As far as DJ’s in Canada go, one stands out amongst the rest, and that is the infamous DJ Rated R. Besides being a DJ for the better part of 15 years, the man who invented Potent Product is behind some of the legendary Hell Razah’s latest music.

While holding down the radio in Toronto, it was when he met New Jersey native, DJ Diggz, that he stepped into the mixtape scene, but when he did, there was no turning back and a spinning legend was born.

While heavily influenced by hip-hop from NYC and ATL, DJ Rated R manages to stay true to his roots and take care of fans from two countries. From winning a Justo award to taking over the mixtape game in Canada, DJ Rated R is most definitely doing his thing.

Sup man, what's good?

Peace and happy New Year, I'm just chillin', livin' it up.
 
So how did you start spinning?

Well more or less I always wanted to DJ. When I was 9 or 10, a family friend (Kid Lut Baby Blue) up here in Toronto was a big DJ and he put me on to my first turntables, from there I just stuck with it.

What is the hip-hop scene like in Canada?

Its cool, we need more money up here though, people need to start investing up here more, artists and investors. It seems like people want to rap and all that, they fire, but they don’t want to put up they own money and investors are scared because of some past flops.

Is it very different from the United States?

Yeah, it’s mad different, we got a different culture but the thing is we grew up on the States rap. So many people here got a cousin in NYC or ATL so its all connected, just up here the slang is different and there is more influence from the islands.

You recently worked with Hell Razah, what was that experience like?

Yeah Razah is my peoples for sure , yeah I mean he is real, I been a fan from when I was like 15. I used to be out in NYC getting them Sunz of Man 12 inch records and all that. Up here we loved Sunz of Man, Wu, all that shit. So when I had the chance to holla at Razah, I told him that I was a fan so I would stay true to his style and that was it, we connected. We did a few records, a few mixtapes, and I got some other producers from Canada on his last two albums so its peace. Go cop that, Razahs Ladder.

Why did you decide to get into mixtapes?

Well I used to do radio in Toronto but I had left radio for a second because I got mad bored so I was like damn I can’t just do nothing. I love this music here so at the same time I had connected with DJ Diggz so when I sat back and looked at it I was like, yeah I gots to do this. We did a few tapes and it was good so we have not stopped yet.

How did you meet DJ Diggz?

Diggz is the enigma, (laughs) he just popped up on my instant messenger one day and we were talking shit about music. I had gone to NY a week later to do some biz so we met over at Liveson's studio, shout out to liveson, and that was it, the rest is history.
 
You've dropped a lot of mixtapes, can you pick one favorite?

Return of the Mac, the new Potent Product series, the promo CD me and Hell Razah did for his album, its only like 10 songs and 25 minutes long but gotdamm this CD is classic.

Tell us about Potent Product.

That’s it right now, that’s our movement. Look out for potentproduct.com; shout out to Alex from VA for all the help. Make sure you come to the website on a regular and hold us down. We got the fire potent hoodies, of course mixtapes, t-shirts, and its fire not any bullshit. All that if it’s not potent don’t even mess with it; it’s a waste of cash.

You won the Justo award for best Canadian mixtape DJ, the first time it was even a category, how did that feel?

Aww man, that was super, shout out to everyone over there Ty Tanic , R.I.P. Justo. I mean words cant even describe that, all I can say is we gonna grind hard to get more. I need Diggz to win now too because as a team we underdogs,but yeah most def, that was a highlight

Tell us about the Master Plan show.

Shout out to the Master Plan fam, Dts, EV Starr, Deeks, Tara, and me.Yeah,  the Master Plan  is not my legacy, I am just lucky enough to join them. They are the longest running urban radio show in Canada period, they started in the 80's with a guy named Ron Nelson, and John Bronski, then Dts and Power, Power and D won a Justo for a reggae/hip hop tape a few years ago.

So more or less, I just come through and hold it down when I am in town, they let me bless the mic, shout out parties, drop some exclusives, you know the regular radio thing and if you in Toronto on a Saturday night its 89.5 fm 8-10 pm.

With all the DJ's popping up, what makes you stand out?

I mean we grind hard, our team is large we all over. We got a few things that we cant mention, but we them underground DJ's. We always beat out the DJ's with the new heat, we make fire beats, we got an album coming, plus we just young at heart people we don’t be on some old bullshit.

The Mixtape King series is hot, what are the requirements for a track to get on there?

Yo,  people might hate me for saying this but I don’t care.If you got a super fire off the hook, slap someone in the face record we might play it, if you got a budget we will play it, we do not play indie artists for free, bottom line. I got my reasons and they legit so that’s it. If you got a pile of money and your record is fire, not hot, it got to be fire, and then we can talk something out. I’m not trying to put out no one-night wonders.

What projects do you have coming up that we can look out for?

The website, the album, the mixtape series of course, and our hoodies and merchandise. We got a free DVD coming with the album and that’s about it. Also look out for potent productions as well and no we don’t need producers, we got enough right now. 

Anything you'd like to say to the fans at Sixshot.com?

Yo, much love to anyone messing with us they know what we about and if you see me in your town holla at me, I'm cool, just don’t ask for free tapes, (laughs), and make sure you get on potentproduct.com  and hold us down. Cop a potent product hoodie; take a pic wearing it, and I will post it on my mysapce and Diggz myspace, that’s it.

Shout out to Sid Roams, Infamous Mobb, and Mobb Deep, anyone who calls me on my cell, shout out to you. Koch, Jordan Towers, Diggz, Jersey, Toronto, Moms, No Face Entertainment and J Polar. Everyone else you know what it is, holla at me www.myspace.com/underratedinc and potentproduct.com