By DJ YRS Jerzy
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Continuing the trend of spotlighting the DJs, today Hip Hop Vibe is giving a spotlight to DJ Cassius Cain. A native of Detroit, DJ Cassius Cain rose to notoriety on the Atlanta mixtape scene. Most recently, DJ Cassius Cain dropped his Street Requested 9 mixtape, which is hosted by Turk.
Currently, DJ Cassius Cain sits as one of the biggest mixtape DJs in the game. He gets many of rap’s most-known names to host his mixtapes and they end up on all the big mixtape sites. The journey has not been an easy one for DJ Cassius Cain and he decided to reflect on it.
Hip Hop Vibe talked to DJ Cassius Cain a few days ago and he talked about what it takes to do what he does. Not only does DJ Cassius Cain deliver a solid product, he also is very consistent. During the interview, DJ Cassius Cain talked about how he broke into the game and how he maintains this consistency.
Read the entire interview below:
What made you want to be in the music industry? I first wanted to get in the music industry because I like music. I’ve always been a radio head, so it seemed cool to be able to come up with a concept and watch it come to life.
When you first started making mixtapes, who were the first people to help you out? Actually, my experience with learning how to be a DJ was difficult, I didn’t have a lot of DJs that were willing to help because they looked at me as competition. I basically taught myself, being that already knew how to work Pro Tools from when I was a audio engineer, but I would have to say DJ Five Venoms in Orlando was the first one to really show me the basics.
Who are some of the artists who have supported your movement? I’ve actually worked with a lot of artist behind the scenes, so I’ve had a lot of support. But, I’ve had artists like Mykko Montana, Bambino Gold, Icewear Vezzo, and Montana da Mac host my compilation tapes for me.
Do you have a set number of mixtapes you try to drop in the span of a year? Last year, I actually dropped 40+ mixtapes hosted and compilation. I was aiming for 100+, so I would like to complete that milestone. But, if you think about it if its 52 weeks in a year. I almost dropped a mixtape a week last year!
As a DJ, how important do you feel it is to have various outlets to break artists? That should be your main focus. Your job is to help break artists and gain them exposure, so you are the plug to everything. You should have connects with other artists, studios, clubs, shows, blogs, magazines, and everything to help get your product and your artist project out there.
Which type of DJ do you feel has more influence, radio, club, or mixtape DJ? Being that I’m a mixtape DJ, of course I would say a mixtape DJ, but each DJ definitely has an important role to play. Club DJs break the record to the streets, other club DJs pick it up, and then the radio DJ picks up that record and makes it hot in that region, then the mixtape DJ takes that artist’s project and executive produces it to help break the project outside of the singles, so the consumer can like them as an overall artist.
Would you ever consider crossing over into the other types of DJ-ing? Of course, there is always growth in whatever you do, so yes, always.
Can you tell us a little bit about this new tape you are working on? I work on a lot of tapes, I just want to feed the streets. They are hungry for new music and people depend on me and my brand to cure their hunger pains!
Who are some of the DJs you plan to work with this year? DJ Scream, Trap-A-Holics, DJ Victoriouz. Honestly, it doesn’t matter, I’m willing to work with any DJ.
Where can we find you on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? All my branding is the same, so Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram is DjCassiusCain, also check out my website www.MIXTAPEMESSIAH.com.
Follow DJ YRS Jerzy on Twitter @IAMDJYRSJERZY.
