To be a DJ in today’s hip-hop game, you have to stand out, whether it be mixing, tricks, production, a radio show, exclusives, or rocking a party. Upstate New York native, DJ Noodles happens to possess all those qualities and more.

Growing up in the golden age of hip-hop, he knew he was destined to be a part of it, and now there are few DJ’s who can compare to his level of success or creativity. Whether it’s his label Fix Your Face, his weekly radio show, or the unbelievable mixtapes he puts out with the likes of Peedi Carkk, Freeway, and Stat Quo, DJ Noodles is sure to take it far in this game.

Sixshot.com caught up with DJ Noodles to discuss coming from upstate New York, the highly anticipated Statlanta, and what we can expect from his new album.

Sup man, what's good?

Everything man, feeling great getting ’08 off to a great start for us over here at Fix Your Face!

So how did you get into DJ'ing?

Growing up, I’m a part of one of the first generations to grow up on Hip Hop. I’m an 80’s baby. I started getting into music seriously when I was going to the store buying The Chronic and Snoop’s first joint and the Ready To Die’s and Reasonable Doubt. Just li ke everybody else I was watching the movies and all that and seen Juice. Once I saw that movie, I was digging in the basement for the old record player, and it just progressed from there.

With so many DJ's popping up everyday, how do you manage to stand out?

My creativity. There’s “DJs” popping up every day, but how many of them can actually rock a party for 4 hours? How many of them can put together a remix or get on the radio and deliver a crazy mixshow every time out. I think I stand out because as I was coming up in this DJ shit, I was looking up to the creative guys, the Dirty Harry’s, the DJ Juice’s, the guys who put work into their mixtapes and were technically on point with it.

Today, I stand out because of my remix production, my exclusive records I get done with artists and the overall energy I bring to every project- weather it’s a radio show on any of the 10 stations nationwide I’m on every week, or my radio show on Sirius/HipHopNation, or a mixtape.

Who are some of your musical influences?

I’m influenced by everything, being a DJ has in a way exposed me to more than I would if I was just a producer who grew up on in the northeast. I had to play the records from other regions, which helped to open up my ears to other sounds. I’ve always loved DJ Premier, on the sample side he inspires me and on the non-sample side I think anyone who tells you Timbaland, Dre and The Neptunes don’t influence them is lying to you.

How do you personally feel about the mixtape game today?

I think it sucks. It was getting to a great place for a while there, lots of creativity and lots of exclusive material- but now it seems like everyone is on the internet grabbing the new music and calling themselves a DJ. I’m even seeing guys taking songs off of mixtapes, with the original DJ’s drops or voice on them, and putting them on their mixtapes and calling them an “exclusive”.

Don’t get me wrong though, there are some great things happening in the game as well. Seeing a project drop like a DJ Drama / Fabolous Gangsta Grillz is crazy, it shows there are no barriers in this hip hop shit, no matter what people say. Having projects like Skee’s American Godfather drop, some of the Mick Boogie’s remix projects, and some of the street albums.

 I’ve put together or remix projects like Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn, these are the bright spots in the game. I’m always looking for a mixtape to inspire me and make me want to work, it just seems like these days those projects are few and far between.
 
The Jay-Z edition of Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn was insane, did you get a good response from that?

Yeah man the response was crazy. It was great timing, we got it out there right before American Gangster dropped, so the excitement about Jay was at a real high. I think it was one of my better tapes, because it was 99% exclusive remixes and blends. The only song on there that wasn’t touched up was "Roc Boys", which was a world premier the day I dropped the tape.
 
You work with Freeway a lot. How did you guys get up and what is your relationship like?

We linked up while I was out on the road, Free came through one of my shows and we kicked it, so I passed a beat tape on to him and it kind of just came about from there. We did the mixtape Heavyweight Flow to promo his new album before it dropped, and then the album came out which had the track “I Cry” which I produced on it.
 
Fix Your Face, how did you come up with that?

Fix Your Face is a movement. It represents everything we do from breaking new records on the radio, to remixes or production, to music from Trazz. It just means that I know what you are hearing is crazy, I know we got you open and the stereo is up crazy high, just 'Fix Your Face' and pay attention to this one, cause this is something your hearing first, or something crazy is about to go down.

We now have Fix Your Face Radio every Tuesday night on Sirius 40/ Hip Hop Nation, which is 2 hours of uncut uncensored hip hop straight from the streets to the world, and we just launched Fix Your Face Music Group, which is my production and artist development vehicle. Currently Trazz is the first artist signed to Fix Your Face Music Group.
 
Your Stat Quo mixtapes are hot, how do you feel about him as an artist? Do you think he'll get him time to blow up?

I think Stat is a beast with it. He could be the south’s Kanye, because he doesn’t follow what everybody else is doing, he’s trying to take his music to the next level and do different things. He’s in a great position, signed to Dre and Em, but with that position comes a higher expectation than other new artists get, both from the public as well as the label.

Statlanta is crazy, and I hope Interscope gets their shit together and makes it a priority for 2008. It’s an album that people need to hear. In the meantime go check out Now Or Never, my new street album with Stat. He went in heavy on this one.

You're from upstate; do you think it was harder for you to get out there than say a cat from NYC?

Yes and no, in New York, you are competing with a thousand other DJs or Producers trying to make it. It’s more open in Upstate, but I realized that in order to get where I needed to be, I had to hit the road, pound the pavement and make shit happen outside of the market as well as lock the region down.

Upstate has crazy talent that’s untapped. I’m trying to kick the door open for all the artists, producers and DJs in the region who are all beasts in their own right. That’s why I did the “Upstate” record.

It’s an anthem for where I’m from, and I don’t forget where I came from. I’m proud to be from Buffalo and I’m ready to put the whole region on my back to take us to the next level.

The Soul Survivors with Biggie and Akon was a great idea, how did you come up with that?

There isn’t really a good story for that, besides that it just made sense to me. I worked with Akon early on in his career with the "Ghetto" remix, and he’s always shined when he gets on rap records for hooks and such. It just felt like a “Best Of Both Worlds” but for all time, not just the hottest singer and rapper of the moment.
 
Pimp Ya Pen with Peedi Crakk is making some waves. Do you think it's gonna stir up a little trouble with all the shots he's taking?

Trouble? (Laughs) We’ll have to see. Peedi is a monster, everybody knows that. He’s been playing his position at Roc-A-Fella for a long time, waiting for his shot, and I guess that shot isn’t gonna come through the label like it should. We linked up for the mixtape and I was excited because I knew he was gonna say some shit. Get people to pay attention. Shout out to Poe Rilla on that one.
 
Tell us about your artist Trazz.

Trazz just dropped his new single with Wayne Wonder. It’s called “Gonna Love U” and produced by me. We also have a street single we got out there called “Do What I Do”. Trazz is an artist who I think is the complete package. That’s why I’m 1,000% behind him. He makes hit records, period- but he can actually spit. You don’t see that combination too often anymore. Either cats are stuck on the underground showing they can spit 100 bars straight, or they are making popcorn records for radio but couldn’t beat any neighborhood rapper in America in a battle. Trazz is gifted with the spit, and I think 2008 is gonna be the year you see him break into the game on a very big level. Hit him up at myspace.com/TrazzMusic
 
What projects can we expect to see from you in the near future?

I have so many things in the pipeline. Real soon you’re gonna get a street album from Red Café and myself. The music is crazy and its just more of that New York City heat you saw on his album with Envy. We’ve got a mixtape coming soon from Trazz, a street project with Glasses Malone, and I’m working on my album, the DJ Noodles album which you might see this summer or fall. I’m letting go of a sneak preview of a joint from my album on the new Red Café joint, so look out for the joint Dope Game.

On the production side, I’m on a lot of projects set to come out this year, and have music in front of a lot of artists just getting started on their projects. I’m also in talks with a few labels about some production deals, but for right now we’re focused on handling it ourselves and bringing my production to the forefront in 2008.
 
Anything you'd like to say to the fans out there?

Fix Your Face and pay attention! Keep tuning in every week on Sirius, on WBLK in Buffalo or any of my other stations in St. Louis, Tampa, California, wherever- I’m gonna make sure 2008 is an exciting year so don’t miss anything! Keep checking DJNoodles.com because we got a lot of new heat coming, like I said on my New Years Eve mixtape, “Let The Flood Begin!!” Shout out to my team Joe College, Davey Dee, of course Trazz and my man Louie B “Da Hater”. Fix Your Face!