DJ Red Alert is recognized and respected worldwide as one of the founding fathers of hip-hop music and culture.  This year he celebrates 25 years in radio.  It’s no small feat considering that DJ Red Alert began at a time when radio did not welcome hip-hop with open arms.

As one of the pioneers he helped bring hip-hop into the mainstream and for his work he has received numerous awards and accolades including a special award at the first annual Rap Hall of Fame Awards show.  In addition DJ Red Alert was named one of the 50 most influential people in music by Rolling Stone magazine and he has a display in the radio section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Sixshot caught up with the legend to get his thoughts on the past, present, and future as he celebrates a career full of amazing highlights.

Sixshot.com:  How does it feel to celebrate 25 years in hip-hop radio?

DJ Red Alert:  It’s an honor and a pleasure.  There are many others that take it for granted but I take it for a pleasure.

Sixshot.com:  Do you feel like you’ve accomplished most of what you set out to do or is there more you wish to get done?

DJ Red Alert:  Well you look at it—over the period of time you never saw what you were gonna go through.  But whatev er challenges came to you, you learned to deal with it.  If you fail you learn to get up and try it all over again.  So starting out as a DJ not knowing that I would go into different fields—you never realize how much work you put in.  If there’s more stuff from me in the future then I'm looking forward to doing it.

Sixshot.com:  I know that you used to manage artists is that something you’re still interested in?

DJ Red Alert:  I passed that on to my comrade, my man Chris Lighty the CEO of Violator Management.  We also have this marketing firm.  So I let him go ahead and continue that.  I think I want to do more in radio as far as the mix shows, cause I been involved more in the radio side than just on handling artists.

Sixshot.com:  You’re a pioneer of hip hop radio yet radio was not always friendly to hip-hop.

DJ Red Alert:  It was tough to begin with cause anytime you got something new in music it’s hard for people to be receptive to it.  It’s edgy and they look at it as coming from the street era; not knowing it would be as big as it is today.  So we learned to join relations.  You go through ups and downs but in the end you stay linked together and that’s the main thing.

Sixshot.com:  Since you began there’s been a lot of changes in radio such as corporations taking over the airwaves.

DJ Red Alert:  Well I have learned in the early 90’s about duopoly; when a corporation can own more than one radio station in the same market.  When that came in I think it diluted the progression of radio because now corporations hired research departments to research what is most popular across the board.  I used to go to different cities to hear something different from other places, and then I’d go back to New York to introduce new sounds, but it became bland across the board.  So duopoly has really changed the face of radio.

Sixshot.com:  Do you think the advent of online radio has created more of a balance in getting out diverse sounds?

DJ Red Alert:  Well you gotta look at it this way—now we in the days of more than one thing as the source of communication.  In the past it's all about the telephone and TV and now you have a little bit of everything with cell phones and the internet.  So it comes to a point of multimedia.  If you’re not involved with it you'll be left out.  So I've been involved for the past 6 years with satellite radio.

Sixshot.com:  Payola which is a major issue nowadays but was payola a big deal back in the day too?

DJ Red Alert:  To tell you the God’s truth I would never know ‘cause I was never part of it.  I was nowhere near that.  I always kept a clean slate.  I was very upfront about what I do and do not believe in as far as the material is concerned.  I can't speak on it cause I never was apart of it.

Sixshot.com:  So you never witnessed payola with others?

DJ Red Alert:  Never.  I kept myself far away from it.  It was around me but it’s like the streets; you know there’s crime in the streets but what do you do?  Do you come around the crime or do you stay away from it?  I stayed away from the payola.

Sixshot.com:  I’m not sure how familiar you are with the Million DJ March but it’s a project aimed to bring awareness to the economic disparities that DJ’s face in the music industry.  What are your thoughts on that issue?

DJ Red Alert:  When I first started out I wanted that recognition but you have to get out there and hustle to be recognized.  You have thousands and thousands across the board all after the same thing, so it’s gonna be where it narrows down that you’re not gonna get what you feel you deserve.  Sometimes you have to hustle a little more to get what you asking for.  So no disrespect to the DJ’s of today but don’t lay back and cry if you got this far—learn to keep going further by stepping up.

Sixshot.com:  Are there any areas where you feel like DJ’s need to step up today?

DJ Red Alert:  I am disappointed that they are not being as creative as they should be.  I know in order for me to be accepted I had to show and prove what I could bring to the table.  That’s the same as playing sports.  If you don’t play good then you get cut off the team.  I guess today they don’t have to do that—they just slide right on in, but not knowing that it’s hurting the craft at the same time.

Sixshot.com:  Nowadays many DJ’s are really branding themselves like DJ Khaled and Felli Fel.  Some think that this is a conflict of interest having radio DJ’s becoming artists and getting their singles played on their own station.  What is your take?

DJ Red Alert:  I had to market myself.  If I didn’t market myself I wouldn’t be known for what I’m doing and that’s what they are doing.  That’s what I mean by stepping up.  Perfect your craft and talent but learn how to step up with your marketing skills to be recognized, and that’s what they did.

Sixshot.com:  What’s your take on today’s hip-hop music?

DJ Red Alert:  There’s a lot that I like and a lot I don’t like, but you have a choice in whatever you pick.

Sixshot.com:  Who are you feeling now?

DJ Red Alert:  It’s hard to say because I'm an open-minded DJ to all different genres of music.  I don’t really have favorites.  I play hip-hop, trip-hop, house, and everything ‘cause I always been an open-minded person for music.  So I never really have favorites.

Sixshot.com:  With your legendary status you have already proven yourself.  So do you still try to target the mainstream youth market of today or are you just focused on doing what you do and not conscious of that anymore?

DJ Red Alert:  I am pleased and surprised that the youth of today notices me.  I can move around and I have the youth step to me and say, “Red, I got this latest CD.”  So they feel like I'm right in tune with them.  They know I am their elder but they still respect me.  That’s a privilege cause they could look at me like, “Come on pops go on the side—this our time.”  But they don't treat me like that, so I respect them for that.

Sixshot.com:  So you do or don’t feel obligated to target the mainstream youth market?

DJ Red Alert:  I learn to adjust with time.  If you don’t learn to adjust with time you will be left out.  There are goods and bads, but you learn to adjust.

Sixshot.com:  You get music from all over the world.  Is there anything you see as possibly the next big thing in hip-hop or some other genre of music?

DJ Red Alert:  Well I have witnessed this long before when I saw the development of the sound of hip hop today with much more of a faster pace and more danceable.  I witnessed that from a couple of years ago and I tried to explain that to people but they looked at me like whatever.  Now I can't tell you, but I’ll try to keep my ears and eyes open.

Sixshot.com:  There’s a quote where you talk about falling and learning to get back up during rough times.   What was your toughest fall?

DJ Red Alert:  There are times I have failed by not trying to bring my A-game to radio as well as to the clubs.  People were disappointed in me.  It made me go back in the lab and practice to be better.

Sixshot.com:  Are you a perfectionist?

DJ Red Alert:  I try to be.  I try to be the best I can.  I always want to try and make sure that I'm pleasing the masses.  If I’m pleasing the masses and they accept me then I know I'm on top of it and ready for next thing.

For more information please visit:
www.kooldjredalert.com

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