Radio, Hip Hop, 'Beef', & everything in between.

A huge thanks to Erwin and Rob, of CJSW 90.9fm's  'Dirty Needles' fame, for having me as a guest on 'the Dose' podcast.  They asked me to recount my Calgary radio/music/DJ history (something I'd somehow never done before) and to talk about what I'm up to now.  Make sure you check these guys weekly on Fridays 9-10pm MTN for one of the REALEST hip hop shows anywhere. www.dirtyneedles.ca

Even after Rob edited the interview, we still ramble for close to 2hrs about how I got started, my influences, the highs, the lows, and even who are my top 3 emcees.  Its a LONG sit-down if you care to listen to the entire podcast here.  I've marked the main points below

click to listen - DIRTY NEEDLES - THE DOSE - EP 4 - Drew Atlas 

00:00 - 34:15  - Early days in radio and how I got my start

34:15 - 58:05  - Club life, the music biz & what Radio taught me

58:05 - 71:00  - Going from Power107 to Vibe vs Kiss (just my opinion)

71:00 - 87:30  - Thoughts on Hip Hop today (explicit - NSFW)

87:30 - 91:20  - My top 3 emcees

91:20 - 95:30  - Where my taste in Hip Hop comes from

95:30 -  end    - After I left the radio biz & what I'm up to now.



For the sake of posterity, there are a a few things I want to correct myself from the interview:

• You CAN you Google AM 106!
• Black Pearl productions became Niche Entertainment before it became BeatMatriX
• Maizun Jayoussi was Program Director and then Station Manager of CJSW when I was first there. (not Music Director)
• The Groove was 3-6pm on Sunday not 4-6:30pm.  (Caribbean Linkup was 4-6:30pm Saturday)
• Go Listen to DJ Pump 'Golden Era' mix NOW!
• Kendal W. was my co-host before he got his own show.  He was DJ Incognito before he became DJ OSUM. (He'll always be 'the man with the Gucci socks')
• Our long weekend parties were not exclusively held at The Embassy, but it was a definitive space for us.
• When did Capital start?  I'm not really sure '97, '98? :(
• I was a 'street-rep' for BMG music a couple years before I got on with Universal music
• The 5 Major record labels I hounded constantly - BMG, Universal, Warner, Sony, EMI.
• I started promoting at 21 in Calgary, but BeatMatriX was at its height when I was 27.
• Before I ever got onto Vibe, I was given my first mixshow on Friday nights on Power 107 called Power Jamz, thanks to Rob Mise at the urging of Carter Brown.
• Standard Radio didn't send me a ticket to Toronto.  I was in Toronto to see my family, but they did get me box seats to a Raptors game to meet the president of Standard radio at a Raptors game.  I believe I met Mastermind there as well.