DJ Cash Money Interview

The Bag Messenger: How did you first get into music?

Cash Money:I have always loved music.Music was always being played in my household growing up.From funk,jazz,soul,gospel on to pop music.My Mom & Dad are totally responsible for my ear for good music..It was albums & 8 tracks back then...

The Bag Messenger: What made you want to become a DJ? Who we're the folks you we're looking up to when you first started? 

Cash Money:When i first started djing i would say the radio jocks on WDAS (Georgie Woods, Doctor Perry Johnson,Doug Henderson and Jocko)..When hip hop started then it was Grand Master Flash...I didn't live in New York so i started listening to the hip hop dee-jays here in Philly (Grand Wizard Rasheen,Grand Master Nell,Grand Slam Dj Jam,Cosmic Kev etc..)

The Bag Messenger: What was looking for music like in the beginning? How we're you getting hip to records?

Cash Money:Music was easier to find back in the days..There used to be this warehouse that the a guy called Grand Slam DJ Jam knew about..First of all Slam had the most break beats in Philly...Til this day he has stuff that i still don't know..Well he took me to this warehouse and all the records were like 35 cents.....We found multiple copies of everything...I was taught how to dig for records by DJ Grand Slam DJ Jam....

The Bag Messenger:  Has being a professional DJ for this long changed the way you listen to music?

Cash Money: Absolutely, Because i have the chance to travel to different countries.It has opened my life to other kinds of music...Every country was influenced by James Brown..So you would find an artist from another country doing a funky ass version of a similar sounding James Brown tune..

The Bag Messenger: What's the key to packing for a successful tour?

Cash Money: Computer now....I don't put records under no plane...They ride like a passenger..."REAL TALK"...

The Bag Messenger: Any travel horror stories?

Cash Money: I remember flying from Germany to Manchester, England and i went to grab my bags and record cases.I realized that my record cases were feeling very light in weight..One case had some tape around it with the word defective written on the tape..This is how they spelled it "defktive"...The promoter that picked me up was so pissed off over this situation that he went crazy on the people behind the desk....I told him i couldn't do my shows without my records...

The Bag Messenger: What was the Plateau? How were those parties? 

Cash Money: The Plateau was a place out in Fairmont Park that everyone went to on Sat.& Sunday...People would have different sound systems then would have some great djs' & mcs'...You would just sit in your car or walk down to where the music was...Everyone who had any status in the city was there...

The Bag Messenger: How did you decide to flip your turntables vertically (to "battle style")?

Cash Money: Well first of all it's not called "Battlestyle"..It's DJ Cash Money style or Grand Wizard Rasheen style....I learned from Rasheen and the world learned from me...

The Bag Messenger: How do you feel about current DJ culture? 

Cash Money: I love the fact that we have so many up and coming dee-jays..The problem that i am having with the new kats is they are learning from the computer..They are using sync buttons..So if you ask them to blend 2 records together without the computer.They can't do it..I think technology is being created much faster than we can produce good dee-jays....

The Bag Messenger: You've got a bunch of collections going. Can you describe what do you collect? What are some of your prized pieces? 

Cash Money: I have been a collector of everything for years...I was collecting records and toys etc way before ebay was around...I might one of the craziest oddball collections around today...I think some of my prized possessions would be my radio spot collections..They were never for sale..They were for radio stations use only...I have pretty much every blaxploitation,kung fu etc ...If you do not know what radio spot records are?These are the commercials for the movies..They come on a 45 record form...

The Bag Messenger: If you we'rent a DJ what would you do?

Cash Money: If i didn't dj i would have tried to play basketball somwhere...