DJ Spotlight: SPINTELECT
We have guest DJ Spintelect (Everybody’s Rival/Talib Kweli and Alexander Spit Tour DJ) with us this Thursday at LIFESWELL. We had a chance to sit down with him before things get crazy for us this week!
Who are you and what is it that you do?
I’m the prince of Zamunda, African DJ Spintelect, and I spin records.
What was your main goal when you first came into the music scene? Describe the struggles and steps you had to experience to get to where you are now.
My main goal was to be an established producer. This was in 03-04 when I started getting more serious and I actually started making beats and producing before I started djing. I was all about making beats, finding samples, digging. Then I started to get more into djing. It was very difficult in the early stages of my producing and djing career, dealing with rappers that weren’t focused, djing for chump change to get my name up, the list goes on. One of the best experiences was being able to watch my 2 older brothers who also dj and 1 of them produces and djs. I got to see all their mistakes and faults; they told me a lot about djing and the politics of the music industry. So by the time I was 21, I already knew what to expect from people when trying to get gigs and get paid correctly. That was probably the most beneficial thing I could of learned from my brothers and greatly appreciate that.
You are recognized as a DJ, but you are involved in different movements, tell us about it.
I’m involved, of course, with my company Everybody’s Rival which consists of myself, KBiMEAN, Brandon Torres, Fern Rock, Danni, and Ceason. We are involved helping put on events, music marketing, and branding with a few different companies.
Your Talib Kweli’s tour DJ, are groupies the thing of the past?
Groupies will be around forever in any genre of music or any entertainment.
What keeps you creative?
Always wanting and knowing there’s more to do in life keeps me creative and keeps my mind always running on ideas from djing, to music, to fashion to everyday life concepts.
I was on your mixcrate page and heard mixes ranging from hip hop, house, bmore, electro, etc…How important is it to cater to a diverse audience?
It is very important to have a diverse library of music because if you don’t, you put yourself in a box of music and make yourself one lane. I’ve always been a fan of music since birth, so I never prepare a set for a dj gig. I go in to the event reading the crowd because you never know who is gonna show up and that’s what good djs do.
Your biggest pet peeve?
Repeating myself.
Your favorite song from Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers album?
That’s tough, but I gotta go with “Can It Be All So Simple”
Any last words?
Thank you for having me, and shouts out to family and my ER Fam.
Catch Spintelect at our event this Thursday, 10/27. He goes on at 1230a.
INFO: Spin’s Tumblr | Spin’s Twitter | Spin’s Mixcrate