By Bear Frazer
While most deejays have a team behind them to push on a project, DJ Chuck T prefers to be a one man gang. Though the 26-year-old is widely considered one of the top mixtape deejays in hip-hop, thanks in part to his highly successful series Down South Slangin', he possesses a "do-it-yourself" mentality that has earned him more success than most in the business.
"I'm not a man. I'm a machine," he says with a laugh. "I personally mix, burn, assemble, box, and ship over 5,000 CDs a week all by myself. I have some help here and there from family and close friends, but that's only when I drop big CDs and I know I can't do all of that alone."
Originally, the machine, more commonly known by his tag "The Carolina King," didn't start out as a mixtape deejay. Chuck T started as a rapper who went on to release an album in 2001 and was a heartbeat away from signing with Sony before the situation turned sour. Soon thereafter, the Charleston, South Carolina native decided to try his hand at deejaying.
So far, the results have been staggering. Although the Carolinas have been an untapped market for talent, Chuck T developed a reputation for upping the careers of local artists with his mixtapes and even went outside his region to recruit some rap heavyweights for his Down South Slangin' series.
"Just 4 years ago, I was burning CDs on my mom's computer and cutting out paper CD covers with scissors," he says. "Now, I'm one of the top DJs in the world! Just thinking about it gives me chills!"
With a solid reputation and mixtape brand in his back pocket, Chuck T will not attempt to put the Carolinas on top. In this 101D.com exclusive, the 26-year-old talks about the future and the chilling career he built from the ground up.
101D.com: Mr. Chuck T ... when did you initially get involved in Hip-Hop?
Chuck T: It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I became involved in Hip-Hop because it's been apart of my life since birth. I remember my older brothers and I would pretend we were a rap group and my oldest brother would be the rapper, my middle brother would be the DJ, and they'd make me play with the Equalizer because there wasn't any other job for me (laughs).
101D.com: But didn't you start out rapping before becoming a DJ?
Chuck T: Mane, of course I started out rapping. I think pretty much everyone involved in Hip-Hop has at least experimented with rapping at one point in time. I was actually pretty successful too. I had an album come out in 2001 and was in the process of signing to Sony when things fell apart with the label I was signed to. That pretty much ended my thoughts of being a rapper. The grind is long, hard, and you have to invest a ton of money before you see a return. Then even after you drop an album, you may not see a return on your investment because the industry is so fickle. I decided to become a DJ after I saw that there was a need for people in that profession who actually gave a damn about the music they played and the people they supported. DJs are the gatekeepers of the music industry. Whoever we let into that gate automatically becomes the spokesperson for the Hip-Hop culture as a whole. If we let in wack artists, then people are going to run around and say Hip-Hop is dead. But if we let good quality artists in, then we'll continue to be the #1 selling genre of music. The fate of the Hip-Hop industry lies in us. I had to step in and protect that.
101D.com: So what was it like developing your name within the southeast region?
Chuck T: It was very hard. Being here in the Carolinas is like a gift and a curse. I didn't really have any real competition when I started out, but I'm also in a market that the music industry isn't really concerned about. It was hard to get music from labels and artists. It was even harder to get my CDs in stores because the storeowner and the public in general didn't understand the concept of the mixtape. I had to educate people in order to sell CDs. Once I got my area on lock it was still kind of hard to convince people from bigger cities that a mixtape DJ from South Carolina could compete. It's been a long, hard road, but I'm definitely living off the fruits of my labor now. I'm doing very well for myself.
101D.com: How were you able to get artists to jump on your mixtapes?
Chuck T: Publicity - that's the most important thing! I took advantage of every opportunity to get an interview and get in front of a camera that came my way. Nobody will ever buy your stuff if they don't know you exist. I had to make sure people knew who I was, what I looked like and what my product sounded like.
101D.com: Obviously, your most successful series is Down South Slangin'. We distribute the one you did with Jeezy. Anyways, when did you conceive the idea for this series and what was the mindset behind it?
Chuck T: When I first started doing CDs, the name of my series was "Ghetto Gangstas." From there, I changed it to "Shut the Club Down." Once I really started learning how to DJ, I wanted something to signify the fact that I was no longer a kid who just slapped some songs together on a CD and I decided I'd change the name. My favorite song is an old Fiend (from No Limit Records) track featuring Master P and UGK entitled "Hustlin'." There's a part in the chorus where Fiend says, "We're Down South Slangin'/Rollin' With These Hustlers/Trying Ta Get Rid Of All You Haters And You Bustas." I basically took my title from that and the rest is history!
101D.com: Back a couple of years ago, it seemed like a mixtape was truly something special as DJs used it not only to develop their name, but to break new artists. Nowadays, that doesn't happen as much. I'm sure you've been asked this quite a lot, but what's your take on the whole mixtape game right now?
Chuck T: I feel like the real DJs still make mixtapes that live up to the original purpose of what a mixtape is. It's the new and uneducated DJs that have pretty much messed things up. But the older DJs are to blame for that because they'd rather bash the younger generation than teach them. These younger DJs have no idea how to break records or set trends. They only know how to play what hot. That's why if you go to a mixtape website or store, you'll see 90% of the CDs have the same songs or concept. We – the DJs – are the reason why the hip-hop industry is in a slump right now. We've let people in suits and ties who know nothing about our culture come in an take over and dictate what's hot and what's not. If we don't do something quick then the outlook for hip-hop isn't that bright.
101D.com: So do these newer DJs bother you?
Chuck T: It used to, but as of right now I don't let it bother me. I'm so focused right now on doing me that I really don't pay too much attention anymore. One thing I'm definitely doing is trying to take some of these new DJs and teach them the game. That was something I never had. Too many older and established DJs would rather hate on the younger generation then pull them to the side and teach them the art form. I don't want to be in that category. I just joined a local DJ academy here in Charlotte called "With These Hands Mix." I'm coming on board to teaching the mixtape class. The website is www.wthands.com.
101D.com: Nice. You know, the Carolinas are often overlooked. With the exception of a few, namely Little Brother and Petey “Death Row” Pablo, there haven't been many cats who have signed to a major or received much coverage in the mainstream media. What will it take the Carolinas to change that?
Chuck T: I think we need to support ourselves and build up our own movement here. We need to travel to other parts of the Carolinas and really focus on building up our names in the places around us. Everyone here pretty much keeps to themselves and never leaves outside of their city to promote their product. And some of the ones who eventually get a name for themselves run to Atlanta, Miami, Houston, or New York rather than focusing on establishing a buzz in the next town over from them. The music industry follows movements. If you look at the artists that are hot right now and the artists that are getting major record deals, you see they're all from the same cities and they all came out as a movement. In order for the Carolinas to get our just due in the music world we have to support each other and start a movement right here in the Carolinas.
101D.com: Since you're the "Carolina King," what are your plans to put Carolina on top?
Chuck T: Right now, I'm forming the United Carolina Record Pool. That's going to be our outlet to get our music out to the masses and show the world that we can make music that's just as hot as any other place. I want make our music as accessible as possible! From there, I have my company Publicity Stunt, LLC. It's a marketing, management, and consulting company I've put together to help artists network with people in the music industry and make sure they're getting the proper advice about what route they should take with their music. And last but not least, I'm making myself more accessible to just about anybody making a move here. I understand that I have a name that's holds weight in the music industry and my co-sign means a lot. I want to make sure that I'm using that for the good of my states.
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