenas. Yeah. And, you know. What's that, ah like a minimum at least of like?
00:32:39
Speaker
10,000. 10,000. Yeah. I mean, there's some small arenas we do that are like 8,000. Some are 10, some are 13, some are 20. Like, you know, we did the Garden. We did Barclays. We did Nike Stadium. That's insane, man. We did Giant Stadium. Yeah.
00:32:52
Speaker
Like, being from the Bronx and being able to do all those staple venues is like... Damn. Dude, man. don't Yo, that's so crazy because like people dream of that.
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah. I was talking about it with somebody the other day and they were just like, do you realize like what you're doing? I'm like, nah. Then it's like they like take a step back. So I'd like took a step back and I'm just like,
00:33:15
Speaker
Damn, this is crazy. Like, we're selling out some of the biggest arenas, not just in New York, like around the world. Like, we sold out the O2 Arena. Yeah. In London. That's crazy. We sold out the Coca-Cola Arena in Toronto.
00:33:29
Speaker
Like, were we did the YouTube theater in L.A. Like, we did Red Rocks in Denver. which Red Rocks, man. That's crazy. That's crazy. But, we like, all this stuff, we're selling it out. And it's just, like, you don't really realize because you're living in it. Yeah.
00:33:44
Speaker
So it's, like, until you take a step back and really, like, damn, this is crazy. Yeah. and Like, that's it's so hard because you're living it, and it's, like, like you don't look Do you look forward or are you just so worried about like this gotta go right? Nah, like I said, we were run a tight ship so we don't really be on that timing but we're always looking forward to it especially if it's one of the venues that's on the the you know the bucket list. yeah Yeah, we bought the damn, we sold this out? Oh man, like so that night we get you know we get the jitters like, yo, it's lit. like yeah we but like when we When we sold Red Rocks out, they gave us an award.
00:34:23
Speaker
yeah Yeah, they gave us an award. That's sick. The award is glass, and then it has a piece of the rock in the award. That's sick. So they chisel a piece of the rock. Like, Michael Jackson sold that place out, bro. That's wild, We're in the headline with him as one of the people that sold it out for Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Like, all these huge artists sold this place out. We're in the list with them.
00:34:48
Speaker
Like... I don't even know. As well as MSG and all that stuff. I mean, soon, if you keep selling it out, then they're going to have to put you in the in the rafters. i think he got it I think he has a jersey yeah in in the venue because they have like backstage, they have like framed jerseys and autographed.
00:35:07
Speaker
We sold out the um the arena in Philly where the Sixers play. We sold that out. We sold out the TD Garden in Boston. Wow. A lot of these places had him sign jerseys. Uh-huh.
00:35:20
Speaker
And, like, I think they frame it, like, sold-out show, blah, blah, blah. Crazy, bro. I don't even, like... And I don't... Like, I've only i've only done a one live show in front of, like, 15 people, bro. Like... Yeah, so if you have anxiety, it's not the thing for you, man. No, I don't. But it's just like the the idea of like you a sea of people just coming see you.
00:35:44
Speaker
It's crazy because- like What do you see on stage? A blur. Yeah? It's funny because when I go on stage, they they so his, like Lola Brooke and boogie A Boogie's fan base, they dig into their lives. like They look into everything, whoever's with them. Yeah. So everybody knows me as his DJ. So when they see me go on stage, they're like, oh, he's here. is It's almost time. Yeah, it's almost time. So that's when the energy starts getting up. And same thing with Lola. It's like, yo, what the hell?
00:36:13
Speaker
So I literally, because there's lights everywhere, yeah you can only really see like the first few rows. And then you might see some people on the right or the left. But then in the middle is like a blur because...
00:36:28
Speaker
There's lights everywhere. It's dark. You can't see faces. Nah, yeah. You hear the screams, though, and you hear the noise. It's like nuts. You're like, damn, i didn't realize it was sixteen thousand there here. That's crazy, dude. Like, I don't even know. Like, ah yeah. Nuts, bro. You'd be like, what the hell?
00:36:44
Speaker
And then A-Boogie just going ham on the stage. just going crazy on the stage. But even before he comes out, I'll do a 15 to sometimes 20, 30-minute set to get the crowd energy right. Then I'll bring him out. How do you get into the mind frame for that? Because then it's like you catering to the crowd in front of you. And then you got to switch that to the show.
00:37:09
Speaker
i I kind of like... people Some people notice, this some people don't. When we're doing these big venues, I float around the arena, like low key. I'll even have my hood on and be walking through, just seeing what the energy's like, what type of crowd it is.
00:37:24
Speaker
If it's young or older, white, black, sweat you know, like I'll just see if it's college kids. And through doing that, that's how I prep for my set. I'm like, all right, I know which way I'm going to go.
00:37:34
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And then I'll see the energy throughout the show if we have openers or whatever it is. And then I'll be like, all right, go in this direction. If they bite on this, I know I could go here. yeah And then I'll go here and then I'll go here and then I'll go here and then I'll be like, all right, y'all ready for A Buggy? Uh-huh.
00:37:50
Speaker
And then that's when I bring them out. Damn. be ah That's crazy. Yeah. You, I mean, you study it. Cause I've been to a lot of shows and like I've seen people. so Sometimes DJs just want to play their shit. Yeah. And they don't work.
00:38:02
Speaker
You got to remember, that's the main thing. They're not there for you. They're there for the artists. And the thing is like, you got to make them feel excited to see the artists. yeah And that's what my job is when I'm on there. Like, it's not about me.
00:38:15
Speaker
It's about getting them excited to see him or her. Yeah. And that's such a... it's I definitely think it's a tough task because, so you know, especially when you're headliner, when the the headliner, like, you know, you don't know what happened before. And and then maybe some people are tired. So now you got to get them back up. we There's times when I've come on stage...
00:38:35
Speaker
to to prep the crowd and they look beat. They've been like, they're there for two hours. yeah You know, some of them rush in the venue to be front row. yeah They don't even go use the bathroom. They don't have water, people fainting.
00:38:49
Speaker
So it's like, damn, thank God, you know, we're safe at our shows. We notice all that stuff. But, you know, when I see that, I'm like, let me get the energy right before I bring him out because then the show's gonna be flat. Yeah, for sure. So, you know, I just prep them and, you know,
00:39:04
Speaker
Get them crazy. They wake up. They like, oh, man. He's on my be like, yo, three minutes to showtime while I'm rocking the crowd. So it gets crazy. You bring them back to life. That's just like they're about on the brink of just being like no more. And then now they're like, yo, we here.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah. They go crazy. i've been I've been in those crowds where it's just like, all right, cool. They they mosh pitting before the show even starts. I'm like, Jesus, I'm only playing like three songs in right now and they going crazy. Playing the new Cardi.
00:39:34
Speaker
They play everything, man. Like they just go crazy. There's times where I'll throw a monkey wrench and play like some EDM music or some random pop song and they'll go cold nuts. Yeah.
00:39:47
Speaker
People are like, how do you know to do that? I'm like, bro, you just got to take a chance. yeah Can't be scared to try. That's true. That's true. the like Your journey is definitely absolutely wild because there is like how do you go from from just DJing regular shows to DJing these big spots? How did you find your way into that?
00:40:09
Speaker
So, um you know, I just connected with the right people working in the industry. You always get referrals and, you know, people see what you're doing. It's just got to make sense for what they got going on. Yeah. And, um you know, he needed a DJ.
00:40:23
Speaker
And at the time, he didn't really have a DJ. Like, you know, they fired the DJ they had. and um They needed somebody who was like seasoned because they knew he was going to take off.
00:40:34
Speaker
And it just so happened I was available and myself and my boy DJ Booth, we were working with Fab and Nicki Minaj. you know He's their main DJ. But he was like, A Boogie needs a DJ. They looking for him. So...
00:40:49
Speaker
I was like, all right, cool. So i rocked out with him one show. And then after that, you know, we did a few more shows. And they hit me like, yo, shout to M, Boogie's manager. He was like, yo, we need you full time.
00:41:01
Speaker
was like, all right, cool. you know, I was doing the Wendy Williams show at the time. And I'm still on the Sherry Shepard show as a backup DJ as well. but Damn, you got like...
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah. You just, you got every shift in the way. Yeah. You got like so many, you got so many things going on. Yeah. got a show on Shave 45 every Saturday, 10 o'clock. So it was like, I'm, I'm, my hands are in everything, but yeah you know, they were just like, yo, what the hell? And then on top of that, do clubs. So they knew I had my own name outside of him. Yeah. I was seasoned.
00:41:33
Speaker
I did tours before. And then they were just like, yo, y'all have chemistry and it works. Like we want it. was right, cool. Let's get it rocking. That was it. and That's crazy. I met Lola through Boogie's tour because we were her first tour.
00:41:49
Speaker
So she came on road with us. Yeah. And she would come out during our set and I would DJ her set. And they were like, yo, we like the way you make her look on stage. Because I would hype her up. I would set her up with you know call and response. And that's the stuff i developed for Boogie as well.
00:42:06
Speaker
And they liked that. And they were like, we need that for her. Yeah. And when we finished like the second tour, her team, Shout the Tree and Sha and 80 and Lola, they pressed me like, yo, what's up? We was at Lollapalooza. We want to lock in. I was like, you know, I still got like another leg of a tour to go.
00:42:25
Speaker
When I come back, I seen them at Yankee Stadium because she was there too. And they was like, what we doing? And I was like, all right. I pulled her in the room. Boogie, his manager, Em, her management team. And I was like, yo, they want to work with me as well.
00:42:41
Speaker
He was like, of course, like your family. Yeah. Just, you know, Boogie's priority. And then, you know, if if there's a show at the same time, but then literally the next day they were like, we're making you a music director too. So you need to hire a backup.
00:42:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I hired my man, Tisa. Shout out to Tisa. Shout out Tisa. He's part of the union as well. um So and the rest is history. Yeah. We've just been rocking. No, yeah. I mean, you you invited me to the album release party. Yeah, man. Well, album listening party. Sorry. you got You got a lot of treats that day, man. I did. did. You heard a lot of stuff. Some fire on there, too. Yes, sir. It was such an interesting...
00:43:19
Speaker
Like just to be in there and just to meet all these DJs too. Cause like it wasn't just a regular album listening party. It was like, yeah, it was. And it was, it was like a taste of like what's to come. Shout out to the whole union. and But yeah, I wanted to know more about the union. Like what, so what what does that entail?
00:43:36
Speaker
it's ah It's a DJ team, um but it's it's more than DJs now. like We have hosts, we have business people, we have you know radio personalities, program directors. um But it started out as a DJ team with DJ Self, S1, and DJ Will, and it just expanded. Now we're like almost at 100 Yeah, it's up there. And we have DJs all over the country. Toronto, we got DJs overseas.
00:44:02
Speaker
So it just grew, man. And everybody knows each other? Not personally. like you know A lot of the DJs that are hot in different markets know of each other or know each other. And it's all connected, man. Like, yo, you you buzzing in Atlanta? Oh, yo, you got to connect with such and such. yeah We know who that is.
00:44:21
Speaker
That's, I mean, i do think like... Seven degrees. Yeah, it's crazy. Because I was just going to say like networking, right? I mean, there's a difference between like relationship building and networking. And I feel like the buzzword, everybody's always been like, you got to network, you got to network, you know? um But like, i felt I felt more of like people actually had like relationships in that room. Yeah, for sure. Because we all, you know, everybody works together. So it's like, you know, ah a lot of stuff is referral.
00:44:47
Speaker
And, you know, a lot of people call me and say, yo, how can I get down with the union? I'm like, the first thing you got to do is have ah your own brand. ah You can't come to the team and be like, I want to be down.
00:44:59
Speaker
And you have nothing going on yeah So it got to make sense because the union is a marriage. It's 50-50. You bring your your business, we bring ours, and we expand together.
00:45:10
Speaker
A lot of people think just joining, get you bookends, get you these looks, get you. No, you got to have your own thing going on as well. For us to be able to, you know, ah magnify what you got going on. Yeah. So I try to explain that to the younger guys, but they don't understand because they're like, oh, why you put this person down and not this person? I'm like, you don't know this person because you don't leave your borough.
00:45:32
Speaker
Yeah. But in this market, this person is on fire. Yeah. Everybody listening to Then when they look them up, they're like, oh, damn. Oh, why you put this, word you know? So it's like, you know, shout out to Monet. Monet is one of the newer members of the team.
00:45:46
Speaker
She just became Jagged Edge's um tour DJ. Wow. ah Literally yesterday. was like, congrats, Monet, the union taking over. That's crazy. That's because, you know, you touched on like cosines. I feel like, you know, within our like like this world, you know, because we before we were talking, we're just like.
00:46:05
Speaker
I think like the music world and i mean sneaker world, they're always clashing. It's always intertwining. It's like the the the power of cosign. I feel like there are people just- a long way, Yeah. But I also feel like there are people hunting for it, too. So it's just like, have you ever been in like a situation where somebody's just like, yo, why'd you why'd you cosign this person?
00:46:26
Speaker
like Yeah. and I mean, they they always ask me stuff like that. Like, yo, why this person? Why the- And I'm just like, because, you know, whoever I co-sign and has actually worked with me personally.
00:46:38
Speaker
I don't just co-sign you because I know you. Yeah. I could know you all day, but if I don't feel like you hungry or want to work or, you know, get anything done or move forward, I'm not co-signing you. I'll be cool with you.
00:46:51
Speaker
Cool as hell. Yeah. But if I feel like you have something, yo, let's lock in. Yeah, exactly. And you can ask any DJ, you can ask anybody that I ever put in position to to either get a look or make some money.
00:47:08
Speaker
I'm not a hater. I give everybody my platform. I've had DJs open up for A-Boogie. No worry in the world. Like, If they're going to kill the crowd yeah and make it look crazy, I don't care. its don't It don't dim my light. Right, yeah.
00:47:21
Speaker
Like, I'm confident in what I do. and you I can't be you. You can't be me. Right. Simple. So it's like, I never worried about that. i'm not a gatekeeper. Yeah. So for me, i'll I'll co-sign you. If you dope and shit, all right, cool. Yo, this thing got some fire. Mm-hmm.
00:47:37
Speaker
Let's do it. I mean, I love that. I wish more people thought like that. I just said this the other day on Instagram. I said, oh, yeah, MF is gatekeeping. That's why y'all staggered.
00:47:48
Speaker
Because y'all don't want to, you know, y'all don't want to share the wealth. Yeah. Just like, you know, not to get religious, but like when you're blessed, you're supposed to bless
On Gatekeeping and Sharing Opportunities
00:47:57
Speaker
other people. Yeah. And it doesn't mean monetarily. It's just.
00:48:01
Speaker
It could be just information. It could be a cosign, like you said, or it could just be like, you know, passing a word forward, teaching somebody something. So, I mean, i don't gatekeep anything. I'm the same way, I think. And it's funny because they're there'll be people that that think that they need to.
00:48:18
Speaker
And I'm like, it's terrible. Yeah. i I'm all about like, this is, and especially like sneakers, like it's for everybody. Like, I grew up where they were like, you know, the OGs are like, nah, I can't tell you, bro. I can't tell you. I'm like, yo, that's so whack, bro. Corny. Corny. It's so whack. There's only one thing I don't share. And this is when people ask me is my cologne.
00:48:39
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Other than that, I'll tell you anything else. Because i buy I buy a lot of cologne. have like a cologne. It's like sneakers, bro. You got a cologne room?
00:48:50
Speaker
Nah, it's like half of my dresser is like colognes, bro. It's like I want to say like probably 200 bottles. And it's bad, bro. It's like I literally have tons. Like there's cologne in my backpack, my cars, like my dresser, my bathroom in the garage.
00:49:07
Speaker
it's Like... My book bags. It's like, yo, what the hell? So, yeah but is it like you don't, you don't like pick a scent for the day? Like you switch it up throughout the day? Random.
00:49:18
Speaker
No, I'll just, whatever feel that morning. Yeah. Like whatever catches my eye and whatever I'm going to do. Is there like a science behind it? You're like, i'm feeling. Nah, just if I'm sporty, I'll wear something cool, you know, clean, a clean scent.
00:49:32
Speaker
If I'm going out, I'll wear something that lasts longer. When's the last time you won Michael Jordan cologne? Never. But shout out to Michael Jordan, I just saw that bottle in Burlington Co-Factory. Yeah, Burlington Co-Factory, man. went in there to buy some socks, and I was like, they still got Michael Jordan cologne. That's the though the, you remember the gift package? Yeah. With the little yeah Michael Jordan basketball in it? that's crazy.
00:49:56
Speaker
Look, don't gift it to me. If you want to slide That'd be a collector's item. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I would say. Don't open it. Don't open it. I won't open it. Just gift it to me. I won't open it. Because that, yo, that, I remember, i could so i could still, once I think about it, i could still remember how it smells.
00:50:12
Speaker
Because it was all the high school. I never smelled That's the crazy part. Really? Never. I'm pretty sure you did. All of, all of like, your your high school hallways smelled like it. Maybe. I didn't. Maybe I didn't know it was. the The only thing I really smelled.
00:50:23
Speaker
Back was like Cool Water, Jupe, and ah prisace john John Paul Gaultier. John Paul Gaultier. And then they bootlegged it and made Cuba, whatever was called, the little cigar. yeah It was like the same scent. That's what that was? Yes, I remember that. people was buying the $5 joint. I'm over here buying the real one.
00:50:43
Speaker
I'm like, damn, I just paid $70 for this bottle. I could have got the $5 cigar. i could have went to my bed right here. 28th Street. Crazy, bro. 28th Street was crazy. Lit back in the day. Well, like, because Street, I've only had like a couple people talk about stories. There was one where somebody went into like a building. Oh, no. Somebody told me this story where somebody went into a building. I got crazy 28th Street story. Yeah, need to hear your 28th Street story. So, shout out to my cousin Gabe. He probably going to kill me for this, man.
00:51:14
Speaker
He works for a big corporation. Oh, yeah? We didn't get arrested or nothing, but... um You know, we were living in the Bronx on 174th. We would take the train downtown and um this one, Seven Jeans and True Religions were popping.
00:51:28
Speaker
So we were like, damn, like where can we get them from? Everybody's like, yo, they don't have them. They sold out here. but So they're like, yo, this is spot on 28th Street. They'd be having them. So we're like, oh, we thinking they real. yeah We don't know they bootleg. yeah We get down there. We're like, ah, these joints is knockoff. So...
00:51:44
Speaker
Long story short, we like, F it. Let's get them. They like half the price. They fell off the truck. Allegedly what they're telling us. hu So we go in the spot. We go up to the seventh floor.
00:51:55
Speaker
We up there. We searching through the jeans. We like, oh, this is tough. These are the. We rack up. We get in our jeans. The building gets raided. We in there. Everybody's scrambling.
00:52:06
Speaker
We the only newbies in the spot. We don't know where to go. We like, fuck. The cops come. Everybody sit down. Give me your IDs. We in there with our jeans under our legs. Like, damn, y'all going to take our stuff? They like, you paid already? I said, yeah. and They said, all right, take more.
00:52:23
Speaker
You want more? Take more because the rest of this is going. Yeah. We was like, damn, like we felt bad. We didn't take no more, but was just like, oh, I would have been. They gave us IDs back and we walked out, whatever, but they kept us in there like 30 minutes.
00:52:36
Speaker
It was crazy, bro. I was like, damn, we got but busted by fucking stolen jeans. That's so crazy, bro. like After that, we never went back down there. And both of us worked at Bloomingdale's at the time. Oh, the big one? Yeah, 59th. We were sales associates back then.
00:52:53
Speaker
I used to work across the street. Oh, word? Yeah, Dylan's Candy Bar. Oh, yeah, was there yeah, yeah. I was That's crazy. That's crazy. used to work at Bloomingdale's, and then now you're a top DJ.
00:53:04
Speaker
That's crazy, bro. After Bloomingdale's, I worked at H&M for 15 years. Wow. Wow. 15 years? Yep. how was I was a display person. was a display manager.
00:53:16
Speaker
And I would be... I was a visual. And I would train people. And I was... I tell people this all the time. Like, I think God prepped me to tour because with H&M, I used to go do store openings in different cities. yeah and it prepared me to travel. yeah So if you're into, like, the whole thing of everything lining up, like, God prepped me to travel, stay in hotels, travel,
00:53:38
Speaker
do all this stuff in different cities and then be able to for a living fire man that's crazy you know it was like started working with wendy and i was like i can't do this day job no more i'm calling out too much i'm doing the show calling out of work on this so prayed on it for like a year and then wendy's contract got renewed and then i started doing more of her show yeah
Taking the Leap to Full-Time DJing
00:54:01
Speaker
i was like i quit i'm quitting i resigned uh-huh and my wife was like what the hell Like we're about to get married. Yeah. We want to have a kid.
00:54:11
Speaker
And literally a year and a half, we got married. She got pregnant. We had the kid, bought a house.
00:54:20
Speaker
What? Just DJing. That's crazy, bro. That's crazy. The way you took a chance on that. you and it was It was all faith, man. Leap of faith, bro. yeah But I prayed on it beforehand. So not saying it was easy. It wasn't a piece of cake. We struggled in the beginning. Of course. Because it was like, you know, finding my way, getting residencies and building up because I throw my own parties and I still do clubs. But, you know, she was just like, I can't do this. I don't want to.
00:54:45
Speaker
And I'm like, don't worry. It's going to work out. And. Here we are. Yo, that faith in yourself this is definitely. Crazy, man. Yeah. It's like been, it's been 10 years since I quit. Damn.
00:54:56
Speaker
Yep. And I've been DJing full time ever since. Yo, you are an inspiration. That's for sure, Thank you, You're inspiration for sure, bro. Appreciate it, man. That is... Because, I mean, right now doing this and then my actual It was scary. Yeah. like It was scary. I feel that. like Because I'm like, you know, had some money saved up, but it was just like, if this don't work out, like I just messed up.
00:55:19
Speaker
yeah so was just like leap of faith i was like i gotta go hard and then you know in the beginning she was like kicking my ass but then she saw me getting busier and busy and she just supported me and just you know we still we here we rocking that's beautiful that's beautiful We're towards the end of the like towards the end of the podcast and it deals with a little visualization. i want you to think back to young DJ Ominaya or DJ O. My name back then was Mr. Minaya. Minaya. But ah back then, ah you're about to, now you're you're yeah your younger self is about to open that box of them white on whites. you know And now you're you transferred it back in time. What would you tell your younger self as he opens that box?
00:56:06
Speaker
Man, you ain't going to get too many weirds out of these, my boy. Nah, but um just thankful, man, opening that that fresh pair. And still to this day, I'm grateful to be able to, you know, none of this stuff matters at the end of the day. It's all materialistic. But um the main thing for me was opening those sneakers. The symbolism of it was I worked towards it.
00:56:31
Speaker
yeah And I was able to buy it myself. And I was able to, you know, earn that. you know It wasn't given to me. It wasn't you know just passed to me. i earned it. I worked for it. so you know as As an adult, I still have that same graciousness and gratefulness ah to be able to work for everything that I've earned.
00:56:51
Speaker
Yo, beautifully said, man. Appreciate that. Yeah, man. Let everybody know where to find you. Hit me up on Instagram, Twitter, X, you know, mi gente, my space. Nah, just playing. Any platform at DJ Ominaya, DJ O-M-I-N-A-Y-A.
00:57:09
Speaker
um Every Saturday on Shade 45, Sirius XM, 10 p.m. Eastern time. Every morning on Twitch and TikTok, 8 a.m. It's called the morning breakfast.
00:57:21
Speaker
And clubs, tours, everywhere, man. I got to hit up the the Twitch. and Listen, you'll love it, man. It's ah it's a great show a great way to start your day. Yeah, for sure. That's dope. Every day of the week is a different theme.
00:57:34
Speaker
Oh, really? Mondays, I promote businesses. We call it Money Mondays. Mm-hmm. Tuesday, we do Thankful Tuesday where I do some gospel, a little bit of preaching. And then Wednesdays, we do Wasteline Wednesdays where we play any type of music from the Caribbean or Africa, anything that makes you move your waistline.
00:57:52
Speaker
Thursdays, we do something called Toxic Thursdays where we do topics of relationships and scenarios. Is this an hour on there? you're just Two hours. wow Sometimes we do three. okay ah We do ah relationship scenarios. We do you know ah throwback music. And then Fridays, we do a TGIF mix, which is a party mix to get you ready for the weekend.
00:58:11
Speaker
And I raffle off two $25 lunches. ba So I'll treat you to lunch on Fridays. ah If you win the raffle, it's free to join. um You get $25 cash app, PayPal, or Zelle.
00:58:26
Speaker
man, you're doing everything. Yeah. Just try give back to the community. You're crushing it, bro. Yeah. Love it. Love it.
Podcast Promotion and Engagement
00:58:33
Speaker
You know where to find me. I am who is hostile on social medias. Follow the podcast of my first kicks pod.
00:58:37
Speaker
If you have been listening to this, this is on YouTube, youtube.com slash at my first kicks. Uh, if you also have my first kick story, I'm going to i write in, write in so I can read it to the guest.
00:58:50
Speaker
Um, i I have one. i I should have made time for it. Just going to have to wait till next week's guest. Info at myfirstkicks.com. Shirts, new shirts are up on the website, myfirstkicks.com.
00:59:04
Speaker
You know, check it out. It's the OG print. You know, if you've seen me in it, definitely cop it. And you know what we say each week, everybody. Wear your kicks.
00:59:15
Speaker
Peace. Peace, yo.