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Ghetto House Godfather: DJ Slugo · Tha Smoking Section Podcast

• Smokey Da Bandit: Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back. This is your boy Smokey the Bandit, Haters Can't Stand It, and this is the Smoking Section. Tonight we got a true Chicago legend in the building, a pioneer who helped shape an entire movement and turn the city all the way up, from clubs to mix tapes to worldwide influence. This man put Chicago on the map with a sound that still moves the culture today. If you know anything about underground kings, ghetto house and real Midwest history, then you already know what time it is. The Smoking Section podcast is honored to welcome the one and only DJ Slugo. DJ Slugo: Anyway, I'll call you right back. I'll call you right back. Smokey Da Bandit: Good job, Smogo! DJ Slugo: Yo yo, what's up? Smokey Da Bandit: I'm a business business call that fast. What's good welcome welcome to the smoking section podcast. I'd like to thank you for being a guest. DJ Slugo: Yeah. Smokey Da Bandit: How you feeling? DJ Slugo: Pretty good, bro, yourself? Yeah, yeah, can eat anything. Smokey Da Bandit: You can hear me, everything cool? Well, you know this is smoking sex, so I gotta light up and stimulate my mind. Do you partake? DJ Slugo: I don't, I don't, nah, I don't indulge, sir. Smokey Da Bandit: You don't in those have you ever? DJ Slugo: Yes, I have. And that's why I don't. Smokey Da Bandit: Why is that? What happened? DJ Slugo: Even though it's legal now, ⁓ I still don't partake. ⁓ It ain't my thing no more. Smokey Da Bandit: No more. Okay. DJ Slugo: I get high off the music. Smokey Da Bandit: You get this started, man. Off top, my first question. What was it like growing up as Thomas? And how did we get to internationally known DJ Slugo? DJ Slugo: ⁓ Growing up as Thomas was rough, but I really can't complain about it because it shaped me to be DJ Sluggles. Growing up as Thomas was me and my brother and my three sisters and my mom and my family. If I wanted to use ⁓ a word, growing up as Thomas was... Family. I learned what family was. So struggle. I learned how to come close with family when we're all struggling, we all come together to make sure we're all good. it wasn't bad. Then internationally, actually one of my family members I saw my cousin DJing. I took it on as a hobby, took it from a hobby, turned it into a business and then the rest is what it is. Smokey Da Bandit: Ew. So where did you get the name DJ Slugo from? DJ Slugo: Well, I had a... I ain't gonna even say my friend, because I be cussing him out every time I see him. But I had a ⁓ friend that went to school with me. And he called me Slugo as a joke and I didn't know what I had. I accidentally wore a Kango to school one day, one of the old school Kangos back in the days. And he made a joke saying, ⁓ you look like Slugo. And I was like, I didn't know who Slugo was at the time. And then somebody was like, he talking about the dude from the Funnies with Nancy and Slugo. That's. Yeah, from the. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. ⁓ Mix. DJ Slugo: from the comic strip in the Sunday, in the Sunday. Yeah. So, you know, people used to say it to tease me with it. What up Slugo And I was like, man, don't. So I just took it and took a negative, turned it into a positive because I started practicing DJing. And I was like, I don't know what my DJ name going to be. And I was like, well. Smokey Da Bandit: Sunday comics, yup, I used to love Sunday comics. Mm-hmm. DJ Slugo: They already calling me Slugo, so let me make something out of that. So I put the DJ in front of the Slugo and then just made it what it was. Smokey Da Bandit: Just embraced it, huh? DJ Slugo: Yeah, I embraced it and it's crazy because when I embraced it, the people who was teasing me didn't want to call me. So it's like, I know you're a double-sided hater. If it was a joke, you was with it. But now that I'm turnt it into something, you don't even want to call me Slugger. You want to call me Thomas now. Yeah, so. Smokey Da Bandit: Right. Right. ⁓ Where is DJ Slugo from? DJ Slugo: Chicago, I'm from Chicago. The crazy part, a lot people don't know, I was born on the west side of Chicago, but raised out south. So when I was born, my mom was living out west. She left the west side and brought us out south. So I was born out west, raised out south, so I'm really Chicago. Yeah, I'm Chicago baby all the way around the board, so, you know. Smokey Da Bandit: Chicago baby all the way around. Shout out to that. So, from my acknowledgement, you're from the Robert Taylor Projects. DJ Slugo: Yeah, Robert Taylor home. Yeah, 49th and State Street, Vulture City. Vulture City. Smokey Da Bandit: Vulture City. 49th Estate, shout out to Vulture City. And you know, for the people that's not from Chicago, what does that mean to you? What is Robert Taylor Projects and what is Vulture City? DJ Slugo: I'll see you Robert Tater Projects is my roots that shaped me as the individual that I am, be it the ⁓ smart side, the strategic side. the hood side, all that, the musical side, everything came from being in that type of environment and learning from that type of environment. So that's what really gravitated me to me. It structured me as a man, you know what mean? So. Smokey Da Bandit: Okay? And what does Voucher City mean? DJ Slugo: Vulture City is where I grew up at. So they start calling us vultures because you could come down there four in the morning, three in the morning, six in the morning, seven in the morning, and you definitely gonna find some guys hanging out. So they start saying that them boys be up every time of the night. They like vultures. So we embraced it. went around lurking. You thinking he sleep, he lurking. And that... Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, the are gonna wait around till you're dead. Yeah, they waiting around alert. You lark. DJ Slugo: Five in the morning, somebody knocking you upside your head, because you thought it was sweet. So that's what it Smokey Da Bandit: Right up. Okay, okay. So, so who was your inspiration or who were your inspiration? DJ Slugo: My cousin Gino was my inspiration for me to DJ. Production came from watching different people in the industry as I was coming in there, watching all these different producers. That's where the production came from. But my whole interest in wanting to be a DJ came from my cousin Gino. Smokey Da Bandit: out to cousin Gino. My bad, was trying to hook this mic up. I mean, these headphones up. ⁓ DJ Slugo: I'm Smokey Da Bandit: talk to Robert Taylor Hums. What was it like growing up there and what building, you say you're from 49th to State. 4950, shout out to 4950. What was it like growing up there in your era? DJ Slugo: Mm-hmm. for the 950. We're not fit. Rough, rough, just the upbringing in that building alone, you talking 16 floors, 160 apartments, all low income families do the math, you know what mean? That's a rough area. Everybody coming outside with a chip on their shoulder daily. You know, you gotta survive that. it's like everybody that was in the Robert Tate that's doing okay now, you basically survived. You got PTSD, but you definitely survived. We grew up where homicides, suicides, and everything else under the sun was normal to us. ⁓ Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: small at nine years old, five years old, you know, we programmed, we like, wow, he dead and going to school. You know what saying? Smokey Da Bandit: So before you was even a teenager, you was numb to all of that. DJ Slugo: Yeah, no, by time I got to a teenage, was just all normal. Like, ⁓ that happened every day. Like, that's nothing. You know, it would have to be. Smokey Da Bandit: Damn. DJ Slugo: the FBI, the DEA, all them running in the buildings all at the same time would be amazing. Oh wow, we ain't never seen that many police. We see police running up in here on the regular, but not that many police. And with those letters on the back, yeah, but other than that, every day. That's one place that anybody who grew up down there could contest to it. Every day something was shaking. Every day. There was never a dull day. Smokey Da Bandit: Damn. Right, what happened to me? DJ Slugo: in them buildings. And it wasn't all bad. The parties were good. Some of the summers were great until something drastic happened. summertime Chicago was great, period. It's just some of the areas you go in, the heat contributes to it. But people, yeah. So it's like people. Smokey Da Bandit: The heat, when it's hot outside, it really get hot outside. DJ Slugo: People take beats from the winter time and wait till the summer to settle. You know what mean? So it's nuts. You know what I'm saying? But at the end of the day, it's like if you survived it and you know the ins and outs and the layers of Chicago, you know how to move around around here. So in them buildings, we just had to know how to move around and keep yourself out of the mix of the chaos. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. ⁓ What age did you start DJing? DJ Slugo: Ooh, grammar school. I was DJing, I was practicing in grammar school, ⁓ My cousin, my cousin. I think maybe fifth, sixth grade? Fifth or sixth grade. Like, yeah, maybe fifth or sixth grade because I took it serious before I left grammar school, so. Smokey Da Bandit: What was your influence that got you say your auntie, your cousin? Ow. DJ Slugo: Before I graduated, I wanted to be him. You know what mean? Because he was getting all, you know, the girls was going crazy when they DJing. Then I'm watching him make money with it I'm saying, man, I need to learn how to do that. You know what I'm saying? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. So you wanted to be a DJ, not because of somebody famous, because it was your cousin. DJ Slugo: ⁓ no, cousin, my cousin, my cousin was somebody who him and his little crew, they would come down in the playgrounds and you know, and DJ parties in the playground for the free. And then I would, you know, people would come from everywhere, you know, cause you gotta understand we had State Street alone from 22nd to 63rd. Imagine all them people coming in one playground. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah DJ Slugo: And I was looking like why is everybody coming out here just to hear music like it don't but they was they was local celebrities You understand saying so it's like they stay street great people saying they names they putting up posters on the polls and They people handing out flies and they got their names I'm in one flies when people was writing writing on cutting the papers in the fours and we're where why what and all that on that and You know when I see them. Yeah, I was like man listen Smokey Da Bandit: Real quick. DJ Slugo: I gotta have some of that, you know what I'm saying? Like, they local celebs, let me, I need some of that local celebrity, you know what saying? So I told him, like, man, you gotta teach me. And he was like, I know why I'm a teacher if you take it serious. Cause he was serious about it. Like I used to go in his house and his house looked like a record store. Like he got crates with the records all organized. I got another cousin named Reggie. He still to this day, it looked like Gramophone, looked like Gramophone records in his basement. You know, they got it all organized, turntables, CDJs. It's just, it's nice. It's super dope. So when I go over there, it's like, I'm at home. It's like, this is nice. I love this. And you know, and we still to this day, back then we used to be, you know, real competitive with each other. That's how I got so good. My competition was at some point one day I need to, if I can beat these two. Smokey Da Bandit: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. DJ Slugo: I could beat anybody, you know what I'm They was nice with it. So I'm like, if I can beat Gino and I can beat Reg, I could beat my cousin. If I could beat my cousin, nobody else got a chance, you know, at all. You know what saying? So my whole goal was to be bigger and better than them. You so when they see me now, they be like, Smokey Da Bandit: that I could do this. I'm in. nobody fuck with me. That's the bar set right there. DJ Slugo: So proud of you, cuz. So proud of you, cuz. So I be looking like, at first I used to be cocky with it. I told y'all. I told y'all I was gonna be bigger than y'all. You know what saying? But it was all the fun because these are my icons. These are the people I look up to saying, nah, these cats. Y'all don't, like my cousin Reggie on the blending side, like that's where I really learned how to blend from. Like he, when I say a dog, like I talk crazy to him, but if it had to be a blending contest, I'd back out gracefully like, ⁓ you got it. ⁓ yeah, he cold, he cold, he cold. Not only is he cold, he know music better than me. Still to this day, like he know music. Yeah, my cousin Reggie, like he know, he know, he know. Smokey Da Bandit: This is Ugo, present Reg. Shout out to Reg man. DJ Slugo: He knows music, like, you know what saying? My cousin Gino, he was the same way, but he had, ⁓ like, back-to-back strokes, so he didn't like... one of the little remote chairs and things like that. So we go see him every night again. But I told him like, coming to see him like that depresses me a lot. You know what saying? Cause this is the person I looked up to on the DJing side. I really don't want to see you like that. You know I'm saying? So I go when I can deal with it. You know what mean? But he know, he know I love him. you know, that's all he needs a little bit. And if he need anything, he can always call and ask. So. Smokey Da Bandit: We sending love right here too, man. We gonna send some love too, love and prayers. DJ Slugo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, he in way better condition than he was when it first happened. He's up, he can move certain things that he couldn't move now, he talks better now. And he back into, like I was telling my family, all y'all gotta do is... this music, it's gonna wake him up, it's gonna get him back right. So I took my hard drive. He was like, I don't have no music, cuz. So I went and got his hard drive, took my hard drive, filled his hard drive up and was like, this is you used to do me back in the day. It's like, let me return that favor. Let me give you all the music you need. So he be in his little room, you know, going through his thing. Like, I think it was his brother's birthday party. ⁓ I set it up where he could DJ. the beginning of the party from the chair and people look like ⁓ that's crazy yeah people so so ⁓ man i i'm telling people seeing that makes me know the power of music he wanted to dj so bad he was like you just gotta plug me and hook me up Smokey Da Bandit: Your music does heal. E E DJ Slugo: Yeah, music, if you got anybody that used to be in music and they didn't have any type of trauma, bring that music to them and the trauma gonna be over with. They gonna get up out of what chair, wheelchair, whatever it is they is to do that music, I promise you. so. Smokey Da Bandit: Music is healing. Music is medicine. Now slow go. You do know that a lot of babies were conceived after leaving your parties. DJ Slugo: Yes. Uh-oh. ⁓ I don't know. Smokey Da Bandit: Ain't nobody reached out to you for some child support yet. DJ Slugo: Not for me. You mean for me, me directly? Oh yeah, I'd have been through those situations already. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah! DJ Slugo: And listen, my baby girl is, what's this, 20, 26? She's 26. She'll be 26 this year. I don't got no babies. And I don't want any baby, ever in life again. I don't want any little kids and nothing like that. I've been through a child support situation before. Like I don't sugarcoat nothing. be asking me. If I've been through it, I've been through it and worked my way through it. I had one of my baby mamas take me to child support that shouldn't have never took me to child support. But she did. And I got through it away. Smokey Da Bandit: you would slug up, right? This guy's good slug up, man. DJ Slugo: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was, it just wasn't a good situation, but we did, Yeah. Smokey Da Bandit: All right, so what did the Chicago nightlife feel like during the height of the ghetto? Matter of fact, what is ghetto house music? DJ Slugo: Ghetto house music is a version of house music that's... derogatory, I guess I could say, you know what? It's ratchet house music. So you know how house music is not ratchet? It's the ratchet version of house music. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Okay, well, hold on, pause right there. For those that aren't familiar, for those that are getting to know Slugo and your brand, you are known as a house DJ, but your brand is ghetto house music, right? So can you explain to the people what house music is? Cause that's really known to most in Chicago. DJ Slugo: Okay. Ghetto House music. Correct. So house music is BPM maybe 125, well 118 to 130 BPM, happy, soulful dance music. That's what house music is. You where everybody is in their little world and doing their little thing. And was every happy, everybody was free. You know what I'm saying? Everybody just dancing. You know, it's one of those things, having fun. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: We, on the other hand, came through with, you know, suck this, F that, calling girls out they name, shit we was hearing in the hood. Yeah, stuff we was hearing in the hood. you know, of course, matter of fact, may he rest in peace. My guy, Paul Johnson, before he passed, he was one of the people who helped me with my first vinyl album. And... Smokey Da Bandit: We- You can't leave me like, I'm a hoe, you a hoe. DJ Slugo: He coined us as the bastard children of house music. So I was like, it hurt my soul. I was like, we know what? He was like, y'all the motherfuckers are the bastard children of house music. Y'all rebellious. It's like you the bad fucking kid, like the curse and all that shit. That's y'all. Y'all the bastard children of house music. And I was like, damn, that cuts, but I'm gonna continue to use it. so bastard. I might as well be the worst kid ever then, fuck it. Let's take it all the way there. you know. Yeah, most definitely. Smokey Da Bandit: Let's own up to it then, fuck it. All right, so that's house music and then that's ghetto house music. DJ Slugo: is that ghetto house music. And we, they used to call it booty house. It was one other name, but I remember them phrasing us as booty house. And I was like, I don't want nobody calling my music booty house, not my version of it. So I put the ghetto on there and like, no, this is ghetto house music. know what I'm saying? Ghetto house? Smokey Da Bandit: BLEH When would you say that started? DJ Slugo: Late 80s, early 90s? Yeah, so late 80s, early 90s for me. Yeah, late 80s, early like 87, 88 things of that nature. Early 90s. That's one for me with the ghetto house. Dance Mania was one of the first labels to actually embrace us and put us out, like put the sound out there. Cause at first nobody wanted to touch it. Everybody was like. Smokey Da Bandit: Dance Media. DJ Slugo: Yeah, Dance Mania, this guy named Ray Barney owned a record label called Dance Mania. Classic label, when you Google it, you'll know. But everybody came from that label, even Folly and all them, they were all on that, the house music guys was on that label too. But from the 90s, Kettle House ran the 90s. We were doing the mixtapes and all that. That's all everybody wanted to hear. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: was the mix, the mixes. So I know, I know, I know. Trust me. Man, I met your mom a couple times. So it's like anybody in our age range, here's why I tell people, because somebody asked me this the other day, like, man, how you survived all these decades? And I said, you gotta remember this. Smokey Da Bandit: My mama used to listen to House music, How you know my mama knew? See? DJ Slugo: We grew up in the Robert Taylor homes, right? Which was attached to Stateway, the Ickys. ⁓ Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: the whole, you had 6th, you had the two tall white buildings on 60 something. From there all the way to 22nd on State. So you have from 63rd all the way to 22nd, all the way down State Street. You had all of these buildings. You had 160 apartments in each building. You had multiple families living in each apartment. You know what mean? People that is. You gotta understand, it was a time where we didn't even have to leave State Street. You understand what saying? Then you had from State to the Lake. That's why everybody always be saying, State to the Lake. You had State Street to the Lake. You know how many people we have came in contact with? So you got the people that we came in contact with, grew up with, that grew up on us. Smokey Da Bandit: I don't know, but it's not like too many. Yeah. Yeah. DJ Slugo: who end up pushing that music onto their children. And now those kids are at an age where they pushing on their kids and these are the kids now that's rapping over the house music. Smokey Da Bandit: One of them. ⁓ DJ Slugo: You feel what I'm saying? So think about that. Like, it's like, that's three generations right there. And now, you know, by y'all rapping over it now, it brings a whole different demographic into what we're doing. So we got to look another 10, 20 years that it's going to do what it's going to do. So I'm just happy to be three decades, almost four decades in and still be relevant. Smokey Da Bandit: It's going too hard now. DJ Slugo: That's a blessing. Yeah. you can't make that up, you know. Smokey Da Bandit: All right, so we all know that you're big on positivity and you do not want anything negative around. You say that. You say that all the time. DJ Slugo: Correct. No demonic spirits in my presence. Smokey Da Bandit: For real. In la'u of Men Awareness Month, please share why you are so adamant about protecting your peace. DJ Slugo: ⁓ Growing up the way that I have grown up and even doing some of the ⁓ things in my past that I regret and losing a lot of my partners, ⁓ losing a lot of people who I thought were friends but were not friends, ⁓ losing friends that were friends but now are no longer with us, things of that nature. A lot of the stuff we grew up thinking was okay and was right was not. And nobody taught us to protect our peace. Like, bro, don't do that. You know, like we had a few coaches here and there, but you gotta understand, the older gentleman that grew up with us was gangsters. So we grew up watching gangsters and thought that's the only, like in this neighborhood, you, yeah, you either, you either. Smokey Da Bandit: We gotta move. DJ Slugo: You bout that life or you not about that life? You feel what I'm saying? But nobody was telling us, you do know there's another way, right? Like there's other ways you can get money. There's other ways you can be popular, you know, without knocking somebody up the hill, without being a shooter. You don't have to be a shooter to be popular. You can be this and still be as, you can be more popular than the shooter. You know what I'm saying? So it, you know, as I grew. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm doing it. DJ Slugo: That's what made me say, hey, when I do positive things, I'm starting to see the outcome is more positive. I don't have to look over my shoulder. You feel what saying? So when I'm around people, I notice that, this is the main reason I say no negativity around me or no demonic spirits around me. I notice that once I made my mind up to get away from negative people and negative things, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: blessings start pouring on me. You understand? So it was one of those things where I felt like God was like, I bless you, but I can't bless you because you got dudes standing next to you. And if I bless you, you're going to bless him and he, he don't got, he should be getting these blessings. So as long as you hanging around him, that's what people don't understand by blocking your blessings. You blocking your blessing with some of your surroundings. Smokey Da Bandit: Amen. DJ Slugo: He ain't supposed to get blessed. He's not a good person. But you cool with him. You cool with him and if I, it's basically, let's do it with just money, because everybody understands money. If I give you $50,000, you definitely gonna give him $1,000. And I don't want him to have that because with $1,000, first of all, he's not gonna do the right thing with it. He ain't gonna do the right thing. You're gonna give him $1,000 and he's a street person. He's into this. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Ew. DJ Slugo: He gonna go buy something where he can kill off his community with it. So I don't need you to do that. You feel what I'm saying? So I can't give you the 50,000 because you gonna try to bless these people around you and I'm dealing with these people right now. I'm trying to get them to come over here and talk to me and they don't wanna come talk to me. So I can't give you the 50,000. So you blocking your blessing right now. But as soon as you get away from that, as soon as you get away from that, I got you. You know what I'm saying? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. And that's something people don't know how to do, which is basically setting boundaries. don't matter how long you know the person. Sometimes they do too much and it's like, I'm not with that no more. Like when I was younger, I was with that. ain't with that no DJ Slugo: Yeah, you have to bro. Yeah. Yeah. I tell people all the time bro like I'm starting to watch people actions and Seeing how your heart operate if your heart ain't right now get away from me, bro Get away from me now and I'm at an age now where I don't sugarcoat it if smoke ain't right I'm gonna step to you a smoke love you, bro. You know, I got real love for you Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. DJ Slugo: But I can't hang around you no more. I don't know, whatever way you take it is on you, but me and you, when we see each other, yo. But as far as you hanging with me, going to my shows, anything of that nature, being with me at VIP, no, no. You're not even really into music. You just wanna be around me. Yeah, so it's over with. We're not doing none of that no more. And it's nothing personal. Smokey Da Bandit: Set it down! DJ Slugo: It's just me protecting my peace. And if you love me like you say you do, you'll be like, know what, you right. I'm still in the streets, you not. Go ahead, bro. I'm hoping the best for you. But if I need you every now and again financially or something like that, don't leave me out here. All right, cool. You know what I'm saying? you know. That's if you got real love for me and it's not envy. Yeah, they envious. Right. Oh, I know. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, so it was and I was and I was just about to say real love for you slug. I want to show you love right now and give you some roses man because you have blessed me time and time again throughout the years. You didn't put me on shows. DJ Slugo: Yes, sir. Mm-hmm. As I should. Smokey Da Bandit: You didn't play my music in the mix. DJ Slugo: I wish we could get the fat boy out of retirement, but okay. Smokey Da Bandit: He back, you say he back. You say he back. But you've blessed me many, many times throughout these years and I'm thankful and I appreciate you and I love you for that real shit. And with that being said, last year, you and I did a song called On The Block. And I want to stand my gratitude once again for working with me and trusting that I would do my thing. DJ Slugo: Tell them I don't see it. Yes, home. I'm in love you too, bro Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, trying to get you over to the other side, Smokey Da Bandit: What made you want to take rappers and put them on House Track? DJ Slugo: Okay, so people like yourself who I consider my friends, right, don't know nothing about the other side, right? And this is something I explained to y'all numerous times sitting and talking to y'all saying, rap is cool, but I ain't doing that no more. Like that ain't what I'm doing no more. I have had the luxury of being able to go see the other side. Come with me. You feel what I'm saying? Come with. ⁓ Okay, so the only way you're gonna listen to me, because you don't believe me. You my man, you don't believe me. Let's do a song together. And then we'll wait, cause I know one thing about y'all, y'all pay attention to social media and numbers. So I say, if I do a song with them and this song goes over anything they've done in Spotify or Tidal or Apple Music, then they'll listen to me. You know what I'm saying? Then I can get you to do a song. Smokey Da Bandit: You DJ Slugo: So I'll look at you, I'll be sitting back and looking like, okay, I'm number three on Spotify now. I want to see paying attention. ⁓ we number two. Like, ⁓ hits me all the time. Man, it'll shut up the number one on my Spotify. Are you listening to me now, bro? You know what I'm saying? You don't have to abandon what you do, but understand that there's something else that's just as great as what you do. Smokey Da Bandit: you are you. DJ Slugo: And with this, what I'm doing, you ain't got to worry about nobody dissing you. You ain't got to worry about no beef back and forth. You know what saying? You can go dance at these parties, whatever. So I know. I know. I know. Because my thing is this, bro. It's like, Smokey Da Bandit: block is number one on my spot. DJ Slugo: It's one of those things, what I'm saying, I know y'all musicians and I know what musicians understand. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: Y'all stay on Spotify. Y'all stay watching y'all numbers. So I said, it ain't but one way to kind of trick them into doing this and let them see this other side. And bring you out to these shows so you can see the response from people. And you ain't talking about bang them up, shoot them, none of that. You know what I'm saying? This is dance music. And everybody happy, they dancing with you. Even got you dancing. Damn, this different. So I just wanted my people. Smokey Da Bandit: clear. DJ Slugo: around me just to see something different other than what they normally see. know what I'm saying? This dance side is... The dance side is not rap. The dance side is not R &B. You feel what I'm saying? It's dance music. Smokey Da Bandit: Where's the widest place you ever DJ? That you never thought you would have a DJ? Like what? You done been DJ Slugo: Wow, that's great. Russia. Smokey Da Bandit: You DJ'd in russia it? DJ Slugo: Moscow, yeah. Yeah, Moscow. And I'm tell you why. It's one of the best places of DJ, but let me tell you why it was wild. Because prior to going, I posted that I was going. And everybody and they mama hit me up, bro, I don't think that's a great idea. Like, you might not come back home and. Smokey Da Bandit: WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! DJ Slugo: I had people talking about, you know they don't like black people over there. And I'm like, man, should I get on this flight? know what So talking to the promoters, they looking like, man, listen, we got you. Don't be listening to people. I'm like, know what? lot of people telling me it's a little rough over there. So they was like, bro, we parties over here. We ain't booking you for nothing. Come on. I'm like, you know what? All of the stuff I've been through, Why would I not get on? It can't be worse than the Robert Taylor homes. Really? I got on that plane, That had to be one of the best trips of my life, bro. Going over that spinning fuss, I think I only ran into four people that made Spoke. They had, even out of the four, I mean, I was five, out of the five promoters that brought me, they came together to bring me over there. They had this group called Deep. Smokey Da Bandit: about to say, right? Rest. DJ Slugo: deep fried chicken or something like deep fried. Yeah, the group was crazy, but they had a dope concept and everything. And then only one of them spoke English. So he would talk to me and then relate back to them what I'm saying. And we giggling and it was just in the green room was just nuts. Cause I'm saying stuff he. They didn't back to know they laughing and then they saying what they said that he's saying it to me I'm like, ⁓ that's crazy and we just going back and forth but then when I did the show itself, bro the reception Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: from the people was so close and so I was like man nobody gonna believe this bro nobody so I took my phone out I have it I think it's on my Instagram I took my phone I was like man let me take a pic let me take a video nobody's gonna believe that I'm in the middle of Moscow just turning up ⁓ and you know so that was one of my scariest trips but one of my best trips it was scary till I got there you know and a beautiful place I don't let nobody tell you different Moscow is a beautiful place bro it looked like they they they the Red Square looked like Candyland the buildings and stuff it looked like Candyland I was looking around like this nuts and I didn't see they they air they air I didn't see no clouds that's how I cleared the areas like I saw no clouds bro like I was like what are clouds they was like they was like Smokey Da Bandit: I was asked. DJ Slugo: It was like, you ain't gonna see none of that here. I didn't see no clouds. I'm looking like, where you go? Well, in daytime, you don't see no clouds, bro. That's crazy. You know, so. But it was beautiful. Beautiful place, man. So shout out to these guys. Smokey Da Bandit: that we have over the past year. Okay, hopefully I get the VHS. out to Moskow. Michael Jackson made it so strange. DJ Slugo: Yeah, you definitely did. Man, listen, I know what he saw when he went over there. I know what he saw. I got a chance to see it. man, one thing I wish for you and all of my other friends is like you and big homie, I wish y'all to be well traveled. You're already gonna be prosperous if you well travel. Cause you're gonna see things that. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah DJ Slugo: They told us what good or ain't right or whatever, blah, you're gonna see the world and once you see the world and then know what world you in, it's gonna change you as a man. You know what I'm saying? So I wish, I wish and pray well-travelness for my friends. You know what I'm saying? yeah. Tell Suave it's time to get on the planes, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Nigga, trying to get on the planes nigga. Nigga over here lurking. Shout out to Swaddle Lyrus, he's in the building. anyway, I know I ain't got that much time because you busy man, but last year we celebrated 30 years of ghetto house and I want to congratulate you on that. How does it feel to know that you played a major part? DJ Slugo: That's my dream. it. Thank you. Smokey Da Bandit: I mean, hip hop just celebrate. DJ Slugo: I think for me, and I think this is one of reasons I'm able to survive as long as I survived, you have to stay humble. Like, don't, when I see 30, like even when we did the event and it sold out, 30 years at Ghetto House, Jukufu, we did the 30 years, event sold out, beautiful, beautiful event. But for me, it was like, on to the next thing now. You feel what I'm saying? It's like, okay, what can we do bigger? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: Next you know the same said so for me. I it's a never-ending situation for me. It's like until I'm not here any longer, I gotta go hard. I gotta keep going hard, keep going hard. So it's like for me, I appreciate the 30 years and that's great, but it's like, can I get 35? Can I get 40? You feel what I'm saying? Like, and get something great out of it. It's like, how many people have you touched and helped in them 30 years? You feel what I'm saying? I always ask my homies that like, say you've been in the game 17 years. How many people have you helped in Smokey Da Bandit: Thank you. DJ Slugo: How many people you can point and say, I helped him, I helped her, I helped him, I put him on, I helped her? How many people can't go? Smokey Da Bandit: I know I can point my ass off nigga DJ Slugo: You know what saying? And I know some people who are in some great situations now and I'm saying, he know I did that. I know I did that. Like I don't have to brag about it. You know I did it. I know I did it. You don't have to put it in the public. You and I know what happened. You and I know why you standing where you standing at. You feel what I'm saying? We know. You know what I'm saying? So I don't, you know, for me it's like. Smokey Da Bandit: Me no. DJ Slugo: I don't know if that's my purpose on this earth to continue to help people in the way that I'm helping them, but... ⁓ I know my gift. I don't fully know my purpose, but I do know my gift. My gift is music. My gift is my contribution and what have you in music. And if that is what's helping other people, then I guess that's my mission, to help as many people as I can through this music thing. So I don't know if that's my full mission, but I'm gonna do what I can. But at the end of the day, it's like... I'm on this earth dwelling day by day. yesterday gone. I can't do nothing about yesterday and I can't do nothing about tomorrow. I can only live in the now. So if I make it to tomorrow, I might can make something different happen tomorrow. But right now, we in this moment right here, whatever I can do to help this moment right here, that's what you do. You help that moment. Cause tomorrow might not come. You know what I'm saying? Like, so you do it now. Smokey Da Bandit: All right. A lot of people don't know that you were assigned to create his way associated label also known as Seawalk. With Leroy Lucky Burton, how did that happen? DJ Slugo: Mm-hmm. He's my cousin. Yeah, Lucky's my cousin. When I got locked away and then when I came home, he was like, you're gonna stay out trouble, you're gonna come over here. You're gonna come over here. I wasn't even really even doing music, you know what saying? I was in the streets and he was like, you're gonna do music, even if you don't do music, you're gonna be around the music. That's how I met Twisted All of them. Smokey Da Bandit: Ew. DJ Slugo: He was like, you gonna come over here and every day you gonna be sitting in this studio. And I'm like, all right, cuz, okay, cool. I'll come over and hang out with you. So once I got used to it and started liking it, it was like, oh, you ain't got to call me. I'll be here every day. It was a good hangout spot. 68 in South Chicago. Smokey Da Bandit: I'm gonna hit you with the who yo, who yo, Chicago Mount Rushmore. DJ Slugo: Damn. On hip hop. Smokey Da Bandit: Your Chicago, my husband, your Chicago, my rest more. ⁓ DJ Slugo: I see me Dion funk Jammin' Joe Waxmaster. Smokey Da Bandit: You got a top 10 Chicago artist. DJ Slugo: No. Smokey Da Bandit: What? DJ Slugo: No. Smokey Da Bandit: Nice look. DJ Slugo: Let tell you why. It's certain questions that you just should not answer because I have so many friends in hip hop and R &B that if I miss one person, they're offended forever. It's like, wow, for real, your top 10, I ain't in your top 10? Like, bro, no, I don't have a top 10. I rock with any artist from Chicago. Smokey Da Bandit: Hello. I'll be there. What if I said the top 10 artists, yo top 10 period? It don't gotta be. DJ Slugo: Cause if I don't put at least two, if I don't put at least two or three Chicago people in the thing, I'm like, yeah, you don't love the city, so no. I no longer really speak on hip-hop and R &B because I'm not even I can't even really speak on it because I'm not in the mix no more like if I was still in the mix and was able to hear what people are doing or I usually call people out like no you can't become top 10 and the last album you did was trash like you know what saying so but I don't I don't I'm not in hip-hop and R &B Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. ⁓ Have you ever tried to rap slug? DJ Slugo: I've wrapped them records. Dance records. Dance records. No, hell no. Hell no. I've been around a lot of Hey listen, I got a chance to see people like Do or Die, Twister, Psychodrama. Smokey Da Bandit: Like, yeah, now I'm talking about rap, like. DJ Slugo: Triple Darkness. got a chance to see these people, Shawna. I got a chance to see these people rap in the studio. Man, I ain't got no time to be playing. That ain't for me. You know what I'm saying? When you see people, when you sitting in the room and you watching, I'm gonna do a whole song in one take, doing all that. And then I'm talking about high as hell. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. you Ew. DJ Slugo: You watch him put down a whole ounce of weed and then go in the booth and do a whole song bridge, everything, all that. You said, oh no, I don't need, that definitely ain't for me. I'm gonna stick over here to the beating on these drum pads. I definitely can't do that. know, so watching that. And it's just out of respect. Like, this ain't for me. This ain't. I've tried it a few times. I remember Toxic getting me to do it one time and I was like, he's like, no, that's dope. No, I'm cool, bro. I'm cool. I don't even like it. You know what saying? So you ain't finna gas me about me going out here acting a fool. And I had all the elements where if I really wanted to rap, you gotta understand D.A. him and my brother was best friends and I was best friends with his brother, Eddie made recipes. So I watched D.A. Smart during the Walk With Me era. Like D.A. Smart was S.C. Wall 2. With Walk With Me. Yeah, so it's like... When you get to see people rap like that, it's like, nah, bro, that ain't no business over there messing with that, man. Then they was doing rap battles and stuff like that. And when I'm into something, I take it 100 % serious. So if I had a deal rap, I'd have been a battle rapper, because I'd have been wanting to everybody's head off. Like, no, I need to get my spot. Like everybody, you need to give me my spot. You know what saying? I got to see some of the greats from Chicago when they were just coming up. Smokey Da Bandit: All right, because you don't want to do a top 10, a top five, none of it, nobody else. What's your top five DJ Slugo song? DJ Slugo: ⁓ that's easy. Smokey Da Bandit: If anybody wanna, look, y'all better pay attention. These are the top five DJ Slugo songs. Say what? Hold on, say that again. Where the rats? DJ Slugo: Where to rest? Where the rats? Wouldn't you like to be a, wouldn't you like to be a hoe? Smokey Da Bandit: I'm a hoe, you a hoe, she's a hoe, you a hoe, wouldn't you like to be a hoe too? Hey, wait, what's the third one? Vulture to life. DJ Slugo: Bout in life. Vulture Life, I got a, it's two versions of Vulture Life. There's one with just the beat, and there's one where I'm shouting out every nigga on the low end. Everybody from Vulture City. And then, ⁓ Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Okay. Shout out to the low end. DJ Slugo: I got another record called Freaky Ride and then I got a record called A Blunt. Smokey Da Bandit: Thank ⁓ yeah! ⁓ yeah! I know that one! DJ Slugo: Yeah, so people always be looking at me like, how you make a blunt don't smoke? I'm like, I don't smoke no more. I don't smoke no more. Yeah, I smoke. Yeah, I smoke. I smoke weed when weed was weed. Yeah, when we had the little papers and you had to roll up when weed was weed. You know, when we when went what y'all call backyard boogie was fighting here. You know what saying? Smokey Da Bandit: Okay, alright. When you did use a mobile, pay for it once, but... paper bag. ⁓ yeah. DJ Slugo: This was five, this was good weed back then. This stuff y'all got now, they got purple leaves, ankle monitors, all this. This is a dive and dope, yeah, see? Y'all got to the point where weed got so poofed, y'all start calling weed dope. I'm saying, what? He smoking that good dope. Boy, I don't wanna smoke, I don't wanna smoke no dope, like I'm cool. You know, so, yeah. Smokey Da Bandit: did it. Alright slug, well I know I ain't got that much time so I'ma try to knock out a couple more of these questions man. I met you through sloven cause you international slug and because there's no telling where you might be in the world. How do you balance being international slug and being Thomas? Because I'm sure wifey don't wanna hear nothing about international slug. She wanna know how Thomas is doing. DJ Slugo: All right, okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah ⁓ My family. Every time I go around my family, I'm automatically humble. Ain't no, nobody in my family calls me sluggo. Yeah, and you better not dare say, don't call me that, Auntie. Come on, man. I'm lying to you. My aunties and uncles and my cousins, they ain't never, they be like, ooh, this is it. Like my cousin who just bought my coloring book, he bought like, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Yeah. DJ Slugo: ⁓ I was like, the cover books say these things. Like, I'm never calling you that. Like, what are you talking about? And I was like, you got it, cuz. You got it. Yeah. Smokey Da Bandit: They never did. I had a young woman. This is it. Like my cousin, he in my brother-in-law's. He brought like four or five of them in. ⁓ this is a nice house. I was like, they're terrible. Got a coloring book out? You want to speak on that? DJ Slugo: Oops. Smokey Da Bandit: Eeeee ⁓ DJ Slugo: I am officially in Ahthmanama. Smokey Da Bandit: Hey, congratulations. DJ Slugo: Yeah. Oh, let me tell you, hold on. When you say, y'all remember the mixtapes? You can color the mixtapes. That was Ray Monty I was talking about. Them, them the drum machine, them the drum machines I used to work on. And then, hold on, hold on, hold on. This is when, we was putting the, uh, posters and stuff on the post. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, that's dope! Aw man... Niggas ain't got coloring books! You ain't got no smog-o-collary, bud! Biguh! What?! DJ Slugo: And then hold on, wait a let me find it. It's one that I'm real ⁓ happy about. Let me find that, this one. Smokey Da Bandit: International! DJ Slugo: Yeah, this book is very important to me. My school, my grammar school, my high school. so very important. Me graduating as a personal scholar. Smokey Da Bandit: you got that you got going on right now you want to promote. DJ Slugo: other than my book, my album. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Lego still working. Look at that! DJ Slugo: I still got the vinyl album, you know? People dead asleep went, and I learned that vinyl wasn't dead anymore when I went out the country. People was like, you ain't got no vinyl? I'm like, vinyl? They was like, yeah, we still use vinyl out here. Y'all don't use vinyl, we still use vinyl out here. I said, say less, when I get back home, I will start making me some vinyl. You know, yeah. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna need a final on my album. DJ Slugo: Yeah, that's what you need to do. Smokey Da Bandit: ⁓ DJ Slugo: I'll make sure I help you with that. Smokey Da Bandit: Man, you created something called Block Club DJs. What's that? Can you speak on that? Cause you, you, you, you know, inducted me in that. I'm on the website still to this day. It's gonna be the band Block Club official. DJ Slugo: So, may rest in peace, ⁓ Chris Lighty, we used to be, with Chris Lighty and ⁓ Mona Scott, we used to be violator DJs, but we was violator juke squad DJs. And I think at this particular time we had almost 300 DJs. So I had, during violator time, I had got like 300 DJs together. And then, you know, we had our differences. because we didn't own, you know, I'm big on ownership. So we didn't own the name. We couldn't move the way we wanted to move because we didn't own the name. But we was promoting like crazy with that V, with that, you know, putting Violet on everything. So when we figured out we don't own that, that ain't us, we in Chicago, Violet is somewhere else. I was like, well, we need to come up with a new name and break off and make it a Chicago thing. You feel what saying? And at this particular time, you know, my cousin Bang, my cousin Bang had Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Really? DJ Slugo: this dude named Check Famous. And they had a block club music group. So I sat down with my cousin like, man, look, I'm finna break off and take my DJs and we finna start a new thing, but we don't got no name. He was like, man, you should bring all your DJs and let it be the DJ crew to push Check. And I was like, yeah, that's good. And I'm like, what are we gonna call it though? He was like, Smokey Da Bandit: out the bang. ⁓ DJ Slugo: Man, he was like, we Block Club music group, what about Block Club DJs? I was like, you know what, let's do it. And that's how it came about. we, ⁓ what's the guy named Chris? Chris, Chris, what's Chris' last name? The graphic guy, film guy Chris. ⁓ Damn, I can't think of Chris' name. He did the logo for us. Yeah. So Chris did the logo. we see the logo, we was like, ⁓ we gone. We gone. We got that logo and we put that logo. I told everybody, we had a meeting. We had a meeting. I told everybody this logo needs to go on any and everything that y'all have. You know what saying? Like, yeah, that is. Yeah. Yeah. So that, once we got that logo, it was like, all right, let's put it on flyers. Let's put it on T-shirts, hoodie. Smokey Da Bandit: And the crazy part is that that's very installed and I think he's going like that. DJ Slugo: And the crazy part about it is that drop right there, that's Bang Son. And I think he was only like five or six at the time. They had the drop and I was like, "'Cause let me get that drop." And he was like, "'What you gonna do with this?' I said, "'I'm gonna make it our tag.'" And he was like, "'Y'all tag?' I was like, "'Let me have it. We'll take it from there.'" He gave it to me, I gave it to all my DJs. Like, don't put no mixes out, don't host nobody records, nothing like that without this tag. And we by a year, a year went past and we had everybody talking about Block Club like it was a gang. It was like, so, you know, and then we did all those meeting greets. We did meeting greets for like 13 years. We did 13 years of meeting greets. Yeah. So it was a good run. It was a good run. Like we still Block Club, but it's like, it's more mellowed out. We, we not doing as much as we used to do because it's already like you can't kill Block Club. It's a, it's, it's got his own legs now. So. We put the work in, we put the leg work in. Now it's his own entity now, so. Smokey Da Bandit: that brand you got on your chest. DJ Slugo: Oh, this is bad. So this is called the nine. You see, those are the buildings. And this is nine. It's like 49. This is the nine. what do you mean? I was one of those people from 39th, 19th Street, 29th, 59th, 49th, 60th night, 70th night. So I was like, no, I just need to do just the nine and then put the building, put the building. When people see this, the first thing they say like, what's that? Oh, that's the Robert Taylor's. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, I like that. Yeah, sure. DJ Slugo: So that's my closing line. Smokey Da Bandit: That's hard. So, so, ⁓ damn, I got about five more minutes, right? I have a two part question. Can you explain to the listeners what the Red Bull Academy was? I remember you did an event at the Metro and the DJ and DJ Dion were the DJs of the night. How did that come into play? Wait, wait, and also speaking of DJ Dion, what was it like hearing that? DJ Slugo: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Two parts. Red Bull Academy. Smokey Da Bandit: of his past. DJ Slugo: Okay, so Red Bull Academy was Red Bull strong garminers, really. we was in a building on 18th Street and we had a, our studio was up there on 18th Street and Red Bull was like, if y'all want to continue to keep getting this product from us, we need y'all to come on fully in. So. Smokey Da Bandit: Why? DJ Slugo: they made us start coming to the academy school and stuff like that. They was like, you gotta be a part of what we got going on for us to keep blessing y'all. So that's how the Red Bull Academy thing came about. I always called it a strong arm. They always like, no, it's us looking out for you and you looking out for us. so they said, no, you're strong arming us. And I always looked at it like, hey, you got me giving this Red Bull stuff to my people. You know what saying? So everybody, these guys used to drink Red Bull was like, Red Bull was water, like, cause we had so many of them. Smokey Da Bandit: You DJ Slugo: We used have pellets of them in the studio because they used to drop them off to us. So it was like, if you want to continue to keep getting Red Bull, this is what we need you to do over here. then, you know, we didn't give any type of resistance because we still wanted to have Red Bull in the studio. So, I mean, we had everything Red Bull in the studio. The coolers, the refrigerators. Our studio looked like Red Bull owned it. You know what I'm saying? So, so. Smokey Da Bandit: Right. DJ Slugo: You know, Red Bull, shout out to Red Bull. They definitely know how to do hostile takeovers, bro. So. Smokey Da Bandit: Shut up DJ Slugo: We had wings on the daily in there, but the thing with Dion, what I... love about the situation was I got to see and speak with him before it's passing. I was able to go to the hospital, speak with him, after talking to his sister before getting there. His sister called me and was like, I don't think my brother's going leave this hospital. So if you want to see him for the... When she said for the last time, I was like, Jesus Christ. Are you serious? She's like, yeah, I don't think he going to make it. out the hospital because they saying at any time now it could happen. So, you know, me and two other people went up there and we were actually the first three to get there. And ⁓ I saw him, talked to him. We said, you know, when he saw me, because he'd been knowing me for so long, he was asking me questions and things like that to kind of try to. figure he ⁓ Cause I always look at caskets as final and I never want to see somebody who I love like damn, no that's it. I'm looking at you and the caskets is me saying I'm never gonna see you again. I guess I tried to trick myself to if I don't see it, it didn't happen. You know what I'm saying? So, but I got a chance to talk to him that day. And when I left out, ⁓ Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: I called, I started calling the DJs. Like, hey man, I just talked to Deon and he ain't looking well at all. And he was a little confused a little bit. And he kept asking me, why you up here? Like, I promise you, he kept saying, why you up here? You know, cause me and Deon used to be, anybody who know me and Deon, know me and Deon the Milton, arguments every day. Every day. We used to be into it like, Cause we was passionate about what, that's why we had so many good records. Cause we was passionate about what we done. Like we literally, it was at one point where me and Milla D was saying, nobody's gonna beat the South side. Like we finna, Taddy's cast his off. Like we'd be in there, I play a record for him like, hey, listen to this. And he'd be like, no, you should change that bass line. It sound similar to woo woo, change it to such and And I'll be like, man, now that vocal that you put in there. you should take that out because it sound like the West side. We don't want sound like them at all. You know what saying? That type of stuff. So we were 100 % adamant about that, like back and forth. At one point, me and Milton stayed in the same building. He was on the first floor, I was on second floor. We would go up and down, up and down, you know, doing tracks and listening to each other. So we would like, like tighten it. And you know, of course everybody know Milton end up going to prison and... Smokey Da Bandit: Bye bye. DJ Slugo: Deon start doing Deon and Slugo start doing Slugo, but we always kept in contact. The reason he kept, two reasons he kept asking me why I was out there is because maybe a week or so before he went into the hospital, we was just screaming at each other over the phone, right? You know, under the, who you think you talking to that type of shit, you know what I'm saying? And we would have these on a regular. Like everybody that know me and Deon know them niggas cuss each other out on a regular. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: So when he saw me, knowing I was mad at him, he was like, what you doing up here? He was like, no, sum up because first thing is we ain't even speaking and you don't come in hospitals. What you doing up here? So I'm looking at him like, nah man, I came to see you. Like, you know, I'm lying through my teeth. Like, no, I came to see you. You know, you know, just make amends, man. Make sure everything okay. Make sure me and you good, man. You know, they told me you was sick, so I want to make sure we good. You know, we good, but I want to know why you here. You know what saying? He ain't no dummy. You know what saying? He knew if I walked into a hospital willingly, something's up. You know I'm saying? So, and I just was like, man, you know, like I just want to make sure we good and tell you I love you. You know what saying? When I said that, he turned to look to say, okay. Okay. He was like, and I know my sister called you up here. And he said, I'ma talk to Donna when you leave. And I'm like, I hope she don't tell him. And I knew she kind of wasn't gonna tell him because she was whispering to him when she was telling me. Like, yeah, I don't think he gonna make it out of here. I was like, you gotta understand, even all the arguments or what have you, no matter, this a 30 year homie. You know what saying? And somebody's telling you, you're a 30 year friend. Smokey Da Bandit: Bye. Yeah. DJ Slugo: ain't leaving the hospital. You know, and you gotta go in here and keep a straight face. Like how? How do you do that? You know what I'm saying? him asking me what was going on, you know what saying? It made me feel bad lying to him and not telling him what was up, but it was like, I didn't want to depress him, you know what I'm saying? I make him feel no type of way. then, you you might check out a couple of hours from now. You know I'm saying? But that's not a good place to be in, bro. as a friend with anybody going there and you gotta look at somebody and you know when you leave this hospital, you never seeing this person again. You know what I'm saying? And people know how many thigh ass parties we threw together and how much money and stuff we made together. was like just a bad place to be in. Then right after that, I don't even know if it was a year, about a year two after that, funk dies. So it's like, you got the big three. You got Funk, Dion and me. And both of my homies is gone. You know what saying? So it's like crazy. And then Funk, we didn't even get a chance to see him because he ended up going, when he got sick, he moved to Atlanta. He moved down there with his daughter. And we didn't get a chance to see him, nothing. Just went to his memorial, whatever they call that thing where they put your urn and stuff up there. We went to that and I was like. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: It's crazy. you know, it's a actually I got an album. This one. So that one I just showed you is part one, this is part two. And I got this picture. Smokey Da Bandit: Damn, that's hard. DJ Slugo: So that's Dion, that's me, and that's funk. Smokey Da Bandit: That's That's hard, RRP. DJ Slugo: Yeah, so... Yeah, a lot of people see that and be like, damn, so they'll be good. Yeah, that's how too. On DJSluggleMusic.com. Yeah, so yeah, man. So I gotta keep it going. If I don't keep it going for nobody else, I gotta keep it going for the two homies. You know what saying? Because us three heavy in together house. When I say heavy, I'm like, man, I used to listen to some of the records that funk did. I used to call Dion like, Smokey Da Bandit: That's out. That's out. That's available. Where is that available? DJ Slugo: Hey, this nigga's a dog. You know what saying? Like, I gotta go make something else. This boy is not playing over the guy. Him? Waxmaster, Jammin' Gerald, Single Handley was a problem for us. You know what I'm saying? That was they big three. Waxmaster, Jammin' Gerald, and Funk was the Westside big three. There was me, Milton, and Dion. And I took, yeah. So, out them records, and the records was competitive records. We always... Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Yeah. to the worst. DJ Slugo: I don't know about nobody else, but I used to tell him, I hear y'all shit and I'd be like, yeah, I'm on his ass. You know what saying? So back then, that's why Dance Lane was so big. We was competitive as fuck, bro. They never said it. We never said it. We all was cool, but you definitely wanted your record to be better than the motherfucker who just dropped in. So Ray got, Ray ended up getting some good records out of us. And we was kids, was young, we was 20 years old. You know what saying? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah DJ Slugo: Some of them 19, 20, I don't think any one of us was even 25 yet. And we was doing it. Like, yeah, oh, he put that out? All right, cool. We in there. Yeah, I'm sure he's motherfuckers. You know what saying? fuck y'all talking about. You know, that type of shit. And then when I say we had like the weakest motherfucking equipment back then, compared to the shit that's out now, that shit we had back then was weak as hell. But we took minimal equipment and made bangers. Smokey Da Bandit: ⁓ DJ Slugo: So I'll be looking at, that's why I be looking at some of these producers like, man, sit your ass down, nigga. Y'all got all type of computer shit to help y'all. We ain't got that shit, man. We got no computer programs or no copy and paste and shit, nigga. You had to sequest these motherfucking songs. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, not to knock anyone, but I'll just be looking at them and fuck like, nah, bro, we was doing real producing back then. Like vocals, you had three second samples. Yeah, let's go. You know what saying? Ain't no singing on the microphone and all that extra shit. Like, he ain't had none of that shit, bro. I be looking at my phone like, why me? Niggas had to real records back then. That's why a lot of Twister records and other people's do it that way. It's classics. It's hard to remake that shit because the machines and all that shit that that shit was made in, the microphone, that shit don't even exist anymore. So you ain't gonna even get that sound quality. You know what saying? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: You can go and try to mimic, but it ain't gonna sound like it because the machines don't exist no more. know what I'm saying? Or you can't, majority of the machines is plugins now. You know what saying? 808, 909, 303s, all that shit. All that shit is plugins now, but it don't have the same sound. And I learned that from being around the engineers. Like, yeah. They be talking, like, this sounds warm. I just be like, the fuck is warm, bro? it just sounds like, for me, Musically, I go with what my ears like. People be saying, yeah, you gotta put it in this key, man. I go fuck about no keys. I'm on orthodox to the motherfuckers. You know what I'm saying? I may put an A minor with a D flat, and they be saying, that don't go together. And my world will do. Yeah, my world, goes together. And if you don't like it, don't listen to it. You know I'm saying? you know, but, you know. That's what my West Side Unique. Smokey Da Bandit: I'm gonna make it go together. DJ Slugo: Southside producers, man. We definitely did some genius shit, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, shout out to the South Side and the West Side. Seeing as you got a coloring book, Slug, if you could tell young Slug when he was a child, any DJ that's, know, aspiring, what's word? Aspiring? Aspiring. To be a DJ. ⁓ DJ Slugo: Yes, I for sure. It's pleasure to be a DJ. ⁓ Smokey Da Bandit: And he, Lil DJ Slug, man, he wanna be a DJ, man. What would you tell him? DJ Slugo: buy your own equipment. Don't let nobody own your masters. ⁓ Watch your surroundings. Everybody who say they with you ain't with you. ⁓ Get out the hood as quick as you can. Smokey Da Bandit: Mmm. DJ Slugo: And the main one, learn the business side of music. Music is cool. Everybody can do it, but learn the business side of music. You can be in the game a long time. Learn the business side. Read, if you got a manager, read what a manager is supposed to do and already know what a manager is supposed to do before you hire a manager. That way you know what you're supposed to be getting. You know, and that's with anybody you hire, lawyers. Smokey Da Bandit: 8 and 3, 4 and 5. DJ Slugo: anything, your paper, learn how to read your paperwork on your own. You because some of them lawyers be with the labels. You don't even know it. You the subject. You know what saying? They say, hey, I gave you the last one. You got to give me this one. You know what saying? Like, it's just like with the court, I tell people with the courtrooms, it's the same way, bro. The state's attorney, the stenographer, the judge, everybody, all of them got the same name at the top of their paycheck. They all come from the same, you think they give two fucks about you being in there, man. Public defender, everybody, all of them get paid by the same person. So you the subject. Let's figure out what we gonna do with him and how we can make a couple of more dollars off this subject right here. So either you gonna hire a big gun to come in there and he gonna fight, cause you paid him to fight. But if you go in there and you got a public defender, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: Everybody in there is against you, even your public defender, because he get paid. He get paid by the same people that you over here fighting against. know, people never see that in the court system. That's why they call it a system. It's all a system. It's the court system. It's all a system. You know, so that's what I would tell people. Get off that, get out of that neighborhood stuff as quick as you can. Do music for real and learn the business side of it first. Smokey Da Bandit: Especially. Yeah. DJ Slugo: Learn the business side of it before you even hit the keyboard or a drum pad. Learn the business side of it because I know a lot of brothers who can't read their contracts. And they beg, even if you get a lawyer, you still have no clue. That's why a lot of people tell me, yeah, accountant ripped me off. How you making money and not watching your money? I don't care how much money you making, watch every day. I need to be in, like when I do business with people, even my booking agent and everything, I need to be CC'd. Even if it's a B seed, blind copy me in every trends, everything y'all got going on, I wanna see it. I wanna see what y'all talking about. You know what I'm saying? I need all the contact, I need to see what y'all talking about. So at any point you don't wanna do right, no. You know what I'm saying? But I don't need that person, I don't need to lose contact with smoking because Smokey Da Bandit: Mm-hmm. Yeah. DJ Slugo: You and Smokey ain't getting the loan no more. I'm the product. They ain't going through you to get to the product, but they would love to have a straight pipeline to the product. You know what I'm saying? So come on, So yeah, learn the business side of it first, man. Especially learn how to read them contracts. Learn to read. Pick up a book. Pick up a book. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. ⁓ Last question. DJ Slugo: Mm. Smokey Da Bandit: No, last two. Let me get two. What keeps you motivated after all these years? DJ Slugo: Okay. My grandsons. My grandsons, don't want them to have to, for one moment, even experience, I want them to be trust-finding babies. You don't have to struggle. You don't have to struggle. You don't have to struggle if your granddaddy already struggled. You know what I'm saying? Like, leave something for them. If you want the struggles on you, if you want to take the money, I leave you and mess it off and struggle, you made that. That's a choice. Smokey Da Bandit: you Yeah. DJ Slugo: But let me groom you as much as I can so you make the right choices. No, leave them something. Leave them something. Just so that what keeps me motivated is try to do everything I can to make sure that they don't struggle. Smokey Da Bandit: That's all I Right. So. What do you want your legacy to be? DJ Slugo: I want to be able to be discussed in rooms and people have stories where they're saying, my life is the way it is because dude helped me. So I want my legacy to be that life. The conversations, people laughing and getting like, yeah, he cussed me out, but he helped me. You know what I'm saying? He gave me a lesson that I just talked to my grandson two days ago. Like I remember me and him talking. Him saying this, and I live by that to this day. So I leave my legacy to be that. People be looking like, you don't wanna be likable or not. Nah, it ain't that. I wanna be discussed in rooms where they saying, nah, D.O. was a great person. He was a good person. You know what I'm saying? That's it, just being a good person. Just lead this earth. I don't want anybody anything. not own a soul, you know what I'm saying? And when I say, oh, I ain't saying like somebody who taught me how to use the drum machine. I'm always going to owe you. You taught me how to use drum machine. But if you taught me how to use drum machine, at some point you benefited from me learning how to use that drum machine. So we basically kind of even, because you profited off me in some form or fashion. I'm talking about me even hearing, oh, and a debt. Smokey Da Bandit: somebody. DJ Slugo: to someone where they saying, nah, man, he left here, man, the man still owe me for woo woo or such such, especially finances. Or I don't owe you a dollar. I don't owe you a dollar. And like, I'm one of those people who my credit means everything to me. People like, you know, like I'm not co-signing for, yeah, yeah, Smokey's my dog. Yeah, that's my boy, yeah, that's my boy. Man, he need a car. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: I don't got nothing to do. have zero. I'm talking about my ace. This is my ace. I'm not putting my credit and my livelihood on the line for you to miss a note and mess us both up. You know? No, no, I can't do it. My kids be tripping. Like my daughter was like, can you co-sign for me? No. It's an automatic note. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Eugh. ⁓ DJ Slugo: No disrespect, no form of fashion, and you, like, my baby daughter and my middle daughter are very... Well, my middle daughter, she kept me a little puzzled right now, but my baby daughter's need one of them. They okay with their finances. Like, you know, they young, so they make the young mistake we made. Like, we made the, I tell people we made the mistake all the time of thinking, I got an extra hundred dollars. When I learned that, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: every 30 days these bills repeat themselves. So you really don't have any extra money. Like you never have extra money. People like, ⁓ no, I got a little extra. You don't. You don't have any extras because in 30 days them same people that came at you today. So, know, light people, gas people, ⁓ phone service, they got you paying for water now. You hear me? Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. Thank you. This guy's on my way. you It rubbed and it has. Has. DJ Slugo: So, so 30 more days and then they always, yeah, they slide stuff in there like, ⁓ your bill was, bill was one ⁓ four last, last month. Then you get a bill and they say one 24 and you said, hold on. What the extra 24? Well, you know, we talking about the street tax, the local tax, the state tax, ⁓ the just cause we feel like fucking with you tax all that. and you're gonna pay it or we gonna cut your shit off. You know what I'm saying? You can call all you want to. All these things is, I you I was looking at, I be looking at what, when they said, what's that fee? I said, I will always tell people that convenience fee. When I saw that on one of the bill, I said, what in the fuck is a convenience fee? You know what I'm They said, yeah, for us to do this transaction. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. DJ Slugo: Take your card, charge your card, send it out the bill to you, all that. We gotta charge the paper, all that. That's convenience fee. It's to your convenience. I said. So this a bill y'all made up. And you know, they be doing their little increments like 30 cent per person. But if you got a million people that you servicing and you hitting everybody outside of here for an extra 30 cent. Do the math. Do the math. And they be looking like, yeah, Smokey ain't gonna pay no attention to that 30 cent a month on his bill. Smokey Da Bandit: It's in the fine print. DJ Slugo: You ain't gonna read, you ain't gonna look at the extra 30 set. You saying the bill was 104, now it's 104.30. You ain't tripping on that. You feel what I'm saying? But they just did it to a million customers. You know, so yeah, these people's multi-billionaires and their whole thing is pay it or else. I remember they used have to come out and cut your utilities off. Smokey Da Bandit: around. Dude, I had to say I'm like. DJ Slugo: They have to come out and physically cut you. These people have got so co-is, you ain't gonna pay us. All right then. And then say, now you have to pay for a reconnection fee. Smokey Da Bandit: doing that before. DJ Slugo: You gotta pay me to unbutton the button. Like what? A reconnection for you. You gotta make me go from stop to go. It's crazy, bro. It's crazy. And when you see stuff like that in the world, it's like, yeah, man, I gotta make sure my great kids do not go through this shit. So I wanna tell all my listeners, anybody on your show, you never have extra Get that shit out your head, Like, no, because in 30 and 30 days, here they come again. And if you done jacked 30 or 40 of your dollars on that weed. And you, like, even marijuana smoke and cigarettes smoke, things of that nature. It's like, imagine this. And maybe, I know your smoker's gonna trip on me and he gonna be looking like, man, he know his ass crazy. But listen to me. Right, smokers said, now imagine this. Y'all spend, cause y'all ain't gonna smoke no bullshit weed. Like y'all gotta get, it's gotta be potent. It gotta be right. And it gotta make you feel right, right? So say you spend $50, right? Smokey Da Bandit: That's a bill. It's the smoking section, be real up in here. DJ Slugo: But when I learned this, I ain't knocking nobody because I used to get high. I just smoked. See, it's going up in the air as you're doing it, right? That's literally $50 going up in smoke. You feel me? $50, $50. And you're going to that moment where you, damn, you know? But as soon as it wears off, you're either going go into another $50. Smokey Da Bandit: Amen. You're in. You DJ Slugo: You hear what I'm telling you? You either gonna go into another 50. It's the same with food and everything, bro. Man, when I started to see it, just how much all of this shit is up, everybody was hustling everybody. Everything's a hustle, bro. Like, you know, it's, I don't know, bro. But I always felt like drugs is like one of the biggest hustles because it's a myth, it's a... Smokey Da Bandit: Also. DJ Slugo: Your high is on him for so long. So every day, all day, you chasing the high. And then your high lasts as long as your pocket, as big as your pocket is. And have you noticed, I always used to notice like guys who didn't have a lot of finances would hang around the guys who got a lot of finances because I'm finna get high out of my mouth. Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah. The H has no self-reliance. Moe Kyo Shira. ⁓ DJ Slugo: is that. That way. Smokey Da Bandit: that. Appreciate you coming on my show Slug, man. I love you man. Real shit. Thank you for all the love and support. Thank you for giving me this hit song on the block. Everybody need to go check that out. DJ Slugo: Yes, ma'am. Yeah, we'll see. We're one on his Spotify, Smokey Da Bandit: Yeah, we got a video, man. made sure I wanted, when I made that video, I wanted to pay homage to you, to the culture. DJ Slugo: I saw it, you was all in the Bud Bellican parade. Come on with it, man. Yeah, it's fine, yeah, it's fine. Yeah, it's fine. Smokey Da Bandit: Man, shout out to everybody in the Bud Billica Parade, man. Yeah, all the foot workers. And yeah, man, anything you wanna give a shout out, anybody wanna give a shout out to? DJ Slugo: Yeah, God, DJSuckaMusic.com. Smokey Da Bandit: ⁓ Straight like that, we outta here. Eee, ain't that a good shit? X had a booze. DJ Slugo: I gotta do something with that. Eee. That's gotta be a record. Yeah, we gotta do that. I'm gonna have you say that and send it to me. Yeah, we're gonna work on that. Yes, sir. Eee. Yeah, yes, sir. Smokey Da Bandit: Let's do an E. Let's do an E trick. B Alright, peace out. Thank you.