Published October 2000 

DJ MASTERMIND

Doing Double Duty

Mastermind has always dreamed of exposing new music to the masses both American and Canadian hip hop. That dream carried him from his own campus radio show over 13 years ago at York University's CHRY 105.5 FM to Energy 108 where he now hosts The Mastermind Street
Jam, Canada's first urban mix show on commercial radio.

Later this month, he will release a highly anticipated mix-CD as a recording artist on Virgin Music Canada. While it may be easy to think of Canadians as finally catching up with their American counterparts on the mix-tape-cum-mix CD releases, Mastermind has something else up his sleeves. The CD called Mastermind Presents Volume 50: Street Legal features some of the top ciphers from both sides of the border. WORD caught up with him to talk about doing double duty.

WORD: Your CD is another step on that ladder that you've been climbing since 1987, Where do you see this going?
MASTERMIND: It's weird because I never thought of getting a record deal. My whole thing is that I wanted to help other people get record deals. I wanted to be that guy that got a demo tape from a kid in Scarborough and played it and people loved it and I played it so much that record labels took notice and say hey we need to sign this guy.

WORD: But it can be argued that you've been that guy in some ways.
MASTERMIND: In certain cases, I am. Choclair, and Kardi and Saukrates, I helped in all their careers--whether I was instrumental, who knows. Those are the things I anticipated. So when this opportunity came up I was kinda shock. I'm still trying to get use to it--going to the Much Music Award and being there as an artist as oppose to being there as an industry person. I don't consider myself an artist. An artist usually creates music. I'm creating a concept.

WORD: Can you describe the concept?
MASTERMIND: Years ago I had an idea of doing collaboration of American and Canadian artists. I first made it happen when I was working at Saukrates label, back in `95, `96. I helped to hook them up with a bunch of American artists. And I said that if I get a chance to make an album I wanted to take the cream of the crop in Canada and wanted to team them up with the cream of the crop in the U.S. and kinda show the world that `hey we definitely have what it takes to hang production-wise and artist-wise.' That's what I'm doing. Make songs that you go `wow! I never knew that the two would get together.'

WORD: How do you react to comparisons between yours, DJ Serious and Baby Blue's new CD releases?
MASTERMIND: I really don't believe there is a comparison. I don't even think there is an American equivalent. With DJ Clue, his first album was all new material. Tony Touch is all new material; Flex's new album is all new material. The only one would be Flex's original which was 60 Minutes of Funk which was kind of a mix of established stuff. We're also bringing some integrity to it in terms of the orginal material we're putting on.

WORD: How thas he Canadian hip hop scene has changed since the mid to late Eighties.
MASTERMIND: I've seen greater acceptance but there is still a long way to go. Back in `89 we had Maestro, Dream Warriors and Michee doing their thing. As of late the Americans are really starting to take notice of Toronto. With Kardinal getting signed, Saukrates getting signed, Koas to American deals you know that back in the old days that's what everybody dreamed about. The independent scene is pretty encouraging. It's hard, but if you make good enough music it will be heard.

WORD : We all know that a 24 hour a day urban radio station in the form of Milestone radio will be here next year. What do you think it means to Torontonians?
MASTERMIND: I believe that there is an audience that would like to hear their favourite pop urban records like Jay-Z and Shine and DMX without having to sit through and N Sync song.

WORD: You've won a couple of awards for your radio show, is there a moment or something that you are proudest of?
MASTERMIND: Awards are great, making money is great and having a plaque from a label is cool but the one thing that meant the most to me was when Energy took my show off the air back in Oct and my audience spoke up .They weren't having it.

WORD: How did they speak out?
MASTERMIND: E-mails, phone calls, internet press. It was unbelieveable the amount of angry response it generated for taking me off the air. From an industry standpoint, the record labels spoke up, the audience its self spoke up, there was petitions, it got into American e-mail newletters. It was a wild thing. But when all that came together and they put the show back that meant more to me than anything.