Latest / The Heavy Hitter DJs Podcast / 23 DJ Ryan Wolf: The Beard Got The Last Word

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23 DJ Ryan Wolf: The Beard Got The Last Word · The Heavy Hitter DJs Podcast

• 0:01
  Be SAVAGE.
• 0:02
  On this week's show.
• 0:06
  Come in the office, I don't know what's going on. He say, you might wanna sit down. I'm like, oh, these niggas about to let me go.
• 0:13
  I sit down hard like this.
• 0:16
  He like, hey. I asked you if he was from Cleveland. You said, yeah.
• 0:20
  Was like, would you like to be the official DJ for the Cleveland Browns? In three, two, one.
• 0:26
  I'm DJ Enuff. I'm DJ Camilo.
• 0:29
  I'm DJ Kast One. And I'm Len Boogs, aka L. Boogs. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, everyone worldwide, this is The Heavy Hitter DJs Podcast.
• 0:43
  Yes, sir. Welcome to another edition of The Heavy Hitter DJs Podcast.
• 0:49
  We got the whole squad here. Well, almost a whole squad. Myself, DJ Kast One, along with Big Spanish DJ Enuff. Camilo, Camilo, Camilo And today, we have DJ... I don't even know how to introduce this guy. DJ, producer, writer, music writer, entrepreneur.
• 1:09
  Brother. Brother.
• 1:12
  Beat Heavy Hitter, DJ Ryan Wolf. Yeah, baby. Yeah. Woofy. Yeah.
• 1:19
  Heavy Hitter. Sucker.
• 1:22
  Yeah.
• 1:23
  Yo. AKA Woofy. They call him Woofy, y'all.
• 1:26
  That's what it is. Yo.
• 1:27
  The beard is looking phenomenal out here, my brother. You know saying? We try to catch up to you. Thinking I about putting some Bigen in it, but they told me to keep the gray. I wanted to go 58.
• 1:37
  I wanted to go 58.
• 1:39
  It looks good. But, you know, oriental brown in that thing. It looks good. Bigen, Bigen, but they said to keep the gray. So I'm kinda torn on what I wanna do yet. I still ain't made the decision.
• 1:50
  Yeah. You know? Yeah. You're right. So when y'all see me at the retreat, you don't...
• 1:54
  I don't know what you might get this with. I might come off black again, baby.
• 1:59
  I don't know. You got options. You got options.
• 2:03
  Yo. Enuff. You said you said you wanted to, you know, you wanted to to grow it out, but you say you might look like Osama Bin Laden out here. Right? Yo.
• 2:10
  Ryan's beard is so fire.
• 2:13
  I want his beard, but if I did it, ICE is gonna pull me over for sure. Oh my God. Oh, man. They're gonna be like, yo. Pull him over. He looks he looks like he's wanted.
• 2:27
  You're never gonna get through a airport ever.
• 2:29
  It's over for you. Oh my God.
• 2:31
  So, yo, Ryan Wolf, we want the story.
• 2:33
  We want everything. We wanna know how you started DJing.
• 2:36
  We wanna know... Tell the people where you're from, how you started radio.
• 2:41
  You are you still are you still playing for the Cleveland Browns?
• 2:45
  Or Okay. We need to know anything. Let's let's start. I would say let's start, like, what got you into DJing? Like, what was the first motivation?
• 2:52
  What was maybe... I don't know if back in the days you started with records. I'm assuming you did.
• 2:56
  What was the first vinyl you bought?
• 2:58
  For real fellas, I I didn't even know.
• 3:02
  When I say this whole journey of me doing what I'm doing, I gotta give a glory to God, the God I serve because I didn't know I'd be doing this. Like, was a kid who grew up real heavy. My family was a God-fearing family. I grew up heavy in the church. My mom's parents on my mom's side was heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy in the church. Like, Sunday, I'm at church, for church.
• 3:25
  Monday, my mom had choir rehearsal.
• 3:27
  Tuesday, my dad had choir rehearsal.
• 3:30
  Wednesday, it was Bible study.
• 3:32
  Thursday, it was this it was this, like, boy girl scouts thing called Awana where you would go and you would learn Bible verses to move up. It was like the boys and girl scouts for church. You know what saying? Or for understanding the word of God. That's crazy. Friday, I had, like, children's teen church. Then Saturday Wow. I had choir rehearsal, then I'm back on Sunday. Oh, you was... You were in it. Yeah. So I was one of the people, but I wanna tell you how this all wrapped up. I was a usher.
• 4:02
  I was on the choir, but I ended up... The last thing that I did at church when I got older is I actually was the audio visual. I was on point of that. So I... When a pastor would come up and preach, I'm on the soundboard Ah. Potting them up, potting them down. There it is. Not knowing I'll go.
• 4:20
  Not knowing that this is what I'm gonna be doing. You know what I'm saying? The levels the levels. Oh, so you were you were still a teenager at that time? Yeah.
• 4:27
  I mean, I went to... I was in church all the way up until I graduated, left my parents' house, and went to college.
• 4:33
  You know what I'm saying? Okay. So go ahead. So when I get to college, I leave from my... Under my parents' house because I moved to Columbus because I also played basketball.
• 4:43
  So I was trying to hoop at this school called Columbus State because my aunt lived in Columbus. I was just trying to find a school to play for. So I go to Columbus. The minute that I actually leave church, I'm out here. I'm I'm living life now.
• 4:57
  So all of that kinda go out the...
• 4:59
  I'm living... I'm I'm going to the clubs.
• 5:01
  I'm I'm I'm I'm understanding what it's like to be in my teenage, you know, 19, 20, 21, what that's like. You know what I'm saying?
• 5:11
  First time going to the club, first time experiencing what a drink will do to me, stuff like that. So that's what happened. I went to college and was hooping, still not knowing anything about per se DJing in the sense of that I always do love music because when I was younger, all I all I would really listen to is...
• 5:35
  My mama had gospel music on all the time in the car. Gospel music, gospel music.
• 5:38
  So I've been a fan of real instruments, organ, keys, drums, just being in that culture. Facts. But I remember when I was, like, in the in the seventh, eighth grade, not a church van, but the van will always take us home. It was like...
• 5:55
  That's what took me to my house.
• 5:57
  The the person that was driving the van will listen to 93.1, which was like a legend... It is still a legendary station. That's where I work at now.
• 6:07
  Ninety three point one is our sister station, but they do the urban AC.
• 6:11
  So I get in the car and he bumping.
• 6:16
  He got ninety three on, but I remember the song Joe, "All the Things (Your Man" won't Do)" was on the radio.
• 6:23
  And I'm like, this song is fire. I would sing it. I would just sing it.
• 6:28
  I'm a kid singing it, but I'm hearing I'm hearing new music that's not that's not gospel. Right. And it just... I'm I'm just listening to it, and I'm singing it because I will be excited to get picked up from school to go home to listen to the radio.
• 6:44
  Wow. So now this is... I'm just giving you how to start a building, how I'm like, this crazy what I'm doing right now.
• 6:50
  So now I'm... I listen to the radio.
• 6:53
  I'm a fan of the radio.
• 6:56
  Just period. Fan of the radio because I can't wait to get in the car because I'm kinda getting a release from my mom. I've always been in the car with my mom and dad and getting to listen to other music. You know what I'm saying? Right.
• 7:08
  What you... What they would call worldly music.
• 7:10
  But at the end of the day, I'm listening to it and and and I I like the tones. I like R&B.
• 7:14
  I'm hearing things like that. Fast forward, we get to the ninth grade.
• 7:19
  I go to the school called Lutheran East.
• 7:22
  Now this is like...
• 7:24
  I'm I'm around other friends and stuff, and this is when Master P coming out, TRU.
• 7:29
  Uh-oh. You know what I'm saying? "Ice Cream Man." Pass me the grain. "Bout It." So I'm I'm seeing the CD covers, and I'm listening to music.
• 7:39
  So now right across the street from my high school was a mall called Severance Mall. I would go across the street, and I would go into the store. I don't know if it was FYE. I don't remember the r r music store, but I would buy singles all the time if I had any cash.
• 7:55
  I'm buying singles like crazy.
• 7:59
  Crucial Conflict. "Hay." Hold on. I'm getting the single.
• 8:02
  I'm... Yeah. Did your parents know you were buying the singles?
• 8:06
  I don't know. But they didn't... They wasn't really tripping, though. So so the... Anyway it go, they wasn't tripping. That's what I'm saying.
• 8:11
  Wasn't like I was hiding it from them.
• 8:12
  That is. They didn't... They wasn't tripping. Because you know a lot of parents from the church, they'd be like, y'all can't be playing that circular music. Hey, man. I got that.
• 8:19
  Get that secular music out of here. Yeah.
• 8:21
  I had I had some amazing parents, dog.
• 8:24
  I had some amazing parents that let me...
• 8:26
  They let me kinda figure things out, you know, kinda on my own in that sense.
• 8:29
  So Sure. I get I get the Crucial Conflict.
• 8:33
  Wow. I remember, bro, getting the tape. Yeah.
• 8:37
  In the middle of the mall.
• 8:39
  I'm getting the tape deck. I'm rewinding it. I'm writing the lyrics down. I'm rewinding it. Writing the lyrics down. Rewinding the tape. Listening to it so I can remember.
• 8:51
  I know that that verse front and back, that song front and back just because I remember actually doing that. So now that started to be a thing I would do. I would either record the radio and just... If I can't catch a song or don't... Can't... And get the single, I'm recording the recording the song from the radio, and then I'm running it back and trying to memorize the song.
• 9:11
  So now that's just my life. I love radio. Now based off of that that I have a actual love for radio.
• 9:17
  Fast forward, I get older. What college you went to? Notre Dame Notre Dame College is in Ohio, though. Okay. So Notre Dame of Ohio.
• 9:27
  Okay. I go to college my freshman year. I go there because I'm playing basketball there. I had a counselor who was trying to figure out... He was trying to counsel me, like, what do you wanna do? So I always had a passion.
• 9:39
  I was like, I either wanna be on TV or on the radio. But I always had a passion I wanted to be a billionaire. I don't know why. There's something on me. It wasn't even like I was studying or it was something in me. Like, I wanna be a billionaire. I don't even know what that means, but I wanna be a billionaire.
• 9:55
  Or same thing, I want to make it to the NBA. I had... But I didn't play defense, so that wasn't gonna work. I Dang. I... I'll give you...
• 10:02
  I could possibly give you 30 in a game, but you might give me 35 right now.
• 10:08
  You know what I'm saying? The math don't add up. Yes. So the math ain't go math for that. You know what I'm saying?
• 10:12
  Yeah. Yeah. That's right. I was a bucket, but defense was not... I I didn't like playing defense. I hear you. So I remember I was telling my counselor the kind of things I wanted. And I was like, man, I I wanna be... I would love to be there on TV or the radio or something like that. I don't know why, but I want to. He... So they gave me my first major there was in business communications.
• 10:32
  They said it would be like, well, this is what we have that can maybe apply to get to that. It was communicate... Business communications or something. So I... That's the major I got as my... In my freshman year.
• 10:42
  Me too. Now I'm...
• 10:44
  Yeah. So now I'm in my math class. Math is one of my stronger suits of my classes I was good at.
• 10:52
  I was real good in math. I will always ace religion because I've just learned a Bible since day one. So I knew those things was easy.
• 11:00
  So my teacher, he pulled me to the side just like, man, you really have a... Basically, in a sense, you got a knack for math. You know, what do you... What is your major in? And I was like, well, I've started telling him the same thing. Like, man, I really wanna be a billionaire, but I I love radio and I would love to be on radio or TV. So I'm in business communications. He was like, well, you know... He was like, they don't make no money in radio. I'm like, for real? He was like, yeah. They don't get paid no money. So when he told me that I didn't know... Not sending their money.
• 11:28
  I I immediately...
• 11:30
  The day he said that, I went down to the counselor and said, we need to x that communications.
• 11:36
  And then we try business management because that's what he told me. So I... So now I changed my major to business management and marketing.
• 11:43
  Boom. I do that.
• 11:45
  So now I got that changed.
• 11:47
  Now while I'm in college, y'all, my cousins and my brother... Two things. My cousin had probably one of the top three record stores in the city. Now what we would do, now my connection even with New York is I will hustle in school by selling throwback jerseys.
• 12:10
  So every week, I would drive to New York with him, and we would go up in them little ducks.
• 12:16
  And we go in, and we getting them them them fake-ass Mitchell & Ness.
• 12:21
  We getting it all. Been there every week.
• 12:25
  Wow. So, wait, you drive from from Ohio to New York. Wow. Every week. So I'm coming back. I got all the throwbacks. They know I got the throwbacks. So I got the throwbacks. But while doing that, while we'll be on the street, I will also see mixtapes because I love music, and I'm seeing DJ Enuff, Green Lantern.
• 12:47
  I'm seeing Kay Slay.
• 12:49
  All of my brothers that I can call my fat... I'm seeing... Listen. This is why this is crazy.
• 12:55
  I'm seeing it. I'm seeing all of these DJs who kiddin' is the mixtape era. I'm just... You know, Dipset, Cam'ron. Cam, one of my favorite rappers. Dipset. Talking like we talking like '03 or '04.
• 13:07
  Oh, that's what I was in college. Yes.
• 13:08
  Yes. Yes. Gotcha. Dipset, LOX, I'm listening. I'm a fan of mixtapes.
• 13:13
  I'm also burning mixtapes.
• 13:17
  I'm burning mixtapes from Napster, and and I'm I'm... Hey. I done burnt a lot of your mixtapes, bro. That's correct. He'll bootleg the Wolf.
• 13:26
  Because listen. I'm sorry. Yes. But I will...
• 13:29
  But what I would do is I would make my own compilations.
• 13:32
  I will make my own compilations and make my own songs that I will want and try to make my own. But this is just how I was hustling in college. So I'm selling mixtapes, but my cousin has a store. He has a huge store, so his store is selling the throwbacks as well. You can go get a throwback either from me because I'm busting them on campus, but you can go to his store and get throwbacks, white tees, any mixtape that was out.
• 13:57
  But at that moment, a big thing that was important that that that changed me was I was a fan of chopped and screwed music.
• 14:05
  Like, I loved chopped and screwed music. It hit Cleveland it hit Cleveland in a way that was crazy where OG Ron C and Michael Watts was very big in the city. So OG Ron C had a... This this mixtape collection called Fuck Action, where he would just chop up all the R&B songs, and it would be so hard how he would remix them and make them his own. And that's all I would listen to in college.
• 14:34
  So now... That changed the game? That changed the game for you. Yes. So my my cousin and my brother my brother, he was the he was the nigga that had all of the burnt CDs. And if you were, like... If you wanted to buy bulk, you would go to him. He would have the bulk.
• 14:55
  He didn't have a store. He just was the bulk man. If you needed CDs pressed up, if you needed a thousand CDs, he got the machines. He's depressing it. Cops got the stores. Yep. Yeah. My cousin got the stores. My brother's the press man.
• 15:10
  So boom. I'm going to my cousin. My cousin got...
• 15:15
  When the when the... When that Texas wave hit Cleveland, you probably will listen to Swishahouse. Because by the time Swishahouse really hit, we're"Still Tippin'." That song been out for, like, five years. You know what I'm saying? We've been bumping it. But at that time, it was like, you might get Mike Jones, Paul Wall. Those were the the more commercial Right. Chamillionaire there. But you got DSR, LBP, Fat Pat, Tum Tum, Z-Ro.
• 15:46
  Of my cousin had a wall of all of that. Wow. So no... Not too many stores had that. So people would come to my cousin's store That's what's up. To get this... The... All of the... All the mixtapes that you could never get that was from Houston. Yeah. He had it on fire. So I would have all the CDs and I would listen. So I was a fan of chopped and screwed music Fact. Like crazy to the point that I was trying to figure out how to chop and screw records myself.
• 16:13
  So now when I'm trying to chop and screw records, I didn't have no turntables. I didn't know what to do. I...
• 16:22
  It was this program called ScrewLab.
• 16:25
  It was like a program on a computer where all you would do is the program would have two two... Both decks, both sides, and then you can you can put the BPM or where you want it, and then you can put this one in front of that one. And then when you click the mouse, all it's doing is chopping it. Yeah.
• 16:42
  Back and forth. I would just make the mixtape in chop, chop, chop chop. You know what I'm saying? And I had three volumes, and they was called DJ Wannabe. I asked my brother what should I call my name.
• 16:53
  My brother... My big my big brother was like, man, you should call yourself DJ Wannabe. Yo. I love taking that name, brother. That's gonna be my alias. Well, listen. I'm still... Listen. I'm still not trying to be a DJ. Follow what I'm saying.
• 17:07
  I didn't know I would be a DJ.
• 17:10
  I'm just hustling because I was making money, and I like to chop and screw. I found some cool tech shit to do, I'm like, oh, no.
• 17:17
  This is fun. So you're not feeling it having fun. That's it. Yes. I was just having fun. So it was called DJ Wanna Be. Those three mixtapes sold out, and people were bumping them in their car, and they loved it. Wow. They loved it.
• 17:30
  But that still...
• 17:32
  Even when I was chopping up, that didn't satisfy the need of me wanting to learn how to scratch. When Ron C and them would do it, they would be cutting and scratching, and you couldn't do that in ScrewLab.
• 17:45
  So since you couldn't do that in ScrewLab, it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't enough for me. Know what I'm saying? You got it. It wasn't enough for me. So what I did was I wanted to learn how to do turntables, but at the time, I still was cool with ScrewLab. You know what I'm saying? Fine.
• 18:08
  Fast forward from that, I graduate from college.
• 18:12
  When I graduate from college, I'm trying to do business management.
• 18:16
  And I I I worked at a... I worked at this spot called... My first internship was at Walgreens.
• 18:21
  At first, I'm like that. It was some pretty good money because I didn't know what money was. I was just making money. You know what I'm saying? And I was in a in a in a management intern program.
• 18:31
  So while I was doing that, I I I just didn't... I I really didn't like it, but I didn't know what to expect because I was making money. The thing I didn't like about Walgreens was that it was, like, it was a very tedious job.
• 18:46
  And now that when I think of that...
• 18:48
  About it, like, you ever go into Walgreens and you see all of those little stickers Yep. That they... You gotta update those stickers and those QR codes, like, every other day. It was, a very tedious job, and I was just like, damn.
• 19:04
  I I didn't really like it, but I needed it for the intern so I can graduate.
• 19:08
  And this can be a job I can get after I graduate from college.
• 19:14
  Mhmm.
• 19:14
  Then another job opened up called Enterprise Rent A Car. So, you know, I worked at Enterprise, and I was renting cars.
• 19:21
  And while I was renting cars, I left Walgreens and went to Enterprise.
• 19:25
  And while I was at Enterprise, I was renting cars. And one thing about Enterprise, and this is where it gets dope for me, is one thing about Enterprise is you have to learn how to hustle. Because when you begin the management position, you have to you have to gain clients by going to different body shops and and automotive things so that when those customers bring in a car to get fixed, they think about you to hit you up and say, I need a rental car. Right. So I had to go touch the babies. I'm passing out cards and stuff like that. But I was also one of the best salesman because the way that the the rental car companies make money is off of that protection and that damage waiver.
• 20:11
  Because if you rent a car and you don't get into a accident, that extra $19.99 is all profit.
• 20:18
  So what I got good at learning to do is I don't care if you have full coverage.
• 20:23
  I'm gonna sell you this damage waiver because I'm gonna make you think something gonna happen and you gonna just be protected.
• 20:28
  So I was cleaning up, y'all. I was cleaning up cleaning up. I was one of the top employees every month. That came from hustling the chopping screw tapes. You what I'm saying? It could have been a lot of that. You know what I'm saying? It could have been a lot of that all glory go to God, bro. That's a gem there.
• 20:42
  Now now everybody out there knows we don't really need that. Yeah. So if you got full coverage, you if you got full coverage, you're covered, baby. It's just it's just... Keep mind because it... What I will say is they'll try to get you with that deductible. Whatever that... Well, how much is your deductible? God damn it. You'll be like you'll be like 500.
• 21:01
  You'd be like, well, when you hit when the... When you hit the car, you still gotta give me 500, bro. Right. And then it's like, they don't wanna give up the 500. So they don't wanna give up the$19.99.
• 21:11
  I'm There you go. You know what I'm saying? That's how they do it. So I I get...
• 21:18
  Where was I at? Okay. So I'm one of the top employees all the time. I'm going to these events called the Hundee Club where every time you're the top elite person, they give you a special tie. They know when you got that tie that you were one of the top employees.
• 21:36
  You done hit a 100 that month. I had I had I had a... Tons of them. I can't even count how many ties I had. Okay.
• 21:44
  Because every month I'm hitting that quota.
• 21:46
  But one thing about... And and just me being a black man and how my hair is, they had a rule where you couldn't have a beard. You cannot have a beard. No way.
• 21:59
  Yeah. They... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You couldn't have a beard at all. You could have a mustache.
• 22:03
  They kinda wanted you to look like a...
• 22:05
  Clean. They wanted to look... Clean. So Clean.
• 22:07
  So I ended up... I had a friend who had the same thing. I seen him and he had a beard. And I was like, what you doing? Was like, man, I got a doctor's note. He was like, go get a doctor's note and they gonna have to let you... They cannot lawfully now make you cut your beard. So I go get the doctor's note.
• 22:24
  The doctor don't allow me to have a a short beard, but I still had a beard lined up, kept it kept it short.
• 22:29
  Because every time I kept shaving, I got bumps under my neck. The razor bumps. I have razor bumps. So now when I'm selling, it it looked crazy. It was uncomfortable, so they let me get the beard. Got the beard with the short, you know, with the shortcut... With the short shape up, and I'm I'm I'm straight. But now every time I go to these elite events, I'm looking at all of the... I ain't gonna lie. All the white people was looking at me sideways. You know what I'm saying?
• 22:53
  And I was really... The only... Really, it was me and my boy, Nate. We was probably the only two black people in the whole... That was there. It might have been three tops that I've ever seen. Everybody else is Caucasian.
• 23:05
  So I had...
• 23:07
  Are they looking at me with the beard?
• 23:09
  And they kinda like... I look like a straight outcast because I'm really the only one with a beard.
• 23:15
  So now that at this point, I'm assistant manager.
• 23:19
  Every time I'm trying to move up every time I'm trying to move up, I I couldn't. I will be like, I would put him in position for a job, and I couldn't get the job.
• 23:31
  I didn't get the position, and somebody else who I know didn't have better numbers than me didn't get it. So maybe after the fourth or fifth time, I asked one of my other guys. He was an African American. You know what I'm saying? Mhmm.
• 23:43
  He looked the part, though. I asked him.
• 23:45
  He was, like, my area manager. I asked him, like, hey, bro.
• 23:48
  Just talking to him, he pulled me to the side and said, you know why they're not giving you that job? And I was like, why? He was like, because you don't look the part. Oh. He was like, you don't you don't you don't fit the part of what they want you to look like.
• 23:59
  And I'm... So that made me feel some type of way because I'm like, so all the money that I'm generating in... The... You know, just being an employee, y'all don't care about that. Y'all care about just the image that this black kid don't look how you want me to look, so I felt some type of way. And immediately, I knew it wasn't no growth there, and I was ready to go. I was already rubbed wrong. I'm like, I need another job.
• 24:20
  I don't wanna be here.
• 24:21
  So same guy that I seen that told me... My my boy, Lowe, that told me about the the doctor's note. One day I come in, I'm renting out a car. I see him coming to rent a car. He all smiling. I'm like, man, what you got going on, bro? He like, yeah, man. Life good. I'm like, where you at?
• 24:40
  He like, man, I'm working at the detention center. Uh-oh. So so he told me he...
• 24:44
  That was his next job. He was working at the detention center.
• 24:47
  So I'm like, alright. How you like that? He said, it's sweet, bro. I get to pick my hours.
• 24:53
  It's cool. Well, we play spades all day.
• 24:55
  I'm like, for real? He's like, yeah, man.
• 24:58
  It was like... It was just a different job. So I'm like, well, shoot. You know, can you put a...
• 25:04
  You know I ain't trying to be here, but can you put in a a a A word. You know, a plug or something?
• 25:09
  Yeah. So he direct me to the people to talk to, and that's my next move.
• 25:13
  I'll get a job as a detention officer, alright, in Cleveland. So now I'm a detention officer.
• 25:19
  And at this moment, it feels good because I'm... I just got a new...
• 25:24
  I gotta change. You know what I'm saying?
• 25:25
  I got things. So real quick. During... Through all this that's going on, when you're switching all these jobs, on the back burner, are you still messing with the music at all or you just kinda just letting the music......
• 25:35
  Doing now. Ain't no stop. It was over with. Got it. You let it go. Okay.
• 25:38
  Yeah. Because that... It was just to make money. Got I was like, now I'm making money. Now I'm making money.
• 25:43
  You get what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. And and the job working, so I'm not thinking that was just a hustle. Right. So now I work at the detention center.
• 25:52
  Detention center goes goes cool because, again, I'm on the I'm on the first level. I'm on the first level where when all the kids come in, they get filtered into one pot altogether. Don't matter how old you are.
• 26:02
  You can be 18. You can be 10.
• 26:04
  Right. If you come in, you come to one spot, then they do your paperwork, then they distribute you to where you need to go.
• 26:10
  I was on that first level, so everybody would come in, and it was sorta like I was the icebreaker officer to talk to everybody. But it was real smooth for me, And it it might have been a couple incidents, but it wasn't too much. Like, where it went down at was, like, on the'16 to eighteen. You know what I'm saying?
• 26:30
  That's where it went down. You know what I'm saying? It's the youngest. I'm not I'm not there. You know what I'm saying? Because they're juveniles.
• 26:37
  Yeah. They they... It get busy up there.
• 26:39
  You know what I'm saying? I'm down on the 1st Floor, but it was smooth because I was playing spades. Like, I was and I was building with the kids that was there. And it would just... It was fun because I could pick the hours I wanted.
• 26:50
  They would allow you to sign up where I can work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, get my hours out the way and be off four days straight. So those were the things that I did like about it. The money was straight, and if no one else wanted to work, I could take overtime and then get that time and a half. So I was happy at the moment.
• 27:09
  I'm playing spades. I got so good at spades, y'all playing in that job, that if you gave me... I can read everybody's books, baby. You ain't beating me no spades. I know how many spades you got. I'm like, man, you clean it up. You in a span. We gotta have to have a good year. I know how to go to Boston.
• 27:23
  It was... I had a good time at the... I ain't gonna lie.
• 27:27
  What ended up happening is it was some real corrupt stuff going on in Cleveland. It was a couple dudes that was, like, in the in the political...
• 27:35
  Or or or in that office that they started... They were... They got caught doing corruption, and that started making people get laid off.
• 27:43
  Now I was being... When I was the new hires, I got laid off first.
• 27:49
  So now I get laid off, and now I don't have a job. But at the time, I'm still living with my parents. Now I'm back in Cleveland with my parents, and I got unemployment. So I'm getting unemployment, and I had to find another job, but you gotta keep looking for another job while...
• 28:09
  That's the only way you can keep the unemployment is to show that you're looking for jobs.
• 28:13
  So while I'm looking for jobs, y'all, no one...
• 28:16
  Some of the jobs I knew I was qualified for, for, I did not get it.
• 28:19
  It was like the doors were shutting every time. Right. But I was still cool because I would get my unemployment, and my my parents were there to help me. I had the support of, like, living with them, stuff like that. So while we were doing that, I would still be hooping.
• 28:33
  I had some friends we would go to open gym with. So my one boy, Reggie, good friend of mine, he ended up... I will always be over his house. We playing 2K or we hooping every day. He ended up buying some turntables.
• 28:47
  Oh. Uh-oh. So Reggie buys the turntables. Uh-oh.
• 28:51
  There it goes. There it go. He got the turntables. It was called the Numark NS 7.
• 28:58
  What year what year is this? O seven, o eight, o nine?
• 29:02
  Maybe, like, 2009, 2010.
• 29:05
  Okay. Because I was working at Enterprise for a little while, and then I leave enterprise.
• 29:10
  I was working at Enterprise for, like, four or five years. Gotcha. Then I go to then I go back to the center for a year for for maybe, like, a year or two. And now it's about 09/2010.
• 29:22
  So the turntables touchdown?
• 29:24
  Turntables touchdown.
• 29:27
  We end up trying to... We say we'll shoot because he wanted to learn how to DJ. He got the turntables.
• 29:35
  We ended up trying to throw parties where he was the DJ.
• 29:38
  We we we was... We were called this group called the Rule of Three because it was me, my friend Ricky, and my friend Reg, and my brother Skip.
• 29:47
  But Skip's name ain't start with a r.
• 29:49
  So it was Reggie, Ricky, Reggie, Ricky, and and Ryan. You know what I'm saying? We was going to rule with three. We'll try to throw... We threw a couple parties.
• 29:57
  Reg was the DJ.
• 29:59
  And a couple events, the first one we did was okay and kinda flat, but it was cool. What we ended up having, though, was these legendary house parties.
• 30:07
  We had these legendary house parties that would go so crazy. The police will pull up, shut them down. Right. It was... That's what we was known for on this street called Tracy Ave. Tracy Ave, Legendary Street, and it was a spot in Euclid where we had these house parties.
• 30:21
  And Reg was the DJ.
• 30:23
  So one night... But Reg was also a mailman.
• 30:27
  So that was... This was all hobbies.
• 30:29
  One night, Reggie was like, alright. We... And me side note. While he's there, every time the turntables is up, we all playing with the turntables.
• 30:40
  I'm learning how to chop and screw. I'm figuring this out now. So I would just be playing with it, learning how to chop and screw music over and over and over and over. Learning how to chop and screw music. Question. Hold up. Yeah. Were were you guys on vinyl or Serato?
• 30:53
  Because it was Serato. NS7. Serato.
• 30:55
  Alright. It was big ass board, and the record still moved, but it kinda looked like a a controller.
• 31:01
  But the record moves sorta like how the Rev7 move. Yeah. Yeah. They had a record though that actually moved that you could...
• 31:08
  So I was able to learn the cuts and grab the record because it was still actually moved Got it. But it was still like a controller.
• 31:14
  So it was just big as hell to to carry around, very uncomfortable.
• 31:19
  But that's what I would practice on.
• 31:22
  So while practicing on that, I was figuring out how to scratch, chop, and screw what the BPMs was, and I would just have them genuinely having fun. That's what's happening. One night one night, Reg's like, hey, man. I gotta DJ this event, but I gotta get up in the morning and work.
• 31:40
  And I don't I don't wanna do it.
• 31:42
  I got a DJ that's cut this bar.
• 31:43
  He was like, you you mind filling in for me? I'm like, they pay? Because I didn't know nothing about it. He like, yeah.
• 31:49
  I'm like, how much they how much they pay? It was very light at the time.
• 31:52
  I might have been like, 100, but I didn't know. He was like, it was like 100. And he was like... And I was like, can you get drinks and stuff? He was like, yeah. I'm like, I guess, yeah, I'll do it. So that night I feel that night I feel in for him, not expecting nothing.
• 32:08
  But me being a person that was in the basketball community, I knew a lot of people and was friends with a lot of people through basketball. Literally that night, everybody that played a part of me becoming the DJ walked in that bar that night and see me DJing and was like, what you doing, Ryan? I wouldn't even I wouldn't even Wolf. Right. My name was Ryan, and my my Twitter name was ryanp.com.
• 32:32
  So that's what they were like, music by ryanp.com because my middle name is Peter, and I just went .com. I didn't even have it.
• 32:38
  You know what I'm saying? That's crazy. So so everybody that walked in, my one friend Donovan walks in, he was a part of this promotion team called crew camp.
• 32:48
  Him and Ted Ginn, who went to o state NFL player, but he's from Cleveland. Him and Ted Ginn had a promotions company. He see me DJing.
• 32:59
  He like, man, when you start DJing? I'm like, don't know. Two years. You was like, today.
• 33:06
  You feel me today? You know what I'm saying? He like, well, look. Me and Ted about to open up this bar. It's a big grand opening. Uh-oh.
• 33:13
  I need you to open that, you know, DJ for me that night. I'm like, man.
• 33:18
  Cool.
• 33:19
  So I I do that. DJ... Let me ask you something. At at the time in your area, were there, like, any hot DJs that were... Yeah. You... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Legendary.
• 33:30
  You had Scratch Master L. You had Fatty Banks.
• 33:34
  You had Cutmaster Slice. These are the ones that's on the radio. DJ Chicago.
• 33:40
  Right. You got Johnny O.
• 33:44
  You got... He was a little older than you. You got DJ Ellery. These are all popping DJs. Alright. I'm saying you got you got Steph Floss, who is my brother now, but you got Steph Floss. These things are all on fire.
• 33:55
  You know I'm saying?
• 33:56
  Stay nice. You have to... You happen to be at the right town, right place with your boy, and he was open to his place. That's why I say it ain't me.
• 34:02
  It's not me. I can't... You know what I'm saying? It's not me. He he order my steps. So I... So he asked me to do used to be a Heavy Hitter too.
• 34:12
  Who came... That was in Cleveland? I think so. Yep. For real? Yep. Never knew that.
• 34:17
  Then he just lost touch with us.
• 34:20
  Who's that, man?
• 34:21
  Oh, I gotta ask Kay about that. What's boy? Trying to to work here nice.
• 34:26
  Alright. So that night, I go to the bar. The bar opened up.
• 34:32
  The bar opens up, the grand opening.
• 34:34
  When I come in there, two other people come in that see me DJing because now Ted Ginn is like a a celebrity in the city. You know what I'm saying? One of the kids that made it out. Shout out Glenville High School. He made it to the league, went to Ohio State. I think at the time, he might have been playing for the Saints.
• 34:50
  So it was a big deal. A lot of a lot of big name people was coming to this bar due to the relationships that people knew. So now that night comes in, I'm DJing.
• 35:01
  My friend who I grew up with before I started DJing and before he started rapping, my friend...
• 35:09
  And and I became his DJ with my friend Ray Jr., legendary, legend in Cleveland, legend in Cleveland, one of the top rappers.
• 35:16
  If you you have to mention his name if you was to mention five rappers in Cleveland outside of Bone, Kid Cudi, you cannot not say Ray Jr..
• 35:25
  You gotta say Chip the Ripper and probably Machine Gun Kelly. If you just wanna say Ray Jr.'s name is gonna pop up, hands down.
• 35:34
  This is my brother.
• 35:36
  He he come... I knew Ray before he started rapping because we hooped together. He played on the same team as my godbrother because Ray could hoop very well too. So he walks in. He see me DJing. He's like, man, why when you start DJing? I'm like, hey. Same shit. Today.
• 35:52
  Then...
• 35:53
  And then and then my guy, this guy named Kel, Kel Crenshaw, he was a... He had his own promotions team called eighty eighty one where they probably threw the most poppingest parties in Cleveland due to his partners was LeBron James' agent, Rich Paul. Wow. So at the time, this is when Rich... Little Rich was throwing parties.
• 36:14
  So it was him, Duck, Kel, Mill, and this other dude. I can't think of his name. But they threw parties that was crazy. Like, they was the... They they had they had the scene on Smash. He see me, and he just put a face with it.
• 36:30
  Like, okay. I I I don't know you, but I know you DJing. So he walks in at night too.
• 36:36
  Now after that night's over with, I'm hooping at this open gym at this place called the Civic. And, again, I see my boy Ray.
• 36:46
  And when I see Ray, now I'm hollering at him because he know I DJ, and I know Ray wanted to pop... He wanted to come... Upcoming rappers at the time where he making the name in the city. But this is my guy. So I'm like, hey, bro. Let me be your DJ. I know you need a DJ. Let me be your DJ. Like, what's up? Like, we don't even really had to have this conversation.
• 37:02
  Ray funny, though, because Ray is, like, one of them dudes like, man, I'm a think about it. Like, one of them, like, playing like he wasn't gonna do it, but that's my guy. So then, of course, he hit me up. I'm his DJ. There you go.
• 37:14
  I'm his DJ. Now this is how we get into I'm DJing more because of that. My job starts to bring people back.
• 37:26
  The the the detention center?
• 37:29
  Yeah. Okay.
• 37:30
  They bring me back. Uh-oh. And now I got my job.
• 37:34
  They about to put me on the pod that I'm about to be on. I got my job back.
• 37:39
  All the hours that they have me work was DJ hours. Oh, no.
• 37:44
  I say, hey. Well, I'm put it down. You know I'm saying?
• 37:48
  It was fun while it lasted.
• 37:51
  Working the job. Damn.
• 37:54
  Working the job. No. I'll tell you this.
• 37:55
  Well, I said this guy, John. Working the job a couple days.
• 37:58
  By the third day, they call me into the office and they say, hey.
• 38:05
  We gotta holler at you about something. I say, what's going on? They say you you falsified paperwork.
• 38:12
  I said, what you mean by falsify paperwork?
• 38:14
  They said they say you don't pay... That you don't... That that that you don't pay child support, but you do.
• 38:20
  So I'm like, no. I don't pay child support. Now backstory, my son... My oldest son has lived with me all his life. All his life, he's lived lived with me. So...
• 38:31
  And then I had a situation where me and my first son's mother, we were so... She was good to the point that she let me keep the card.
• 38:40
  So when I did pay, it would come back to me. You know what I'm saying?
• 38:44
  Because I had the card, the actual card.
• 38:46
  But I went in the court, and we did a joint custody situation, which took me out of out of child support from the county that...
• 38:54
  From the county that I'm from. So when we get all the way down to it, they made an error on their end to say and take me off of the child support, which made that alert go off, and the company was able to fire me without giving me unemployment.
• 39:10
  Got it. Oh. But when I tried to argue with and tell them, they didn't care because they said, well, that ain't got nothing to do with us on their... On a mishap, and I never got hired back. Wow. So now I don't have a job, and I don't have unemployment.
• 39:27
  Not a pressure on. I don't know what to do.
• 39:30
  So this is the thing where I'm I'm basically talking to God, like, hey. I don't know what to do because all the jobs I was looking for didn't happen.
• 39:39
  I was also in this relationship, and this is what fired me up, though. Because sometimes God will bring the wrong person on your life, and they will make sense for them to be in your life because they was the fuel you needed to step to the next level. Right. So I was dating this girl.
• 39:57
  And while I was a DJ, I was able to take care of my bills and all of that stuff. I was taking care of my bills and everything, and I didn't understand it. Like, I was able to take care of myself. I wasn't balling, but I was able to take care of my kids, my son. You know I'm saying?
• 40:10
  Stuff like that. She was like... She said, hey. Is you ever gonna get a real job?
• 40:17
  And it kinda was like, what's... Where this coming from? What you mean am I gonna get a real job?
• 40:22
  So that kinda stayed on me so much that I was like, alright.
• 40:28
  Everything I learned on the hustle at Enterprise, touching and kissing the babies and getting clients and everything that I learned on the marketing and how I market myself, I'm about to go all in on this DJ stuff. And that's what I did. I got a logo, names, stickers. I'm putting stickers everywhere. I'm putting out mixtape. I'm like, I'm putting projects out on YouTube just trying to show my skill. I'm just going ham. You know what I'm saying? That's that's the part of the hustle you had in your blood because Yeah. You're telling me you've been hustling all your life. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My boss.
• 41:03
  He wanted to be a millionaire.
• 41:06
  Billionaire.
• 41:06
  B.
• 41:07
  B.
• 41:08
  Oh, he's a billionaire. B. Yeah.
• 41:11
  So that's what I started to do. I started to I started to do that. So while doing that, I ended up realizing I was making more money than I was actually making working the job.
• 41:25
  Right. For sure. Because I I just started adding it up. Like, wait a minute. The money was coming in daily because I would maybe do it Tuesday, Wednesday, or a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And now I might be getting the $2.50, two fifty,$2.50. Right. And I'm like, wait. I'm still.
• 41:39
  Yeah. Hold on. You know what I'm saying?
• 41:41
  Tax free.
• 41:42
  Yeah. Well, wait a minute. It's whopping. So now that was how I started taking DJ fully with what it was. I'm a see where I go with this. That's what's up.
• 41:53
  Now I told you I'm Ray's... Ray Ray Jr.'s DJ.
• 41:57
  He gets to deal with Def Jam.
• 41:59
  Alright? So he gets to deal with Def Jam. We have a show.
• 42:03
  We have a show that we had to do with South by Southwest. I didn't know what South by Southwest was, but I went with him because he had to do a showcase. He had about three, four showcases.
• 42:12
  So when I go out to the showcase, this is where things just started going crazy. Moving.
• 42:18
  Moving. And I go out to the showcase.
• 42:22
  We kill the showcase at Def Jam.
• 42:24
  That same day that we do the stage, I'm with my friend Hef. My friend Hef been with me been with me since day one. He's, like, my best friend since I started DJing.
• 42:35
  My friend Hef, he was out there, and he always been...
• 42:40
  I... Doing music. He'd been working since Shadyville.
• 42:43
  He was working with them. He does a...
• 42:46
  He... If you can look up who Quincy Taylor is, he is a very... He has held it down for the city of Cleveland when it comes to music. That's okay. So Hef been doing his thing. He also is a big part of what the, Nerve DJs. They are a big family in Cleveland.
• 43:02
  And that's who my guy Johnny O, he was a part of. They always showed me love even before anything. You know what I'm saying? So Hef is a very good friend of mine.
• 43:13
  When I was out there in South by Southwest at Def Jam, he I tell him because I see OG Ron C.
• 43:22
  I say, dog, I will listen to his mixtapes and chopping screw stuff all the time.
• 43:26
  I love chopping and screwing music.
• 43:29
  I would love to meet him. Hef was like, man, Ron, that's my boy.
• 43:33
  Right. I'm like, for real? He go, yes, my guy. So we go and introduce me to him. I tell him how I'm a fan, and that was it. Quick connection, but I was just grateful because I got to meet...
• 43:43
  It would be like you meeting at the time. Like, if you wanted to hoop with Michael Jordan, you got to meet Jordan. Because at the time, OG Ron C was like, I will listen to him every day because I love chopping screw music. Mhmm. So now I meet Ron.
• 44:01
  That goes by... You know what I'm saying?
• 44:03
  All the people, Lil Uzi was out there before he... Who he was. Like, it was it was just a good experience while I was out there.
• 44:10
  So...
• 44:11
  And I might say that Uzi might have been a couple years after. Yeah. But I met... But that night... That day when I met Ron was very important because I go back to Cleveland.
• 44:22
  I'm DJing.
• 44:23
  Alright? Now this happens.
• 44:26
  I'm DJing. I'm going back to just regular life. Maybe, like, two years later, y'all.
• 44:33
  Maybe a year, two years later, something had me search my name because I I changed my name because my name... I asked you that. I was just about to... My name was ryanp.com.
• 44:43
  Right. And I had to get a DJ name. So I had a friend, a very good friend that I met at an event, and she became my dog, my friend Ro...
• 44:52
  Ronisha.
• 44:53
  She worked at the radio station. She'd been working at the at the radio and where I'm at now for years. She was a program director.
• 45:00
  Yeah.
• 45:01
  She was promotions director at the time.
• 45:05
  She will always coach me up and give me game, and she was like, you need to change your name because ryanp.com is not a good name. She's like, gotta get another name. I'm like, well, what should it be? We're going back and forth. And she was like she was like, what about Ryan Wolf? And the only reason I said wolf is because I had my beard. Now I have my beard based off of I was going... I never was gonna shave my beard based off of what happened to Enterprise.
• 45:32
  I was gonna tell people I'm gonna be successful with this big ass beard. There you go. And that's never gonna change. So when she said Wolf, I liked it because my low... I'm a I'm a I'm a person that thinks about logos and branding.
• 45:46
  My fave... One of my favorite clothing companies is A Bathing Ape... is BAPE. So I immediately saw the ape logo, and I was like, I wanted to be the wolf. And now it's Ryan Wolf, and a lot of people was against it. They didn't like your name, but I was like, I'm cheating. I don't care.
• 46:02
  You know what I'm saying? Yeah.
• 46:05
  Changed my name to Ryan Wolf. Now I'm that's the... That's how I got the name Ryan Wolf. You know what I'm saying?
• 46:13
  Damn. No. So it was really it was really homegirl that... Right? Yep. She helped me.
• 46:17
  Yep. Yep. Yep. Bro, Ro gave me that name, Wolf, and I rode with it because I wanted the logo as my... That that looked like the BAPE symbol.
• 46:24
  So you ran you ran with it? Yes.
• 46:27
  So... Okay. So now I'm I'm searching my name for DJ Ryan Wolf on Twitter just to see if anybody says something about me.
• 46:33
  Maybe, like, a year later, I see somebody.
• 46:36
  I see two retweets that say, I'm looking for DJ Ryan Wolf. Let me know if you find him. And I'm like, who looking for me? It was OG Ron C.
• 46:44
  Wow.
• 46:45
  So now I hit him like, what's up?
• 46:47
  I'm right here. What you looking for? He said, we are about to make a next decision of our next ChopStars DJs because they need more people to do... You know, at the time we... It's about doing more chop and screw mixes because doing a screw tape is a actual craft. You gotta understand as a... It's like being in a... In a producer's crew of remixing a whole album, but it's all in a different way of how we wanna do it. So he hit me up and was like, I've been looking for you because I know you told me when I met you down that we gonna... We was gonna add when I opened up the doors, I was gonna let you be one. So now, boom, become a ChopStar.
• 47:30
  I'm like, at this point, I'm good. This is what I want this is what I want to do. You know what I'm saying? I wanted to be a ChopStar. I want to chop and screw albums, and now I'm running with the person that I always listen to. It's like a it's like a three sixty. Like Yes. You know what I'm saying? Because when you first got into it, you wasn't planning to be a DJ at all. Exactly. That was your, your passion.
• 47:53
  And then years later, here you are. Chopping screw.
• 47:58
  So I want you to get the mind state of what I'm saying is that now I'm already on cloud ten. Because I didn't ex... I was... I didn't expect to be a DJ. Now I'm up here DJing and making chop the screw. I'm just something I... So I'm good. You know what I'm saying? But God, like, no. I got more for you. You know what I'm saying? I got more. I got more.
• 48:18
  I more billionaire. Yeah. I got more for you. I'm like, alright. Cool. So now I'm chopping the screw on records. I'm Ray's DJ.
• 48:25
  We go.
• 48:27
  Ray had a Summer Jam event. That's the 107.9's biggest thing in Cleveland is our biggest concert of Summer Jam. Ray is one of the artists.
• 48:36
  So we have to get ready for the show. I DJ the show. We kill the show.
• 48:41
  When I'm done with the show, the next day, the boss of the show, Colby Colb, legendary person in radio. He's like, big boss, Radio One. Colby Colb was the program director in Cleveland. We know Colby.
• 48:56
  Okay. Colby is from Philly.
• 48:59
  Colby post me on his page.
• 49:02
  My my homegirl Ro called me and say, Colby just put you on his page.
• 49:07
  I said, for real? Why? The page said...
• 49:10
  He said his caption, my fellow arc because he's from Philly, and I got the beard. The beard. Right.
• 49:18
  The beard.
• 49:21
  That's what's up. The beard, bro. That's what's up. That's what's The guy he know me based off the beard alone and how we did a good job at the show. I love that.
• 49:28
  She tells me, bro, bro, working at the radio station says, hey.
• 49:32
  One of our DJs is about to leave.
• 49:35
  We gonna be looking for a DJ.
• 49:38
  Be on the lookout. Look on Radio One careers every day. Boom. Y'all, I looked on every day for Radio One for probably, like, seven months straight.
• 49:47
  Every day is it up? Is it up?
• 49:50
  Is it up? Is it up? Looking just because she told me.
• 49:53
  It finally opened up. I seen the position.
• 49:57
  I put the bid in.
• 50:00
  Y'all, I put the bid in. I get to interview with Colby.
• 50:04
  At this point, y'all, I've been DJing for two and a half, three years. Colby asked me. He say, how long you've been DJing for? I lied.
• 50:16
  I said, probably, like, five years.
• 50:20
  The face he gave me was like, that ain't enough.
• 50:25
  That ain't enough because we need... You know, I really want someone that's experienced and been...
• 50:30
  And it makes sense. Right. It makes sense.
• 50:34
  We don't get a DJ. I need someone that's... You know what I'm saying? I'm... So I thought I put I put I thought I put something moldy with the five. No.
• 50:42
  I seen his face.
• 50:44
  So then I said, listen, bro. Because I sent him a demo. And the demo was very clean but very simple.
• 50:51
  I said, I... And I said, Colby, I practice every day, bro. I practice scratching.
• 50:57
  I I promise you, bro, even what you heard here, I'm even nicer than this. I was just trying to. He said, look. Give me another mix. Give me anything you got on it, and then I'm a think about it. I went back and scratched my ass off.
• 51:13
  Sent him the mix.
• 51:15
  Obviously, we know what he said.
• 51:18
  You know what I'm saying? So now I'm a part of the team.
• 51:23
  I remember when they made the announcement.
• 51:25
  When they made the announcement, I had never seen so many DJs that I thought was my friends show you who they was.
• 51:33
  Wow. Because it was like, wow. This how y'all feel about the thing? Like, oh, it was like, it was wild.
• 51:40
  And I was like, okay. I see the type of gang this is. Now I'm like The hate was real. Yes.
• 51:45
  I never... And I... From people that I would not expect. You know what I'm saying?
• 51:49
  So now I'm on the radio.
• 51:52
  Didn't expect the radio.
• 51:54
  But fast forward, like I said, back... I mean, backtrack.
• 51:56
  I told my dude I wanted to be on the radio, but he took me away.
• 52:01
  But God said, no. You're gonna be on the radio. Like, I I I...
• 52:05
  So I'm like, alright. That's wrong. You know what I'm saying? So now it still ain't done.
• 52:12
  Was on the... I was I was DJing for maybe two, maybe one or two years on the radio.
• 52:18
  Colby say, hey. He pulled me to the side one day, he say, hey.
• 52:22
  You from Cleveland. Right? You born and raised?
• 52:24
  I said, yeah. He said, I got something for you. I can't stand right now. Hold on a second. So the radio was in Philly?
• 52:30
  No. Colby's Colby's from Philly. Okay. No. No.
• 52:33
  Colby was a program director in Cleveland at the time. Right. But you... You're... When you were working on the radio in the beginning was where? In in Cleveland. Oh, Cleveland. Alright.
• 52:41
  Alright. But Colby is the boss. Gotcha. I got... I I we... I only mentioned the Philly part is because he's from Philly. Yeah.
• 52:46
  I got you. I got you. And the beard. The beard. You know what I'm saying?
• 52:48
  That's the thing out there with, I guess, niggas in Philly got beards. You know what I'm saying? Everybody.
• 52:54
  Yeah. Freeway. So...
• 52:56
  Exactly.
• 52:57
  So now he said, I got something for you. I say, alright. He said, boom.
• 53:04
  Months go by.
• 53:05
  A lot of months go by. He key...
• 53:07
  He will always come back and say, hey.
• 53:08
  Remember I told you I got something for you? I'm working on it. I said, alright.
• 53:11
  I don't know what it is. I'm thinking he might have, like, some type of...
• 53:16
  I don't... I I I actually can't even fathom what it's going to be. I'm just like, okay. You got endorsement. You got this.
• 53:21
  What is it? You about to give me a new show, a new time. Right. So then the one day come in, my friend Ronisha, my my my friend, she tell me to come in the office with him. I come in the office. I don't know what's going on. He say, you might wanna sit down.
• 53:36
  I'm like, oh, these niggas about to let me go.
• 53:40
  I sit down hard like this.
• 53:42
  He like, hey. I asked you if you was from Cleveland. You said, yeah.
• 53:47
  Was like, would you like to be the official DJ for the Cleveland Browns? And I'm like excuse me, sir?
• 53:59
  I'm like, serious?
• 54:00
  He's like, yeah. He said they they changing up some stuff, and they wanna implement a DJ.
• 54:05
  All the players, they listen to hip hop, so they wanna get a DJ from the station. He was like, you was the perfect person. You was a you was a perfect person I knew from day one when they told me. And that's what I told you I have for you. And I'm like, yeah.
• 54:18
  Thank you. Yeah. I wanna backtrack just a second. When you first started radio Yes. This was straight hip hop, rap, like...
• 54:29
  Yeah. Well, I mean, it it was 107.9 hip hop and R&B.
• 54:32
  Right. So so so 93 switched to... Ninety three was our hip hop and r and b station that I told you I would listen to when I would get out In the van. In the expanded and opened up the other station that have urban AC, and then they switched to the mainstream. And that become what I'm on now, 107.9. So that's where he was. You know I'm saying? So that's where he was o... He was a program director over all of the host And all all of radio. When you got on, you started at what time?
• 55:02
  In the morning. One.
• 55:04
  One in the morning. Graveyard shift. Right. Cool.
• 55:07
  One to two. One 1 one one to one to two in the morning for, like, the first five years. I would just want...
• 55:13
  I was a mixer, then I... If I filled in when I can get my fix, I could, but one to two Got it.
• 55:18
  In the morning. Morning mixer. Needed that info.
• 55:20
  You know? Because how On the weekend. How you started is very important. You know? Yeah.
• 55:24
  I think all of them I think all of them started at midnight or one in the morning. Know. Yep. Yep. One in the morning for sure. Alright. So you're back on a Saturday. So now we're down with the Cleveland Browns. Continue on. Yeah. So so now I walk into the... I remember they take me to Berea.
• 55:38
  I walk into the facility.
• 55:40
  And when I walk into the facility, it's like they wall got this big ass...
• 55:47
  You just see the stadium. Like, the the picture of the stadium from, like, a bird's eye view drone shot.
• 55:52
  And he like, you ready to rock the stadium?
• 55:55
  I'm like, hell yeah. But it's like, this really about to happen because DJing in the stadium is a different Oh, no. No. Is a different experience.
• 56:06
  Yep. You know what I'm saying?
• 56:08
  So...
• 56:09
  Boom.
• 56:11
  Get the job where I'm the Browns DJ.
• 56:13
  I remember now. They said, look.
• 56:15
  You are the DJ, but you cannot say anything until we make the announcement.
• 56:20
  So now I had to hold on to this news for about four months.
• 56:24
  Damn. I'm holding on to it. I know I'm the DJ. They get me ready, but they doing a rollout.
• 56:32
  So now when the rollout, they'd say everything they're doing new. They say we got this new drum. They said in the in the rollout, they they let that... All of the...
• 56:39
  All the people know, all the press.
• 56:41
  We're looking... We're changing our our our whole infrastructure.
• 56:45
  We're making things cool because they took a page out of the Cavs book because the Cavs had a DJ. They liked the idea of the fan engagement, so they brought the same thing over here. My dude who hired me, he left from the Seattle Seahawks, and they had a DJ. He he said they had a DJ there or, like, in this...
• 57:06
  They did something where that's what made him wanna do it. They want to bring something with a DJ, but they never had a on field DJ.
• 57:13
  So that's what he wanted to do. He's like, I wanna have you on the field with the camera. We wanna make it. I'm like, cool.
• 57:19
  So they roll this out. They say we're about to have...
• 57:22
  They had a new drumline, and then they said then we're gonna have a DJ.
• 57:27
  The minute that they put out the DJ thing Uh-oh. They didn't say I was the DJ. They said we're gonna have a DJ.
• 57:34
  Every DJ in Cleveland tried to put their bid in. So I'm watching everybody talk about...
• 57:39
  They put they post on Instagram. Tell everybody to tag me to be their DJ.
• 57:43
  Boom. Boom. Boom. I'm talking about the top dogs and saying they wanna be the DJ.
• 57:47
  Every every top DJ is saying tag me, telling they follow... And I'm just watching like, wow.
• 57:54
  So, again Even the ones even the ones that was hating on you? Yes.
• 57:59
  A 100%.
• 58:00
  Well, now I have another moment that I had with the radio because when they make the announcement of who it is,.
• 58:13
  People upset.
• 58:15
  People upset.
• 58:16
  People like like... One of my guys, I I... That I know I know very well, he said, yeah. They picked... They... When he even said that he had to let his fans know in the way he worded it was, hey, guys. I appreciate y'all support, but, yeah, they had to... They picked another guy.
• 58:30
  Boom. Boom. Boom. I... But you know me.
• 58:34
  Like, you know me. So you could've easily been like, man, but they picked my brother.
• 58:38
  Go. No. It was like That other guy.
• 58:40
  That other guy. So it kinda just let me know again more, but now I'm the Browns DJ. Congrats. Didn't expect that.
• 58:49
  This is where it got dope, though.
• 58:51
  Now being the Browns DJ, I had to do this PNC Bank event.
• 58:55
  And it was for the... It was a Browns tailgate type situation where they had Chomps, the mascot, and Brownie.
• 59:03
  And they was bringing it up and they had the official DJ.
• 59:06
  I'm me being an official DJ. I'm DJing the event.
• 59:09
  Y'all, they had this big ass poster.
• 59:12
  And on the poster, it had the logos.
• 59:16
  So I'm seeing the Browns logo. I'm seeing KeyBank.
• 59:20
  I'm seeing the... I have to put the the the airport.
• 59:24
  I'm seeing all major logos, and I see my logo, Ryan Wolf.
• 59:29
  Wow. Guess what logo was by my logo?
• 59:32
  Tell me.
• 59:33
  Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
• 59:39
  Beard haters. Brother. The beard haters.
• 59:42
  Look at that.
• 59:43
  Look at that. Enterprise, hold that.
• 59:47
  Yes. Never gonna forget it. That's amazing. Enterprise run a car. Listen. The beautiful story here...
• 59:52
  For me, the beautiful story here And and and but but but I do wanna say this because I have to talk about the Heavy Hitter part.
• 59:59
  Because on the DJ side, I never really... On the whole crew thing, even with shout out to Nerve DJs, those are my brothers, I never was, like, in the sense of wanting to be a part of a crew.
• 1:00:11
  I was just like, I'm I'm DJing. You know what I'm saying? It is what it is.
• 1:00:16
  One day I was at a game, a Browns game, and I see E-Feezy.
• 1:00:24
  Now for me, I'm a fan of E-Feezy because E-Feezy is a legend in the city.
• 1:00:28
  He's from Cleveland.
• 1:00:30
  But I just knew as me doing... Knowing my DJs, I knew E-Feezy was one of them ones.
• 1:00:35
  I built a relationship with Feezy.
• 1:00:38
  That's my brother. Like, boom. I'm like, man, I'm a fan. He knew who I was because I'm the DJ of the Browns, and I'm just telling him, like, boom. So now we bill, exchange phone numbers, that becomes my guy.
• 1:00:49
  That becomes my guy. So one night one night, bro, I was... And this is where it got crazy. One night, I was at the radio station.
• 1:01:01
  Shadow Shadow had this artist that he put together.
• 1:01:05
  He had this artist.
• 1:01:07
  This artist named Skeme.
• 1:01:09
  Skeme wanted to go to Skeme wanted to go to a a strip club that night.
• 1:01:17
  And that night, I asked him. I was like, well, that's what you wanna do? He was like, yeah.
• 1:01:23
  I was like, you wanna go to a white strip club, or do you wanna go where the nigga's at? Which one you wanna go to? Because up to you. He like, alright.
• 1:01:30
  I wanna go to...
• 1:01:32
  You know where he bit. He wanna go where... You know. So it was this club that I took him to.
• 1:01:37
  I called the person that that... The owner and stuff like that, like, hey. We about to be on the way. Skeme at the time was a part of Drama's Generation Now.
• 1:01:49
  So with with with with Drama and Lake.
• 1:01:52
  So I'm like, alright.
• 1:01:54
  Boom. Let's...
• 1:01:57
  We gonna go there. I called it... I called the owner. Like, we're about to be pulling up. I'm about to park.
• 1:02:02
  Bruh, I parked right across the street from...
• 1:02:06
  I did... I parked right across the street from the strip club.
• 1:02:09
  And when I get out the car, I'm walking with him to the club, straight shot, like, shot. While I'm walking up, two dudes pull up on us with the pipe.
• 1:02:19
  Like, let me get that.
• 1:02:21
  One grabbed me, put it on me. The other one take the dude Skeme over to the car. So now I'm like, man, I don't even know what to expect. Like, I don't even know. I've never even been in this situation before.
• 1:02:36
  Anywhere it go, they take our stuff. They take his stuff. They take my wallet. I'm saying this to say why I'm giving you this story. Take my wallet. Take my phone.
• 1:02:46
  They take everything.
• 1:02:47
  And then thank God nothing happened wise of being, you know what I'm saying, harmed outside of we lost items.
• 1:02:57
  I had to get a whole new phone number. I had to get everything.
• 1:03:03
  That year is the year that I think Ian y'all were picking heavy hitters, and he...
• 1:03:11
  Feezy was gonna nominate me.
• 1:03:13
  He did. He said I called you, but you didn't pick up. Right. I said, bro.
• 1:03:18
  Damn.
• 1:03:20
  I got robbed.
• 1:03:22
  I don't have my phone. He said, well, look.
• 1:03:26
  We don't do it next year. When I tell you I was so excited, bro, I had I had to wait again. I'm waiting.
• 1:03:32
  I'm like, alright.
• 1:03:34
  Waiting to be a part of the crew because I was just like, man, now this is a crew that I really want to be a part of.
• 1:03:40
  And that's not no shot to even if that don't sound crazy because it was like, this is something that I just love what the brand stood for.
• 1:03:49
  I've seen all the DJs that I would either look up to or that I listened to. And I was like, man, this would be an honor to be a part of it. And I remember I had to hold off a whole year because I had to change my phone number. And Feezy couldn't call me because he had the old number. And when he told me, I was like, alright.
• 1:04:05
  And then that next year, sure enough, that's when I got to be selected.
• 1:04:09
  And Hey, man. Say that to wrap that all together. Shut up. By story.
• 1:04:14
  You know, got the... Feezy was definitely waving the Ryan Wolf flag. Sure. He was Hello.
• 1:04:19
  That's brother. On the phone and all that.
• 1:04:21
  So so listen. Okay. So we we need to know what... What's what's what's in the future for you. What... Maybe, you know, maybe you still have goals. I don't know. Like like, tell us, you know, what's what's next for Ryan Wolf?
• 1:04:32
  Man, I ain't gonna lie, bro. I'm in the space right now in the season I'm in.
• 1:04:37
  I... I've had a lot of things that has helped me out. Again, I've been very transparent with y'all about some things that happened in my life.
• 1:04:46
  And and anybody that watches this podcast, this is when crying shit.
• 1:04:54
  It's it's alright, bro. We're here. It's okay, my brother.
• 1:05:00
  You know, some crews or family will say their family, but you don't see it in the you don't see it in the fruit of what they say.
• 1:05:14
  And I can't say that about this family because when I was at a place where I really needed help, they showed up and showed out.
• 1:05:25
  And from the bottom of my heart, you know, I appreciate that because my my mom and dad been gone, so I really don't have family family like that.
• 1:05:40
  So I view you guys as my real family because I'm... It's scarce for me.
• 1:05:47
  And I don't know, man. I appreciate to have a family, and I can say that about the Heavy Hitters. And I can say that firsthand because I experienced it, and I've seen them show out and show up for me personally and my family. So I'm saying that to say, you know, I'm in a space where I'm just letting God take me where I'm at, where where he takes me. I don't have any goals that I just want to achieve now. I just wanna be in the will of God.
• 1:06:16
  I wanna be in a place in the space that I am every day. I wanna walk like Christ, and I just wanna... And that's and that's just really where I'm at because I got a relationship with the most high.
• 1:06:28
  And if I know him personally and I know how he brought me out of things, who else do I need to meet? What else do I really need to do? I know I know him. 100%.
• 1:06:37
  And this is what I tell everybody. It's what I tell everybody. You know? Yeah. We're a crew. Yeah. We look glorious out there.
• 1:06:44
  Yeah. The shining lights and all that. But behind all that, more importantly, is some brotherhood that Yep.
• 1:06:51
  A lot of people out there don't understand it. But when you're in this crew and you turn around and you call your brother and you have issues or or or questions or whatever, it could be the littlest thing.
• 1:07:01
  Like, I need the fold of music of of what's hot in fucking Cleveland. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. We're there. Everybody's there.
• 1:07:07
  And that's that's what makes us special. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. That... That's the beautiful thing. And and Ryan is... You know, I'm proud of having you in the crew.
• 1:07:18
  Straight up. Exactly. Appreciate the problem. Absolutely, man.
• 1:07:22
  Yeah. So that's just where I'm at, man.
• 1:07:24
  I'm just having fun.
• 1:07:26
  I'm trusting in God, and I'm going day by day. But I don't I don't have any just, like, goals. The things that I wanna do, I I love what I do every day. I'm walking in You right accomplished... That's the thing. I go through the same things. Like, you... I wanted to be a mixtape guy. I wanted to be...
• 1:07:43
  Run the clubs. I wanted to be on radio. And, you know, and here we are, and then I I accomplished all of that. I'm like, what the fuck is next? So it's like, the beautiful thing is that you're still doing or we're still doing what we love to do. And times are changing. I know shit is changing. Like, you know, even talking about radio, that shit is shaky all over the place. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And even nightclubs, you know, but but we're still here. We're still pushing. And at the end of the day, man, we're smiling and and and do what we we love to do.
• 1:08:12
  You see that vinyl back there? That's the shit I love. That's the shit that I...
• 1:08:16
  Like like... Yeah. You know? And and For sure. And that's it, man. Yep.
• 1:08:21
  Yeah, man. So... Ryan, thank you for sharing your your your story with us. It's an amazing journey. You know what I'm saying? And the journey doesn't stop here. It keeps on moving. You know what mean? Yep. Yep. Yep.
• 1:08:32
  Yeah. And look forward to see you at the retreat. Miami, November. Just got it. I booked it I booked it two days ago.
• 1:08:38
  I'm locked in, baby. I'll see y'all on the fence. You inspire me, bro. I'm a catch you on the beard. I'm coming. I'm I'm I'm I'm right behind you. I'm just gonna That was catchable, baby. We're free. We're proud of you, king. We're proud of you, love. My God. Go ahead and make sure you subscribe to The Heavy Hitter DJs podcast. Break the show and share it with someone who cares about the roots of what moves us. I'm the crowd mover, L. Boogs. I'm the big Spanish guy, DJ Enuff. I'm DJ Camilo, And I'm DJ Kast One.
• 1:09:08
  Heavy Hitter, hitter, hitter, suckers.