DJ Drama

00:00:15 Speaker 1: Pushkin. DJ Dramas one of the most iconic mixtape DJs of all time. His legendary Gangster Girls tapes helped propel artists like Ti and Young Jeez to stardom. His classic Dedication series reinvigorated Lil Wayne's career in the early and mid two thousands. At their height, mixtapes like DJ Dramas allowed artists the freedom to wrap over other people's beats and release new music to fans in between their major label projects. By two thousand and seven, the underground mixtape market was booming, but in January of that year, DJ Drama and his longtime business partner Don Kannon were arrested by federal agents and charged under RECO laws for bootlegging and racketeering. Their arrest resulted in the federal government confiscating hundreds of thousands of dollars from their business accounts, but the much publicized raid only boosted DJ Drama's profile. In the years since, Drama's built a successful record label, and it's continued to make mixtapes. Tyler the Creator even crafted his latest album, call Me If You Get Lost with DJ Drama's classic ad libs all over it and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in twenty twenty two. But at that same time, while DJ Drama was at the height of his professional success, personally, he was battling an addiction to opioids, an ongoing struggle he's only recently started to talk about publicly. On today's episode, Lea Rose, who some of you may know as the former music editor of Double XL magazine, talks to Drama about how he got sober after being what he calls a functioning junkie who spent six figures a year on opioids. He also tells a story of how Little John recorded his iconic gangster Grills drops in Drama's laundry room, and explains why he decided to sign lo Uzi Vert and Jack Harlow to his Atlantic Records imprint Generation. Now this is broken record liner notes for the digital age. I'm justin Michigan. Here's Lea Rose with so. Back when I was at Double XCEL, I used to edit a section of the magazine called Show Improve, where every month I would have to find five new artists from like all over the country. And I figured out that if I talked to mixtape DJs, they could kind of like plug me in with who was who and who was doing what where, and you're my guy in Atlanta. I remember I was frequently talking exactly. Yeah, it's been about twenty years and your career has grown in so many different incredible ways. So for people listening who might not be familiar with the function of a mixtape in hip hop, can you describe what the purposes just at like the base level, like what is the purpose of a mixtape? So a mixtape, obviously, through the years has taken on various purposes and different meanings. Me specifically or my brand of gangster girls. Mixtapes came at a time and they had become almost like street albums in a sense where they were based around, you know, one particular artist or one particular crew of artists, or a label of some sorts, and it enabled that artists to kind of do things that they may not have been able to do on their major label album in a sense where they could kind of have a free for all or you know, rap on someone else's beat, you know, just kind of experiment and not worry about, you know, some of the caution tape that comes with putting out an actual album. So a mixtape and a lot of times, and though in the early years would almost be kind of like lead lead ups to someone's album, or it would be a project that would come in between albums, you know, to keep the anticipation high, and you know, then then there would be what my my participation in it as the DJ is kind of like properly putting the mixtape together, sequencing it, you know, adding bells and whistles, sound effects, you know, giving what are known is either sermons or rants, depending on who you ask, and like you know, bringing back records just to kind of like create these moments and in this excitement of almost like almost like being like a coach or the you know, the guy in the box of corner who's hyping up the artists in a sense, and you know, hyping up the audience as well. And just like you know, add my two sense to the records. And so when it came to you adding your your ad libs and your drops and everything, it really seems like it's such an art and it's very intentional. First of all, how did you develop your style? I was listening to old tapes. You're screaming. It's like hoarse voice. There's a little like you know echo effect. How did you develop your own individual style. Well, it kind of changed over the years interesting and so you know in the earlier years obviously when you go listen, like I'm definitely more boisterous and louder than I maybe in today's time, but the style came in like that's what mixtape DJs would do. And in my era, like you know, I came up listening to people like Clue or SNS or or who kid who you know, they're all DJs would would pretty much say their names and and like you know, have an echo of fact. But but they also like it was in a time where mixtape DJs were doing more of like shout outs and maybe like promoting the stores whether their tapes were sold, or you know, shouting out the a and rs that were getting them records and things like that, and I kind of I kind of came up with a style where for me it was almost like adding personality to the records. I wanted to be more than just kind of like to stay on my name, where you know, I was kind of like talking shit and you know in a sense like adding my sense almost in a way of like you know, I don't rhyme. You know, my statements don't rhyme. But I try to be creative as possible with what I say and add to the record as much as much as I can. And you know, yeah, in the early years, it was like, you know, the type of music that I was lending my voice too was was very like command and you know, it was intense. And then over the years and I started to you know, do work on various projects. You know, then I started to even play around with my tone and my and my pitch and like I would do it. I'd take like Birdie Terrorists with Currency where it was like, you know, it was it's it's smoker music. So you know, I wouldn't you can't come off like screaming. Yeah, I would have to kind of like come back and in a melo or tone or or I would start to do like R and B mixtapes with people like Chris Brown or or Jeremiah, and then it was like again, I couldn't come on, they're yelling and screaming, so I would. I would then you know, find a different tone and play around with it, and in a sense of it was it's art to me, Like you know, it was like knowing where to come and and what to say and how to lend myself to the records, so it wasn't yeah, and when to pull back, exactly when to talk. And it's really like you're punctuating things that people say in a way that sometimes it's subconscious. As a listener, you're listening, and then you might be like, oh, and then that line will sync in and then you start to say that as like you start to know that as part of the song. Nah, and I love that, yeah exactly, so you know, and then one of the biggest compliments to me at Toms when you know, they're big versions of projects that didn't have me on there, and people be like, yeah, just doesn't hit the same without drama on there. It's really not as good. It's really really not. So I love that. It's so exciting. Your drops are so it's just so well done. Thank you, And I just wanted to play you this. I don't know, let's see if you can hear this. Wow. Yeah classic. So that's from Dedication too, Yeah, which now is just like widely regarded as the best mixtape of all times. Yeah, which is crazy. You got your shout out on that that's fire. But you know, you guys, you know, you and Double Xcel were very important and influential to like mix tapes and mixtape culture at that time. And like and I remember like the feeling of, you know, opening up a Double xcel and seeing one of my my tapes in there, or being reviewed or you know what I'm saying, Like that was like the holy grail, you know what I mean, that one. You know, you guys were one of the few outlets where you know, we were getting our praise or you know, outside of the listener or the person who was familiar with the mixtape circuit or what we were doing, where a consumer who might not have been familiar could find out about you know, what I was doing. Yeah, I mean you were absolutely keeping the music exciting, you were keeping it going. Appreciate that. So when it came to making Dedication too, I heard you talk about how you would sometimes script out things for the artist to say, and in Wayne's case with that tape, you sort of like set it up like an interview. Yeah, So in those days when I was doing tapes, you know, I would yeah, make a script like you know, outside of the music. You know, some of the things that were important to those tapes were somewhat of the interludes or you know, it was almost like behind the scenes of some of the things that you know, you wouldn't get from the artist's own on a project. So I when I was when I would do dedications, you know, I would almost like I write a script out for Wayne to record some things outside of the music. I would literally like almost like ask him questions. So you know, around those times, there were there were things about and retiring or him signing the jay Z or like you know, I remember asking him like, you know, what, what do you like to watch on television? And that was when he was like all I watched the sports, sports sports, you know, and he had actually freestyled over this green lantern beat that had been used that was like became sports center, you know, where it was like the sound of basketball or a tennis ball or would have you and I called it sports Center. And that kind of came from my my interviewing background, I guess, in the sense of like when I would get my drops from the artists, I would I would set it up where I would you know, engage him and this is what the fans want to know, so there would be kind of questions he would answer, and those those we would turn into the interludes or you know, the way I would go from transition from song and song. It's such a good idea because an artist, especially Wayne, he doesn't really do interviews right. And you know, like those those tapes like Dedication wanted Dedication too, like the interludes of him talking or like so key or so memorable. You know, there were just things on there that I came out of me writing these scripts and responding to it. I have to ask you about Dedication seven. Is it coming out? It's been getting teased since I think twenty twenty. Good question, I hope. So are you waiting to hear too. Yeah, I'm still waiting to hear, but I'm sure he'll start getting the itch. He always starts getting the itch, and then you know, I'll get a phone calling it'll be time to go. How did the original session where you recorded the drops with Little John? What do you remember about that session? And just talk a little bit about what Little John is likes. I think a lot of people sort of think of him as maybe a caricature because of the you know, because of the Chappelle's skit and the what I mean talk about what little John is actually like in real life? All right, Well, first of all, the fact that you called the session is the most hilarious thing ever because it's a place in my duplex in the fourth ward where I where most people would keep their washer and dryer. That's where I kept my equipment. So it was the fact that it's called a session, like it was not in some fancy studio with some big ass mixing board, like there was two turntables and a four track in there. But you know, John has always been one of the most down to earth, humble, a laid back and giving people that I've met within the music business. You know, I got to beat him at an early age for me, and I was kind of just transitioning from being a college DJ to really just getting into the business. And he was the king of krunk. It was a time before you know, the explosion of the Chappelle Show. But you know, John was definitely a very key figure within the Atlanta hip hop scene as well as you know, being becoming a national an international star. And this was at a time when when Gangster Girls like as a mixtape was just becoming a series, and you know, having a host of your mixtape was a very important thing, at least from up North perspective, like you know, and I was following a lot of the up Northeast coast trends of mixtapes, and you know, people were having people like Puffy and Nas and you know, just all these you know, huge artists hosting their mixtapes. And I was like, yeah, I need to I need to find a host for you know, against the girls to make it seem like it was something, you know, and yeah, like you make it seem legit. It's like a co sign. Two coast signs are always absolutely co signs are important. So I remember asking like three people around that time, and two of them pretty much told me no. And John was the one that told me yes, he would host the tape for me. And he came to my crib again like this raggedy ass duplex I had fourth worth of Atlanta, and he did the drops for me. I think I either wrote out a script or I would just tell him, yeah, can you say this? Can you say that? And in him doing those drops the way he said Gangster Grizzils, the Grizzil you know, he did that on his own and he hosted. It was the third Gangster Girls I did. I had did two before, and at the time they were just they were still just like compilations, you know, they were just like the best the hottest songs in the South that I was putting together. And he was the first host of Gangster Girls, which turned out to be Gankster Girls four, So you know that tape has him all over it. And then the next tape that I did, but I did Gangster Girls five. It was time to put a tape out, but I couldn't find anyone the host in time. So instead of you know, having a host, I just used the little John's voice thing thanks to Grizzils, and ran it back abundance of times all over the music kind of like to brand it in a sense, and you know, the drop went on to be quite legendary. But yeah, John is you know, for those who see him as a character, like you know, he knows when to turn it on and you know, somewhat similar to me. I mean, I don't go around screaming all day every day, and I could do on a mixtape, but like, you know, he's he's He's one of the most creative, hardworking, you know guys in the business. You know that that really you know, has has guided himself doing an incredible you know, from from production to you know, artists to DJ to you know, just rock star. And he said this, did you coach him to say it a certain way? Oh? He did that on his own? And when you heard that, like, did you know, were you like, oh, that's good. I didn't know. He just said it. He said it like that, thanks the Grizzlils, you know, And it was crazy. Is that I never realized now looking back on it, there was a Hotboys song prior to Gangster Grills where Many Fresh actually says gangster Grizzils. Really, yeah, so I'm I'm curious if that's where John got it from. I never knew, I really, I've recently just heard it like in the last like two three months where Many Fresh says gangster Grizzils. And this was a record from like ninety eight ninety nine, so it came before a Gangster Grills And you know, but even at that time, that's not even where I got the name for the tape. Like I just kind of came up with gangs, the girls in itself, so you know, great minds think alike. But I didn't know that him saying that would turn out to be so iconic or yeah, you know, turned into like what it is today. But I was always very keen on branding early on. How did you learn about branding because you're obviously so good at it, Where does that instinct come from? Well, I remember taking a marketing class in college. And you know, I was a radio TV Film major, but as a mass communications major, we had to take some business classes. It was mandatory, and marketing was one of them. And I remember just it was during the time when I was in college and I was very earnest on my mixtape hustle, and my marketing class just like every part of the fascinated meat into what I was doing with my business or my mixtapes, and like I was applying everything that I was learning to my craft. And you know, I just remember again just like just you know, early on, just studying DJs like Flats and Capri and and Bismarcki Rest in Peace, like you know, just just how how big of a brand funk Master Flex was and you know, watching him and even Clue as well like you know, just just watching like you know, them beyond the mixtape, like you know, get endorsements and become figures on television and things like that. So, you know, one, becoming a mixtape DJ for me was was key because the mixtape DJ in hip hop for me, was the largest life DJ. You know. Those were the DJs that were treated like artists. You know, those were the DJs that were the one is that people knew outside of the city they were from, you know. And even when I was approaching Gangster Grills, for me, it was like my goal was to create a brand from the mixtape that people recognized even bigger than at the time DJ Drama. You know, like most DJs at the time were trying to make a name for themselves or make sure their their name as a DJ was the most well known. And I approached it in a sense where I'm gonna make this brand, this mixtape brand, Gangster Grills the biggest brand where when people see it, they automatically want it, regardless of who's on it or you know what it is that they see a new Gangster Grills that they're gonna copy. And I was like, through that, then I can kind of double back and create the brand of DJ Drama. You know. So in those days for me, Gangster Girls was a larger brand and DJA Drama and then I started applying, Okay, now I'm gonna go and put my my face on on the Gangster Girls along with the artists and start, you know, branding myself and making myself known once Gangster Girls was already a known brand. Yeah, and then you know, just again like you know, branding through the years. I guess it's something that kind of has come somewhat natural, and like it must, it feels like an innate ability because you have you have a real solid instinct for it. You know, you've been able to maintain it for twenty years, twenty years in so many different areas. So yeah, it definitely feels like something that comes naturally to you. Yeah, thank you. You know that's key and hip hop. I mean when you think about it, and I mean from from DJA Drama to the Gangster Girls to Generation Now to Dedication to No There's just so many things that that I'm attached to that are you know, known within the culture. At the height of Gangster Girls, like would you say the height was like five oh six ish. I think it's had different different heights. I think was like the first peak. That was the first peak, definitely. Do you have an idea roughly of how many copies you were selling per month and how much how much you were making per month on the tapes I was probably selling, like you know, between each tape. It was, you know, just coming from my backyard, probably like maybe twenty thirty five thousand tapes you know, just for me. But then again, like that's not including the bootleggers and yeople that were taking that were taking masters, so you know, there were there were hundreds of thousands of copies, like I'm sure in that time there were you know, a million in physical gangster girls if we're including the Jeezy tapes and the Wayne tapes and you know, all the various tapes. And then like monetarily wise, I was, you know, bringing in fifty sixty seventy eighty thousand dollars a month, like you know, money that I had never seen or been familiar with. So it was it was the all of the time, and then all that changed on the morning of January sixteenth, two thousand and seven. Can you just tell us quickly what happened that morning. What you remember from that day, I got raided. I came to the studio that day and I had gotten tipped off that that they were coming to the studio. But I thought it was a mix upper a mistake, and I went outside to go move my car. I let my employees know, like y'all, I just got a weird call. Then you know, the cops for coming over here. And I went to go and move my car. But I went outside. You know, they pulled up with you know, taholes with the lights and helicopter was above my head and they jumped out with m sixteens and you know, told me to get on the ground and told me, Terre Simmons, you being arrested for bootlegging and racketeering under the Rico law. And you know, they they tore the studio apart, and you know they were looking for guns and drugs, and you know they found was mixtapes. And you know, I remember being taken down the right street and you know, sitting in the holding cell and somebody tapping me like, look you're on TV. And that was what they know is like the day the game changed within the mixtape world, because like you know, I was like top of the food chain. I was one of the biggest mixtape DJs in the world at the time, and you know it was like, man if if DJ Drama can get locked up, Like nobody's said, what happened when you were in jail? How long did you have to say? I was only there for like twenty fo hours. We got a hundred thousand dollars bonds, and you know, I had a lot of hip hop conversations. Honestly, I was you know with you know, the guys that were locked up or the inmates, like we just had rap talk. But I remember getting out and you know, it literally like changed my life overnight. I became this I became the representation of like what was wrong with within the music business, and you know, it definitely made me more famous than I was. And you know, my record label was pretty excited. They were like, oh, we campaig for this type of publicity. At the time, I was signed to Atlantic Records as an artist to put out an album, Official Gangster Girls. Yeah, official Gangster Girls album. So you know they were like, how fad can we get the album done? Like, you know, there were negative effects, right it wasn't all positive when you came out, Well, they froze my bank account, so they kept my money, They kept like stick figures of an account that I had had. But but beyond that, there weren't that many negative effects to it. I mean, it pretty much made me, like, you know, it made more people want to interview me, for me on more magazine covers than I was, like, made me more recognizable to people outside of you know, the mixtape world, and I became, you know, larger than that I was, you know, And at the time, like for another person or another situation, that could have been the end of the end of the story, but like you know, for me, I was like, this is just one chapter in my story, Like this is not what this is not going to define my whole career. Like you know, it'll definitely be a talked about moment, but I got, you know, so much to accomplish. And yeah, that was what I would I would say at the time, not knowing how much of occur I was set out to have, but you know, I definitely knew that I wasn't going to like lay down and let this be the end, you know what I'm saying, especially because of how much I love to mixtapes like, and I felt I felt some guilt. That was that was the only other bad part was the guilt. I felt like I didn't want to see this culture that I loved so much die on my back. You know that I came up loving and wanting to be a part of because it was sort of a situation at that time where album sales were down across the music industry, mixtape sales were up, and mixtape DJs were making a bunch of money and record labels were losing money. It was like the wild wild West, yeah, because I mean technically, mixtapes weren't even supposed to be making money, Like it was always the quote unquote for promotional use, only stigma attached to it. And then you know, outside of what myself for, you know, other well known mixtape DJs we're doing, they were also just not even DJs, but mixtape guys that were stealing MP three's and hacking Gmail and getting records that weren't sanctioned by the artists or the label and they were putting them out. So you know, it was it was becoming like overly saturated, and you know, it was it was becoming a problem. And then on top of that, the music business was in a decline. Album sales weren't a decline, so you know, it was kind of like some we're looking at it like, oh, this is the this is the music business way of spending a message to the mixtape DJs like yo, y'all gonna stop this ship stopped here money. But meanwhile you were promoting the artists like Wayne and Jeezy would tour off your mixtapes. Definitely, I mean the artists were you know, they were able to go on and you know, tour and make money off of the music that was coming off of their mixtapes as well as you know, those mixtapes were used as promotional tools to lead up to people's albums, you know, they were. They were part of the marketing plan of the labels, like yeah, before we do an album, we gotta go do against the girls to create some hype and anticipation, right, And the labels would pay for them at times. They would. They definitely would. Yeah, I was definitely getting paid by labels to do tapes. Did it scare you after the raid? Did it stop you from doing tapes? Nah? It didn't. It didn't scare or stop me. You know, I kind of stopped the regular numbered Gangster Girls series that I had been doing because I was more focused on individual artists tapes. But I went and did like Gangster Girls sixteen and seventeen after the raid, and I continued to do mixtapes as did other people. I mean, you know, it was mixtapes are part of the culture, like they'll they'll never go anywhere, even though through the years they've they've changed how they may be presented or looked or what have you. Like, I continued on after that. It didn't, it didn't stop me. We're gonna pause for a quick break and then be back with more from DJ Drama and Lea Rose. We're back with more from DJ Drama and Lea Rose. Recently, you did a talk as part of a Mental health Awareness Month with Shaunty Doss. Yeah, and you opened up about your struggle with opioid addiction. M When did you decide to come public with that. My opioid journey started somewhere around like twenty fifteen or something around there, or to be honest, like a lot of it started because of my my issues with with with with sleep. Like I was, I had really bad sleeping patterns and stuff. And I started drinking a lot of lean in the early two thousands, and you know, by kicking that habit, I then started to I think I went from Lean to nat then to purgo sts, and you know, I started to realize it was a problem around like maybe like twenty eighteen, because I had never I never really knew the effects of withdrawals, and I went through withdrawals from burgocets and it was like a pain or a feeling I never felt ever perform my life. I remember telling myself at the time, like I'll never go another day without a perk set. And that was really where my like my addiction or my habit like went into like a different space and it really became a serious, like issuing problem. And in twenty twenty, right when COVID hit, I went to rehab and that was my first that was my first time in rehab and in the facility trying to you know, deal with my opioid addiction. And I spent some time there during the beginning of COVID, and I came out and I stayed clean for some months, and then I relapsed and probably around the end of twenty twenty, So I went through all of twenty twenty one back on perks, and then I was about to go on tour in twenty twenty two, and and I just remember having this, you know. And and while I was in rehab the first time I met my therapist. I had tried therapy before, but I didn't really find a person that was very suitable for me. And when I went to rehab, I found a therapist that just was the perfect fit for me in what way? Like what what did she provide for you? She provided when I when I told her when I sat down and I pretty much in our first session told her my life story or as much as I could in an instance. I just remember her responses to me or her assessment of me was so on point, off top, and it was just like you know, it was it was almost mind boggling. The feeling that I got from the therapist prior to her was almost like a warm blanket, you know, And aiming who's my current therapist who I met was like, you know, she didn't take any she didn't take any ship, or she didn't let me get away with bullshit, or she helped me accountable, you know, it wasn't. If I would tell her something that you know, I was doing or you know, that was not good, she would be like that you're full of shit, or that's no, that's not good. You know. So once I left rehab, it was it's a place called out Sini. Because of the law, I wasn't able to have her as my therapist for a certain amount of time. But after that time passed, I reached back out to her and was like, you know, you said, after the two months or the three months, whatever, you know, I could see if you were available, and she was like, yeah, I'm all we can so. And she had tried to look me up with another therapist too for me to go see what. I left the facility, and even with him, it was it just wasn't the right fit, like she was just the one for me. I relapsed in twenty twenty. I was taking perks all through twenty twenty one. I had a situation where I literally almost overdosed. Where were you in that happened. I was in Atlanta, I was at home, and I was taken to the hospital and I was put in a situation where they were going through ten sixteen, which means they were going to keep me for a certain amount of time because of when when they gave me the nark can, which they give to like people who are almost going to overdose, Like I kept nodding off and like, you know, it's supposed to keep you awake. Luckily, there was a a nurse or someone in the hallway who was in there talking about oh yeah, you don't know DJ Drama was he did all a little Waynes mixtapes in the two thousands whatever whatever, And they violated the hippo law. And I was if if they would have kept me in there, I went to I had to go shoot this movie. You people. I had to go shoot you people, and I would have missed it. And because they violated the hippo laws, I was able to get out early and leave the facility. And you know, even I remember going on that movie set and during breaks of filming having a conversation with Jonah just about his struggles with addiction and things of that nature and Hill, yeah, Jonah Hill, and we had a really like in depth, like you know, heart to heart talk and I told him like man, like I literally just was in the hospital like because of my addiction, and you know, he really opened up to me and gave him some some good a good guidance, a good advice, And I knew at that moment that I really, you know, I just I wanted to get clean because I used to tell Amy all the time, like my biggest fear is ending up like Michael Jackson or Prince, you know, and just like opioid just such a dangerous drug because like you know, there's no there's no end in sight, you know, and if they could take the lives of Michael Jackson or Prince, like who the fuck am I, you know what I'm saying. And the fear was like that was always my fear, like death, you know what I'm saying. So I went on I was going back on tour again in twenty twenty two with Whizz and Logic, and I was scared because, you know, I felt like I only had like three options. Three options were, I mean, They're gonna go on tour and I'm gonna buy an abundance of perks and be taking too many. Or I'm gonna go on tour and I'm not gonna have them and I'm gonna be going through withdrawals. Or I'm gonna go on tour without them and be trying to find them and buying them from somewhere where I shouldn't be, and they're gonna have fettan All in them and it's gonna be a hazard. So I called the the rehab place that I have went to beforem outside and I and maybe like a week before tour, and I just like, look, I'm about to leave. I just need to try to detox for a couple of days before I go. And I went there and I got on the boxing, which I had gotten on the time before, but I didn't stay on it. And this time when I left to go on tour, I stayed on the boxing. And that's the detox drug. The boxing is A. Yeah, it's a It's a drug that they give people to detox off of opioids. It blocks the receptors in your brain that most people get high from opioids off of. Does it blocks a craving to do it? Yeah? It does. It blocks the cravings as well, because by blocking the receptors, it doesn't allow you to have those cravings. And A says, it seems like there's two cravings, Like there's a physical craving, like your physic your body is physically addicted, but there's also a mental craving of just wanting that feeling of escape. Absolutely does it block the mental craving as well, I would think so, but you know, some of that maybe it is just kind of like a mental thing in its own. Yeah. You know, for me, it was more of me wanting to stop anyway, and the hardest part at that moment was more of the physical addiction and you know, not not wanting to go through the pain of the withdrawals and the things of that nature. Part there's the boxing or subplicate like, there is a part of it that definitely stops your the mental craving as well, you know. So. Yeah, So when I got back from tour, or when I ran into Shanti, I had, at that moment in time, had been like six months clean or seven months clean, probably the longest I had had been clean since I had started taking opioids. And you know, I knew that, you know, when we started talking, she was she asked me if I would be open to share my story, and I know that, you know, a person like myself in the position that I was in, especially when no one, no one was aware of my addictions or my issues and that and with that, you know, me sharing my story could help someone else out. So yeah, you know, she offered and gave me the platform to speak on it, and you know I was more than happy to do. So. Yeah, how prevalent are opioids in Atlanta? Just like in your circles? Like I mean, we about people drinking lean all the time, we see people holding styrofoam cups. But how prevalent actually is it? How big of a problem is it. It's very It's it's like common. I mean those were everywhere. I mean I was even what happened when I got back on I mean, you know, I was able to stay clean in those early months because the world was shut down, and you know, I wasn't outside or I wasn't I wasn't in places where I could get them. But as soon as kind of like things started to open back up, or I was you know, out and about in Atlanta, and Atlanta was somewhere that was open a little more earlier than most places. You know, I ran into you know, people who were selling them or where I could I could get them just that easy again, and you know, or just even in regular circles of studio sessions and you know, you know, people pop pills. It's like it's it's it's a common thing, you know. So will talk about addiction, like, do you feel like, now that you've been through what you've been through and you have more education behind it, do you want to reach out to people and help somebody who who you see might be dealing with addiction? Absolutely, I mean definitely, because I know how easy it is, like, you know, for it to become a problem, you know, and yeah, you know, it's it's scary. It's the scariest part and the most dangerous part is that, like it was a five six thousand dollars a month habit I had. Wow, I was spending close to six figures a year on opioids, and like I was in a position where I could afford the type of habbit of doing that. The average person can't do that and the next step after opioids or not being able to afford consistent purchosets and heroin, you know what I'm saying. And you know that the rich person or if you watch shows like Dope Sick or the new Netflix series Paint Killer, Like the more education I got about you know, just the opioid crisis and understanding like it's so easy to see how people can fall into these traps, you know what I mean, and not even not even be aware of it, you know, because when I started out, I started out taking a five milligram percocet, and it was this feeling of euphoria. And then once you take that for a period of time, it doesn't do anything. So then I have to take three of those, and the next thing you know, I'm taking one hundred and twenty milligrams, you know, to feel that that feeling and throughout the whole day, like you would just I would that it got to that point and it happened. I would wake up, I would take a thirty, Then an afternoon I would take a thirty, and then at night I would take three thirties and a fifteen or something to go to sleep. Did it affect your career in a negative way? It seems, because didn't you do Tyler's album during that time period? You know, I was able to really like I did. I mean, you know, there was a time when I was calling myself like a functional junkie, like not the tour I did last year but the tour I did in twenty ninth being in twenty nineteen, you know, I was on percocets constantly, but I would do them during the time, like in between when I would have to work or I would you know, I was working out every day and working and then you know, still taking perk. So I think I was I was able to hide it for the most part. Like it had more of a negative effect on my life, more so than it did my career. You know, take your personal life. Yeah, more of my personal life than so much my career. Yeah. I imagine it can make you sort of withdraw from people emotionally. Yeah, it definitely does that. And your vision and you know doesn't you don't always make the best logical decisions on themselves, you know, it's just it's just not good. They're just terrible. Now that you've had a little bit of distance from it, what do you do to stay resilient? What do you do to stay clean? I look forward to the twenty second of every month because it's it's another monthly anniversary of my sobriety. I hit a year on July twenty second, So now thank you. When I was just thirteen months and you know, I get more fulfillment and enjoyment of the longevity of dying clean and sober that I do from wanting to take a Purgas set and never wanting to go back to that. You know, it's not worth it. Do you continue to take some sort of medication. Yeah, there's a there's a I take a shot. It's called a Subplgate shot, which I take monthly, and that definitely is supposed to help with, you know, cravings or even feeling the effects of an obioid. You know, I remember a time recently, or a couple of times recently, where they've been right in my face, you know, around and I had no desire to engage or indulge, and I was extremely proud of myself for that. We have to take another quick break and then we'll come back with more from Leo Rose and DJ Drama. We're back with the rest of Leo Rose's conversation with DJ Drama. So I wanted to ask you a little bit about your background. What was your your home life like, like early childhood, Like, what do you remember about the house she grew up in? Was it a house filled with music? Were your parents into music? Yeah? So I grew up between my mother and my father. Day split up when I was around two, and I spent like going out of times between both households. But my dad was a huge duop fan and he had a large record collection. I remember my mom had a lot of a lot of records too, and they definitely both played a lot of music within the household and my dad, my dad also listened to a lot of jazz. Obama listened to a lot of jazz and a lot of early eighties R and B, seventies R and B. And you know, I just remember, you know, being introduced to hip hop and at an early age, you know, having a keen love for it, but even overall, even just a keme up for music like I you know, I grew up as listening to Big Daddy Kane and Guns and Roses Kras one Amatallica. Did you ever feel like because being mixed race, your your dad is black, your mom is white, did you ever have a period where you felt like you had to sort of pick a side. Yeah, I mean as a young child, you know, I definitely had some identity issues, you know, definitely being so fair skinned or light skinned, you know, and my father always instilled in me, like about my blackness, and you know, at a young age, it was kind of confusing because it was like it would tell me that I'm black, and I'm like, whoa, Okay, but my mom's white and you know, just I would always get questions a lot, like about what I what I was, or you know, how to how to identify myself. So you know, it would go from me saying I'm black to me saying I'm mixed, or me having to explain to people or what have you, or you know, being fair skinned but having you know, certain features like big lips or curly hair, and you know, just like growing up in I guess the eighties and the nineties in that time, Like they're definitely worth some some times of confusion or trying to you know, who identify with more or picking aside or things like that, or you know friend groups and you know, just school and you know things like that. Yeah, how did your parents meet? They met because they both were very active in like conscious and liberal political movements, so they met kind of both working around civil rights and to late seventies. Cool. Yeah, Philadelphia seems like a very politically active city. Definitely yes, Okay. So in addition to every thing that you've built with the mixtapes, with you know, with your podcast, with the albums you've released, you also have now a label imprint called Generation Now, and you've signed two of the most now successful hip hop artists, Little Uzi vert Jack Harlowe and they're really living up to the name of the imprint. Yeah, just talk about how you found them or what it was about them that you knew that you wanted to sign them. A lot of it was their conviction upon meeting them, their own desire to be great, to be stars, to be you know, the best of the best. You know, they both kind of in a sense like when against the grain. You know, that's something that you know, I've always been keen of. Like even if you look at my story about you know, this kid from Philly, you moved to Atlanta and dominated, you know, Southern mixtape scene, like you know, a little Oozy wasn't the norm of what people were used to have artists of what Philadelphia artists sound like, right, Yeah, and you know that definitely attracted us to him. But how did you know he would have longevity? Like when you were starting to talk to him and hear his music, Like, how did you know that he's someone who's worth investing long term in? I mean, to be honest, I don't. I don't know if you ever really do you know. I mean, it's like it's it's the music business. I mean, it's it's all at gamble, you know. I mean I definitely saw the talent in him. You know, I saw his Again, It's it's the conviction, like he knew he was a rock star, and you know, he was always very confident of like how dope his ship was or you know Jack is. You know, there's videos of Jack rapping at twelve thirteen. Like I stand behind his ability to want to be great and to one to have longevity and to you know, wanting to be a great performer and you know, which he wasn't always, but you know, I mean again, it was a sponge that you know we watched like soak it up. And we're able to lend lend our shoulders to artists and bring the knowledge and you know, the years of legacy that we have and to help them for their careers. When you and Lake and Cannon are talking about signing Jack Harlowe to the generation now that becomes a huge co sign for Jack and that can change the trajectory of his career. Right, What was it about him that made you confident? I just was always impressed of how comfortable in his own skinny was and like it's not age of you know, of hip hop or you know we we we we had a fond interest in the same films and movies and you know, watching him rap like you know, lyric lyrically, and like what he in the conversations I had with him of what he where he wanted to be, and you know, where he wanted to go as an artist, like he wanted to be one of the greats, and like, you know, that was enough for me. That was like here's this kid from Louisville, Kentucky that looks like Napoleon Dynamite that you know, like I was going to shock the world. So you know again, I just think like I've always found a lot of success and someone kind of like going against the grain. And I remember having conversations with the label and you know, some people being a little skeptical about it as signing a white artist, and I was like, look, it's not not the year two thousand anymore like them is not the only one that can exist. Like, you know, just sit back and watch what we do. You know, we did it again. Yeah, you guys have had tremendous success. Congratulations on Thank you on all the success. What are you working on now? Like, what's next? I know you're working on probably a million things. I am. I'm in the process of finishing up a book deal who memoir, potentially a memoir stay tuned. Generation Now. We have our management company, so we now have a little Tyler, Ruby Rose, Mariah, the scientists on Generation Now management. We're in a process of signing some new artists, one of them being this artist named Kai Cash and another one that will announce very soon. I'm finishing up this tour with Snoop and Whizz and I'm gonna go right and to start working on a new album and then we all we're working on some film projects as well. How are you sleeping now? Like a baby, I just sleep peacefully. You know, I'm at a space and where you know, life is amazing. I get up, I work out, and you know, my day is pretty fulfilled. If it's a normal average day for my ass to bedbou even thirty that's great. Thank you so much Drama for doing this. They appreciate you so much, and I'm so proud of you. So good to be connected again. No, for sure, it's great to talk to you after all this time. Thanks the DJ Drama for being so open about its addiction and recovery. We wish him continued success and personally, I look forward to the return of the greatest mixtape series of all time with the dedication seven. Whenever that drops. You can hear all of our favorite official DJ Drama tracks on the playlist at broken Record podcast dot com. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Broken Record Podcast, where you can find all of our new episodes. You can follow us on Twitter at broken Record. Broken Record is produced with helpful Lea Rose, Jason Gambrell, Ben Holiday, and Eric sam Our. Editor is Sophie Crane. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you love this show and others from Pushkin, consider subscribing to Pushkin Plus. Pushkin Plus is a podcast subscription that offers bonus content an uninterrupted ad free listening for four ninety nine a month. Look for Pushkin Plus on Apple podcast subscriptions and if you like the show, please remember to share, rate, and review us on your podcast. App Our theme musics by Kenny beats On, Justin Chment