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2/27/2006 What's up Smallz? Not too much. I just got back in from Vegas. I'm working on a "Southern Smoke" t-shirt line with Crunk Clothing. I'm not going to be able to make it to Magic, so I went over some things with the owner about some designs. I also just did a show with Jeezy down here in Tampa. It's crazy how far the series has come since you started sending HipHopGame the tapes. Yeah. I remember that. It's been a long and prosperous series. It's been out there for three years. We drop every seven to eight weeks. It's been a long series and it took a long time to brand the name. What's been the most important thing that you've done to solidify "Southern Smoke's" place in the mixtape game? I think it's certifying the brand. It's street-certified. The brand is respected and when you say "Southern Smoke," people know what you're talking about. It must have been dope getting down with Uncle Luke. Yeah. He really made the series pop off. He's never done a mixtape in his life and he's had a pretty crazy career. We got to talk to Uncle Luke and we told him what mixtapes were. He wanted to do his first mixtape with me. That's history right there. You and Kay Slay seem to have good chemistry on mixtapes. Yeah. I met him a few years ago through a mutual friend. I've always looked up to Kay Slay and Clue. He was a real inspiration to do what I've been doing. He really branded his name and the Streetsweeper name. No one from the South has been able to get with a big New York mixtape DJ and make it pop off. After the first one, the response was so crazy so we had to do a second one, then that was crazy so we had to do a third one. Now, we're working on our fourth one. Who does the most work on those tapes? It's 50/50. We have different connections and bring the best of both worlds. How do you decide who to get down with on tapes? It's all about building relationships and networking in the industry. It's about basic networking. Personally, I try to come out with a bang and a surprise every time. When everyone else goes right, I go left. The last couple of tapes, I've done them with legends. You can see that with the Big Boi tape, the Master P tape, and the C-Murder tape. We're going to keep doing tapes like that. I just try to do the biggest and the best and come out with a surprise every time. When did you realize you could make it in the mixtape game? When the streets started talking and the urban community accepted the "Southern Smoke" brand and it had its own power to make or break an artist. That's when I knew that I had really made it in the mixtape game. The radio show is taking it one step further. We almost have a national album deal that will take it even further. What artists have you broken? We helped break the Texas artists when they were coming up. We did "Southern Smoke 7" two years ago with Chamillionaire, before the streets nationally took a big look at him. Paul Wall did "Southern Smoke 8." These artists are hitting gold and platinum with their major-label debut releases. Do you charge new artists to get on your tapes? No. I've never charged new artists to get on my tapes. Since the brand is so big and I know a lot of DJ's charge, I go out of my way and do a "Southern Smoke: Special Edition" for new artists. I'd rather help the artist and do a promotional package for the artist. Rather than having them host a CD and sprinkling their songs with other artists, we put their full package together with all their songs. I put it together and help distribute it and market it. It's better than charging a person for one song. We take it one step further. I'm very opened minded when it comes to new artists and breaking them through the Southern Smoke brand. As a matter of fact, one artist in particular named Noah was so hot, I had to have him do the intro to "Southern Smoke 18." The "Southern Smoke" brand is notorious for breaking new music and exclusives and we've helped mold several Southern artists already. I'm experimenting with different ideas and approaches on introducing new artists. When people see the "Southern Smoke" stamp, they can expect for the quality and the material of each project to be top notch. What does an artist have to have to make you want to get down with them? An artist definitely has to have stuff in motion. They have to be ready to take it to the next step when I'm ready to take it to the next step. They can't just be an unplanted seed; they have to have growth to them. They need personality, charisma, lyrics, and they have to be able to market themselves. It has to be a two-way street. I look for someone with potential and willing to put in work. It's the total package. How close do you get to the labels when putting together a mixtape? It depends on the project. Some projects, a label will bring to my attention an artist they need help with. If a label brings me a project, then I'm working hand-in-hand with them. Nine times out of ten, I go directly to an artist and bring the project to them. That's really how it goes down. If I'm helping a label's artist, they'll usually step in and help promote. What do you think about Rick Ross? He's been doing his thing since the mid-'90's with Slip-N-Slide, but it's just now that people are looking at him now that street music is getting big. He's been doing his music over here for a minute. Besides Rick Ross, people should also look for Plies out of Fort Meyers. He has a new song with Mr. Collipark right now. He just signed a deal with Atlantic Records. Also look out for Young Cash on SRC. There's also this cat Blood Raw. He's on CTE, Young Jeezy's label. Definitely look for those three artists. What's up with the "Southern Smoke" album? We're in the final negotiation stages between two major labels right now. We definitely have an insane project on our hands. This will definitely stand out from all of the other DJ albums from Clue, Funk Flex, everyone else. Not to say that there was anything wrong with those albums, but I have some ideas that will make mine look totally different from theirs. When are you going to put this plan in motion? We're looking at putting something out early in 2007. How does being on Sirius help your movement? The mixtapes, the radio, and the DVD/TV/club scene is like a 3-D effect to me. The first dimension is the mixtapes, radio adds the second dimension, and the third dimension is seeing the DJ in a club or on TV or on a DVD. People know me from the mixtapes. Then when radio came in, that automatically gave the "Southern Smoke" brand name another boost. It definitely added a 2-D effect to it. Now the third-dimension would be the next step. Radio definitely helps strengthen the brand name and recognition. How do you structure your radio show so that it stays interesting? We bring that mixtape and street atmosphere to the radio show. I like to work hand-in-hand with the mixtape and radio at the same time. I like to have what's on the mixtapes on the radio. I get so many freestyles from artists that I can't play on a mixtape that the radio show lets people hear them. I wish I could have a 24-hour mixtape. I can test artists on the radio before I do a mixtape with them. It gives us more of a street edge. You have mixtapes, you're on the radio, and you can rock a live party, are the days of the complete DJ disappearing? The list is getting shorter and I'm definitely blessed to be on the short list. It makes you look different, because most people are going right and you can go left. I'm a trendsetter. People know that I go a totally different way. People talk with the echo effect and put their pictures on their cover. I never did that. I always did it a different way and I had the same impact as them. People are always going to look at the person that goes left. Have the skills in order because there are only a handful of DJ's that have those skills. Are you going to get into the production game? No. Production's not really my thing. I know cats like Green Lantern and Tony Touch have gone into it, but I'm not really into that. I'm more into the marketing game. When the smoke clears and the dust settles, I want to have a major Southern marketing company. That's what I want. Why did you keep your picture under wraps for so long? I tried to come at the game differently. I'm not a follower, I'm a leader. While other DJ's were putting their faces on covers, I didn't. I wanted to build my brand like a Tommy Hilfiger or a Ralph Lauren. They built their brand on quality and excellence. You saw their logo, but you never had to see their face to know about the clothing. That's the same approach I took with "Southern Smoke." Everyone else was following Whoo Kid. Didn't you go to college for marketing? I got my AA at the University of South Florida. I'm finishing up for my BA at USF. I'm almost there. I'm three years deep. And I'm only 20 years-old. I'm doing what I'm doing at 20 years-old. "Southern Smoke" started three years ago when I was 17. Whoo Kid, Envy, Kay Slay, and DJ Drama are all in their late 20's, early 30's. What's next for DJ Smallz? We've got a couple things in the works. We're in the final stages of negotiations for the album. We're expanding "Southern Smoke Radio" to England, Sweden, and Ireland next month. It's already in South Africa, Malaysia, and Australia. We have "Southern Smoke TV" in its final stages of distribution. That's going to be in the FYE's and Best Buy's across the country. We have Fear Factor Music Group which is a representation of the next generation of Southern DJ's and artists. We also have PartySouth.com. That's a revolutionary booking agency I'm working on. Check for that in this summer. What do you want to say to everyone? Thanks for your support from day one for keeping the "Southern Smoke" name alive. We've done a lot of work for this and in the next couple of years, we're going to murder everything.

By Brian Kayser

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