Its always a pleasure to interview a Hip Hop DJ or artist with a long standing history in the industry and someone like yourself must have some amazing stories to share with our readers. Tell us about how you got into Hip Hop, DJing and where you roots come from?
Thanks for having me ! I fell in love with Hip-Hop when I was very young, I was in primary school, and saw a Run Dmc music video, and saw Jam Master J scratching and thought it was amazing, I was buying records since I was about 10 years old & always loved music !
What were the first 5 records you picked up with your own hard earned cash?
That’s a hard one cause I was buying records as a kid !! But a lot of classics, 90s stuff, Eric B & Rakim, Soul II Soul, Public Enemy, LL Cool J & Snoop Dogg were amongst them !
What are your top 5 records your playing now and how do you see the influences from when you started coming out in them today and the current tunes your dropping?
My top 5 records vary depending on what the vibe of the party is, but generally
1. IDFWU – Big Sean & E-40
2. AYO – Chris Brown & Tyga
3. Trap Quen – Fetty Wap
4. Classic Man – Jidenna ft Kendrick Lamar
5. Watch Me – Silento
Whats the setup you prefer to play on if you had the perfect DJ booth? Also the perfect club / environment set up?
I love technical questions !
2 x Technics turntables
Rane TTM 62 Battle Mixer
A mic & Mic stand
A loud monitor,
a fly lounge for my people to hang out on !
How have you seen the technology change in your network and shows over the past decade and where do you see it going in the next few years?
I love technology man ! It’s made DJing so much fun, I’ve always used a lot of gear, roland samplers etc, technology has simplified my set up a lot, and I can make my own edits of music, I have a LOT of exclusive music from artists like Fatman Scoop, Lil Jon, Akon, Sean Paul, Shaggy so with technology I can play it all live and do a lot of dub plates & exclusives !
Do you still go digging for vinyl in old record stores and what are some tunes you have picked up on your travels recently and where? Any cool little record shops you want to shout out to and that our readers can check out if they happen to be passing by in their travels?
I do love to go digging a lot, BUT I don’t classify myself as a “digger” as such, I love to collect 45s, which is kinda the new craze now, but I have been into it for a while, i don’t play them out really, but i love having them, I collect a lot of Australian 80s pop, i recently found a bunch of “new kids on the block” joints ! As for spots, there are a lt ! In Sydney Mojo’s and in Perth I like Safari’s a lot.
Do you have a radio show, podcast or somewhere we can go check out some of your latest mixes and please link us up with some of those oldschool vibes to listen to as we just cant get enough of it right now.?
I’m on Dash Radio, on the LOUD Channel on Fridays, with my mix show “ Digital Dope “, and you can peep my soundcloud
Whats been happening in Australia lately in the hip hop scene? Do you see it growing? Alot of the younger crowd showing up to more of your shows? Are you playing more club shows or festivals?
Tha Australian Hip-Hop Scene is huge, and has been for a while ! Definitely Growing, people of all ages are at the club gigs, I have been playing a combination of Club gigs & festivals, I did Goodlife this year which was BANANAS !
Do you have any side projects your working on or other business’s inside of the music industry, record labels, club nights we dont know about ?
YES….. I’m just about to announce I have started my own label called “Digital Dope Music “, and just inked a Distribution Deal with Universal Music Australia.
Next up for Nino Brown? Some more international gigs? More releases coming our way?
I have 3 records done for Digital Dope Music, I will be playing them in Bali, a festival trap record called “ Go Wild “, a urban joint called “ DO TO ME “ featuring Vince Harder & King Mez ( Dr Dre’s new artist) and a club banger called “ Status AInt Real “ featuring IamSu !!! So it’s gonna be an exciting few months !!! Shouts to One Hit & The Chiefrockers !
For more info & music check out
www.facebook.com/djninobrown
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