DJ Lazy K interview | LatinRapper.com

Lazy K - Female DJ Extraordinaire

1//28/05 - LatinRapper.com exclusive interview

dj lazy k

Beautiful, brash and talented is the only way to describe DJ Lazy K. Born in Mexico, Lazy K would find herself in Europe before winding up in New York and falling in love with Hip Hop DJing.

There were constant obstacles in an occupation dominated by men, but Lazy K persevered and made a name for herself as a battle DJ and mixtape pioneer. Her hard work has paid off in the form of being named best female mixtape DJ through various awards, and is considered the best female hip hop DJ in the world.

Lazy K took time out to speak with Latin Rapper about her experiences, helping major rappers get known, and why its time to be known in our exclusive interview.

LatinRapper.com: What are you working on right now?

Working on making beats, I work for a production company. Artist development, and I stay in the clubs.

For being a known DJ you're pretty low profile. Does anyone become surprised when they find out your ethnicity?

They think I'm Black but I'm not, I'm Mexican and French. Yeah, they get surprised, they be more surprised when I DJ though (laughs). A lot of times I [also] get "oh sh*t I didn't know you was a girl", like out of state, or out of country.

Do you speak Spanish?

Yeah, and French.

Didn't you live in Spain?

Yeah, I was raised in Spain. I was born in Mexico, then I moved to Spain. In Madrid, and then I moved to Geneva, Switzerland for 2 years. Then from there I came over here when I was 16, that's when I started DJing, and it's been good. It's a lot of hard worked but I'm still trying to get on the radio and get where people can see what I look like, and get a lot more appreciation for what I do, so that's my next step: get on the radio and TV.

Do you feel its important to rep your background in what you do?

It's important for me because I feel like I opened the doors for female DJs. When I started it was a very male area. Was a lot of hard work to get played because I was Hispanic or because I was a girl. I see more female DJs around, so its good. I love hip hop, that's my main thing. But I also love my Spanish music, I play reggaeton in clubs, I played Deep in New York, I rocked it. Up in Patterson, New Jersey. I do some hip hop, then reggae R&B, then reggaeton. I do the same thing with the hip hop that I do with reggaeton. I produce too, I write too, I write in Spanish so maybe hopefully I can do that. That's a new door I'm trying to open now, Spanish market, I gotta find a way to break that market.

I'm very positive, I'm very happy, I learned through the years. I lived in jersey, I learned a lot but I'm still me and I'm still trying to break out. I wanna do something good with this music, I wanna make my goals. I'm very talented, not just DJing, just gotta connect with the right people at the right places. Get a radio job, somewhere they can hear me.

You won best female mixtape DJ in 2003, and many consider you to be the best female DJ in the world. Is that a label you're okay with?

I already am. I carry the torch. And I'm proud of me, I'm proud of taking it there. I came from another country, another language, I learned to grow and learned the culture here and the language and also the music. I learned all of that, and when I accomplished that, to me it was a dream come true. But it's a goal I achieved, and now I have different goals. I gotta let people not just hear the name but see the face, to feel what I feel. And I feel like the music is good but also changing, it needs something new, every generation comes with a change. I feel like this is my generation, I gotta accomplish something. Whether it's production or coming out with a mixtape album or a TV show. Mixing cultures, I'm always gonna love hip hop 'cause that's my heart, but there's a lot of people in this world that loves this music and got different styles.

What is it that sets Lazy K apart from other DJs, particularly female DJs?

I'm well packaged, I'm very marketable. I can be a model, I know I'm different. First of all I'm the initiator. I set things up. I seen a lot of females coming and going, I think I pursue my job, I'm still doing it. The difference is, I'm talented, I know my job real good, I can rock with any type of crowd, I can come with one crate and then just adapt to the crowd. I can adapt to Jamaicans, Japanese, Spanish, White, I can adapt to where it doesn't matter the situation or the place or the club. I'm a crowd pleaser, I rock the mic, I talk. A lot of people stop and stare for a good five minutes, then they're dancing. At the end of the night the ladies are like, "damn we need more females like you, you know what to play to keep me dancing all night". When I do a party, its energy, like I charge myself. You know when you run on low batteries, I do a party and the next day I feel good. I like to make people dance, I like to make people feel happy. I don't play what I wanna play, I follow the crowd. I can probably do the parties in French, or in Spanish, you know.

Do you feel that as a female DJ that you should put out a positive portrayal of women in hip hop?

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. That's why I'm with Murda Mami Entertainment, I'm trying to make it happen. Do for each other. Remy Martin, Rah Digga, Shawna from Disturbing The Peace., I put on the other DJs like DJ Lady Tribe in L.A., Mami Chula from ATL, I show them love. Try to break that, [because] New York DJs, female DJs, stick to themselves.

When did you first get into DJing and making tapes?

I started DJing in '91, and I first was aiming for the DJ battles, competitions, so I learned how to battle other DJs. I started doing tapes, the guys used to buy my tapes for $10. I started making a living out of that. And then from there I took them uptown, New York, I just put my number on a mixtape and other people would call me to get my mixtapes. My tapes started to get played, I was getting new artists. I was very hardcore, I was harder than any other male mixtape DJ out there. I used to play records, switch them fast, crash, blend, mix, I was trying to be better than what they were so I could get attention. And now, 12 years... 12 years...since I started DJing, and I was doing mixtapes since '95, '96, that's like nine years. And if I have to do it again, I'll do it all over again (laughs)

I copped my first Lazy K mixtape in ‘96, whats the difference between what you're doing now and what you were doing back then?

There is no difference. Maybe the selection of the music is different, I was very hardcore back then, I'm not gonna say mad... But it's been already nine years of the same old songs, I have a 12 year old daughter so I'm trying to change the records that I play. I'm trying to play more positive music instead of hardcore music. I'm probably just better now. There's a difference, before it was a tape, now it's a CD (laughs), big difference.

How have mixtapes changed since that time, as far as sales to helping artists become established?

Well, mixtapes definitely help the artist out, I find that you create your own buzz. You gotta hot chance to get signed to a label. But I think mixtapes are the future of an album now. I see a lot of artists that don't need a DJ to put out a mixtape, you just need a good set of Pro Tools, a good engineer. But that's why I think its overcrowded right now. And it's a lot of music that's no good, a lot of no-good mixtapes.

Kay Slay and Flex are household names in Hip Hop. When will Lazy K reach that same level of hip hop status and mainstream appeal?

When I break commercial, when they put me on the radio, when they put me on TV. And they scared of me, all the DJs I met in the past, they friends with me, but they scared of me. Flex is scared of me, all of them, the girls they scared of me 'cause they know I'm talented.

Why would they be scared. Flex is already established, car tours, shows, clubs.

Well, everything that new... It's a generation, like one day someone's gonna take my place. Nothing lasts forever. He's established, he's not gonna lose. And I love flex, but Flex was one of the first that saw me come up. I'm watching the competition on tape, Flex is nodding his head watching me. I got love for the DJs, I love to be in competitions, keeps me on my toes. Kayslay used to sell my tapes. He used to bootleg my mixtapes and turn it into a CD mixtape. Green Lantern got his style from me, from my intros. Female DJs got in front of the turntable. 50 Cent, I put on 50 Cent, I put on Peedi Crack, Joe Buddens, I put them into the game. Wu-Tang made me hot 'cause in '96, '97 I had Wu-Tang exclusives, they helped me get powerful in the mixtape game. A lot of rappers that shined today, I put them on a mixtape, and another DJ sees that and puts them on, next thing you know they get famous. A lot of artists need to be thankful to the mixtape game, and I'm thankful to the mixtape game because it let me eat. I was able to pay my rent, feed my daughter.

And you said you produce, right?

Um hm. And I write, I write songs, I just don't know if I'm gonna sing them or if someone else is gonna sing 'em (laughs). 'Cause that's a whole new field, I want people to see me.

Are you involved with any other professional activities outside of doing mixtapes?

Nope, that's what I do. that's my whole job, to keep my name alive, to work as a DJ in clubs, basically.

What can we expect from you in the future

To see me everywhere (laughs) 'cause I'm 'bout to break out of this shell. Enough is enough.

Anything else you'd like to add?