1. ass as rappers and R&B crooners blow up his phone, wait-
ing for the next club-banger.
“That’s what a lot of people don’t understand, like, this
is more than producing,” he explains. They don’t under-
stand that this is a full-time job. It’s not like I’m just making
a beat and Big Sean happens to stumble into the studio- it’s
not like that.” With the throng of producers coming out of
Atlanta these days--including Metro Boomin’ who Mustard
admitted he’s a fan of--he has to work harder than ever
to keep his position on the production totem pole. “It’s a
hustle, you have to hustle,” he began, sitting up to check
the pings coming from his phones. “People take it lightly.
You gotta grind for what you want and really take it to the
next level--it’s a different era. It’s really just [about] chang-
ing the sound up, not staying the same.”
DJ Mustard is not new to this. Since the age of 11 he’s
been perfecting his craft ever since his uncle handed him
the reigns--or, turntables rather. Knowing that he was
raised in the unruly streets of Compton, however, I began
to question why he didn’t go the same route as his long-
time friend,YG. Even his other ally, Ty Dolla $ign, has made
it known that he’s affiliated with the Compton Bloods, but
according to DJ Mustard, it was his musical background
that kept him out of the streets with his Bompton peers.
“I was raised in a Blood neighborhood, I went to school
in a Blood neighborhood,” Mustard states, reflecting back
to over a decade ago. “My little cousin is damn near doing
life right now for what happened in a Blood neighborhood.
I probably would’ve been [one] if my uncle didn’t step up
and make me start DJ’ing. And I was really into music so at
that time I didn’t have to do that because I had my family
members around me, and my family was Blood so I didn’t
have to really be involved. I wasn’t pressured to be in the
gang, they always wanted me to do better and do other
things with my career.”
Fast forward a few years later and you have three young
California natives only touching the tip of their future
empire. “We came together through a guy named Big B.
He had a vision for us and we all just ran with the vision,”
Mustard tells me. He took me back to the times when he
used to watch Ty produce all of YG’s tracks, eager to show
his friends that Dolla $ign wasn’t the only one in the group
who had an ear for a smash-hit. He says it was a learning
experience: “Ty is like my big brother, so I just watched him
a lot, a whole lot. I was hands-on with him, and I was just
thankful for him allowing me to watch him. [Then] I learned
how to use this program [Reasons], and ever since then it’s
been a wrap.”
Though Mustard prides himself on his non-stop work
ethic, he still allows himself time to engage in some fun
times with his crew, but then it’s right back to work. “My
work day is a full day in the studio, then we go play basket-
ball at two in the morning every night and then go home,
go to sleep, wake up, [and] do this sh*t all over again,” he
states. If he’s not catching a quick pick-up game or produc-
ing an instant radio-hit, he’s taking the time to focus on
him and his crew’s artists. “RJ, he’s killin’ it in the West
Coast,” says Mustard, listing several newcomers from his
end of rap roster. “My artist, name’s Choyce--his real name
is Royce--he’s from Seattle but he rocks with us.” The two
up-and-comers are getting ready to make their industry de-
but January 1st with YG, Ty and Mustard, entitled Rich Off
Mackin’. “We just put together a whole mixtape for them,
did all the beats. Just some sh*t for the streets to give out
for free.” The Men of the Year have also been keeping busy
with backpack giveaways for their hometown. “I did three
charities this year. I did one when I bought my house. The
military had a backpack giveaway so I gave them a lot of
money for that. And I did one with one YG and then I did
my own. I always like to give back though, because I make
a lot of money, [and] when you make that much money it’s
not good if you don’t do nothin’ with it.
If anything, he has the right mindset. And when this
year’s hardest-working DJ needs advice he’s pretty fortu-
nate to be able to call on one of the biggest entertainers of
our time. Yes, when he has ideas (or needs tickets to a sold
out game), Jay Z is just one phone call away. “I just went
to the Nets game, he gave me his seats. Well, I emailed him
and he gave me his seats- he emailed me right back. When
I call him, [he] calls me right back,” says Mustard. “He’s
hands on, a lot of people don’t get it. They don’t think he’d
be because he’s so busy. [But] he knows exactly what’s go-
ing on in his camp.”
Nearing four o’ clock, we both began to get a little
restless- the skies began to cast an effervescent glow and
Mustard still has work to do before he can fly back to Cali.
But like any man with power, a woman is sure to follow, and
Mustard wastes no time when asked about the love of his
life.
“Her name’s Chanel, my son’s mom. She was there before
everything.” He met his fiancée when they were in their
young teens, and like most highschool sweethearts, they
managed to find their way back to each other. “Me and her
were always friends before we got together,” says Mustard
behind his cheeky grin that always seems to show when his
family is mentioned. “We’d be talkin’, then we’d stop talkin’,
I would do my thing, she would do her thing. And then, we
always seemed to just come back to each other.”
What’s next? While he plans another charity event for
Christmas and works on YG’s sophomore album, his family
is making room for a new addition to the clan. “I have a
daughter on the way,” he says with that same overbearing
smile. While he gears himself up for her due date in Febru-
ary, right now he’s just ready to finish up the remainder of
his shows in the city so that he head back home and spend
time with his loved ones for Thanksgiving. And for a man
who seems to work 24/7, 365, a few days with his family
before he heads back on the road is all he needs to keep
his priorities in order.
After talking to him, it is more clear now than ever
why he was named MVP of the Year at the 2014 B.E.T.
Hip Hop Awards and one of our Men of the Year. There’s
no other man in the game right now with as much tenac-
ity and dedication as the one who is sitting in front of
me. And as he walks back to the elevator to get a little
more rest before his next appearance, one has to admire
a man who didn’t grow up with the best structure but
managed to take over the charts, one spin and one mix
at a time.
“People take it lightly. You gotta grind for what you want and
really take it to the next level- it’s a different era. It’s really
just [about] changing the sound up, not staying the same.”
- DJ MUSTARD
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