Kay Slay- Down With The King…
February 4th, 2010

The world of Hip-Hop has always been built around its most classic element, “The Battle.” Two MC’s and their microphones vying for lyrical supremacy, and of course; bragging rights.

Over the years, plenty of us have been witnesses to some of the most memorable battles in Hip-Hop history, but no one has had more first-hand accounts than The Drama King DJ Kay Slay.

One of the true originators of the mixtape era, the Hot 97/Surius Satellite Radio DJ has made a living by breaking battles on the air, and bringing exclusive material to the masses. Right now he’s at it again with his newest project More Than Just A DJ, which boasts a line up of artists from all parts of the country all coming together on one album, and here to tell the people how it came to be is the man himself.

So when you hear the warning sirens, it’s not a drill, because “The Drama King is indeed in the building.”

You have your album coming out real soon, More Than Just A DJ. So did you go through any process in order to get the people that you wanted on the project?
Kay Slay: Not really… On some G sh*t, I got a lot of relationships with people and with different artists already… When I do an album, I get whoever is available that I f*ck with to get on a joint… I give them the beat, and we just handle it like that.
So you’re in charge of the production as well?
Kay Slay: I get the beats from different producers… I don’t really have time, but I do know how to make beats… But I let that the producers eat… I just give the tracks to the artists, and tell them in which direction I’m going…
Who exactly did you work with this time around?
Kay Slay: I worked with Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Rick Ross, Bun B, Papoose of course, Ray J, Maino, Red Café, Raekwon, Ghostface [Killah], AZ, Jay Rock, Dourrough, Trae The Truth, M.O.P., Trick Trick, rest in peace to my man Mike Beck from K.A.R.; he’s on the album, Jackie O, and I got a lot of others on the album too…
Was it a conscious decision on your part to reach out to a lot of artists from other regions, rather than just keeping it in New York?
Kay Slay: Yeah, because I’m a universal cat… I get love all over; you know what I’m saying? At the end of the day, I mess with all cats from all states and regions…

I’m from New York, and I’m going to represent NY to the fullest, but I’ll never be on some “F*ck everybody else” type-sh*t… We’re all people in different parts of the globe trying to get it, and it don’t matter where you’re from; it’s where you’re at…

You mentioned that Ray J is on the project, and I know that you two have a close history due to you being the A&R on his last album. So when did you guys first hook up, and start working together?
Kay Slay: We started working together when Ray J was shopping a deal, and there was an interest in Ray J. So we all sat down, had a meeting, connected the dots, and pulled the deal for him… From there, I became his A&R…

So we got to politic with each other, and see each other’s work habits in the studio… Then he became like a little brother… I kick it with him outside of music, and outside of everything… He’s a good little dude…

With you obviously being an originator of mixtapes, how do you feel about it now? Do you feel as if its gotten watered down over the years?
Kay Slay: At the end of the day, I’m never going to down the process that helped me come up, because I’ll always have love for the mixtape game… Unfortunately it’s watered down, and it’s f*cked up; but it’s not because of the mixtape DJ’s… It’s because of the Internet…

You can go on the Internet, download 20 records, sequence them, talk sh*t over them, and throw it out… Unless the DJ has a direct line to the artist to get exclusive tracks and freestyles; you can’t separate them from a n*gga that started DJ’ing yesterday…

The Internet watered the game down because what was exclusives ain’t exclusives no more… So the same time a brother like Superstar Jay is getting a record, ‘DJ D*ckhead’ is too, and that ain’t cool…

With you being  “The Drama King,” everyone knows that you’ll always be the first one in the middle of a battle, but do you feel as is too much of that has hindered the progress of New York Hip-Hop?
Kay Slay: To a degree, but I don’t think it was the battles, like it was the beef aspect… I think the beef aspect set New York back a little bit… But at the end of the day, if anybody wants to be number one, that’s what it is…

Rap is a competitive sport, and cats can’t forget that… It’s only when they let their egos get involved, to where it gets to that, “This is what I’m going to do when I see you” sh*t… By no means am I behind any part of that, I’m not with none of that… “The Drama King” represents the battles in Hip-Hop, not the violence…

Speaking of all the numerous battles you’ve been a part of, what was the most exciting one for you?
Kay Slay: The biggest battle that no one can disagree with was Jay-Z and Nas… Because after it was all said and done, they did business together, and that’s what real men do; you understand what I’m saying?

They got into on the microphone, they touched mics, came out swinging, and when it was all said and done; they did business… That’s real n*gga sh*t, and that’s the type of sh*t that I feel honored to be a part of…

I also wanted to get into your magazine, Straight Stuntin. So was it something that you wanted to get into for a while?
Kay Slay: Nah… At the end of the day, I just wanted to have an outlet for the sisters… I have the Drama Hour, the mixtape circuit, and all the other avenues I have are really just for dudes… That’s probably because there’s more n*ggas rapping than anything; you know what I’m saying?

I figured that more women want to model, or display any kind of talent they have, so I came with the magazine to help them out… The sisters got to eat too, and brothers like sisters—right?

[Laughing]… Sure do… With a whole bunch of print magazines going out of business, you weren’t at all worried about that when you started Straight Stuntin up?
Kay Slay: At the end of the day, you’re only as good as your content… I’m not knocking anybody, and I’m not hating; but a lot of publications just have to step their content up… Plus when you’re dealing with women’s pictures, you’re supposed to use a certain kind of paper… If you use a different type, it’s going to look like they have rashes on their skin and asses…

You just have to put one hundred percent into it, and I put one hundred percent into Straight Stuntin, so I’m not worried about it… The only way Straight Stuntin can fall off is if I don’t want to do it anymore…

But as far as any other circumstances—I’m glad more people are coming aboard and loving the magazine more than ever…  I’m not worried about nothing, [they] need to worry; because I have 250 pages—they’re pushing 90 [Laughing]…

[Laughing]… What’s the criteria for Straight Stuntin?
Kay Slay: I’m going to go on record, and say this and I don’t care who doesn’t like it… First things first: A few of them are aspiring models, there are some professional ones, but a lot of them are aspiring… What I mean by “aspiring” is that you can’t claim something as a profession that doesn’t pay your rent…

So a chick can’t say that she’s a model, if she works at Victoria Secret as a cashier… If that cashier job pays your rent, then you are a “cashier.” I try to look for women that are established, and have the look… I feature “slim jims” here and there, but I think it’s time for some sisters with bodies to get a shot…

Before we get out of here, you know I have to ask you about Papoose… What’s the deal?
Kay Slay: [Laughing]… I knew that was coming… Real talk, it’s not us… We tried to do the situation with Jive, and they had a different direction that we couldn’t follow, because they would’ve f*cked him up fan base wise, so we parted ways… He has more than enough material, but I just don’t want to throw an album out, just to say that we threw out an album…

Come on… Dude done released like 23-24 mixtapes, and I already lost count, and that’s equivalent to like 600 songs… It’s just a matter of getting the right situation… Everybody has something to say about Papoose right? But you know what they have to include? They have to include that he got a million-plus deal, that he’s been on a platinum record; and I have an ASCAP award on my wall before he got the deal…

He’s performed with Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Missy Elliot, and Mary J. Blige at the BET Awards, he marched with Rev. Al Sharpton, toured overseas, and so much more. So you have to mention all those things, before you say, “Papoose never dropped an album.” And the other thing you have to say is, “He didn’t drop an album, and he didn’t throw out a brick.” How about that…

When Pap had his time in the game when he was buzzing, cats reached out to rap with him… Busta Rhymes wanted to rap with him, Nas wanted to rap with him, and others wanted to rap with him…

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