Mile High: DJ Whoo Kid
Get familiar as we tag along with the art loving, globe-trotting media mogul and CY guest contributor DJ Whoo Kid.
STORY BY ELLAY
Whoo Kid’s best known for being one of hip hop’s mixtape kings and the official DJ for 50 Cent’s G-Unit label. These days he’s busy building a media empire with his video website RadioPlanet.tv and giving Ryan Seacrest a run for his money with his wildly popular Sirius Satellite show Hollywood Shuffle. His guests run the gamut from Twilight’s Rob Pattinson to Weird Al to Waka Flocka. He’s merging Hip Hop and Hollywood into his own global culture vehicle with plans to expand with TV projects and digital media.
Whoo Kid has successfully used traveling as a channel to promote his brand, soak up culture and hang out with some of his favorite artists. He reveals one of the benefits of running into American celebrities in other countries is a lowered guard and an instant sense of camaraderie. “Everyone hides overseas,” he reveals. “I had to go all the way to Bahrain to meet Michael Jackson!”
In 2006, while on tour with 50 Cent and G-Unit, the group narrowly missed the war in Israel, “we left a week before they bombed in Beirut,“ he recalls. But then other times, it’s been the music that brings people together. In 2007 the G-Unit crew made history by becoming the first high profile artists to perform in Kosovo, in front of over 20, 000 fans. “Everyone came together for the show and pretty much got back to fighting right after,” he says with a laugh.
Even after his tour of duty with G-Unit, he admits it took him a while to get comfortable with the international music scene. “UK music grew on me, it took 6 or 7 years of touring for me to ‘get it.’” With a slew of international mixtapes on the way, it’s safe to say he’s got it. He’s currently promoting the Russell Brand hosted Foreign Object with South London breakthrough artist Tinie Tempah and coming up is a project with the Asian American pop group Far East Movement. “I knew them from back in the day, I’ve been up on them and always been a supporter, “ he says of the “Like a G-6” group.
“Taking initiative” is one of Whoo Kid’s most of important words of advice, and taking the time to make international moves comes in a close second. He’s sees the success of Black Eyed Peas as an example of how traveling can make a world of difference in the career of an artist. “They were in America for years went overseas, made it and then came back, they’re huge”
A huge art fan, Whoo Kid makes sure to look out for his favorite artists while on the road. “I love Fernando Botero’s work,” he says. The Colombian figurative artist is most famous for his ‘fat sculptures” which can be found all over the world.
As our conversation winds down, Whoo Kid is blessed by a stranger from India with the message of “good relationships, good business and good love.” “It’s so ironic we were just talking about my time in India and Bangladesh,” he says.
With all this mileage it’s natural that he’s a card carrying member of The Mile High Club, right? “Might as well be,” he says, “everything on a plane except drugs.” Fair enough.
Keep in touch with DJ Whoo Kid on Twitter and stay tuned as he checks in with CY during his travels this summer.
Get familiar as we tag along with the art loving, globe-trotting media mogul and CY guest contributor DJ Whoo Kid.
Whoo Kid’s best known for being one of hip hop’s mixtape kings and the official DJ for 50 Cent’s G-Unit label. These days he’s busy building a media empire with his video website RadioPlanet.tv and giving Ryan Seacrest a run for his money with his wildly popular Sirius Satellite show Hollywood Shuffle. His guests run the gamut from Twilight’s Rob Pattinson to Weird Al to Waka Flocka. He’s merging Hip Hop and Hollywood into his own global culture vehicle with plans to expand with TV projects and digital media.
Whoo Kid has successfully used traveling as a channel to promote his brand, soak up culture and hang out with some of his favorite artists. He reveals one of the benefits of running into American celebrities in other countries is a lowered guard and an instant sense of camaraderie. “Everyone hides overseas,” he reveals. “I had to go all the way to Bahrain to meet Michael Jackson!”
In 2006, while on tour with 50 Cent and G-Unit, the group narrowly missed the war in Israel, “we left a week before they bombed in Beirut,“ he recalls. But then other times, it’s been the music that brings people together. In 2007 the G-Unit crew made history by becoming the first high profile artists to perform in Kosovo, in front of over 20, 000 fans. “Everyone came together for the show and pretty much got back to fighting right after,” he says with a laugh.
Even after his tour of duty with G-Unit, he admits it took him a while to get comfortable with the international music scene. “UK music grew on me, it took 6 or 7 years of touring for me to ‘get it.’” With a slew of international mixtapes on the way, it’s safe to say he’s got it. He’s currently promoting Foreign Object with South London breakthrough artist Tinie Tempah and coming up is a project with the Asian American pop group Far East Movement. “I knew them from back in the day, I’ve been up on them and always been a supporter, “ he says of the “Like a G-6” group.
“Taking initiative” is one of Whoo Kid’s most of important words of advice, and taking the time to make international moves comes in a close second. He’s sees the success of Black Eyed Peas as an example of how traveling can make a world of difference in the career of an artist. “They were in America for years went overseas, made it and then came back, they’re huge”
A huge art fan, Whoo Kid makes sure to look out for his favorite artists while on the road. “I love Fernando Botero’s work,” he says. The Colombian figurative artist is most famous for his ‘fat sculptures” which can be found all over the world.
As our conversation winds down, Whoo Kid is blessed by a stranger from India with the message of “good relationships, good business and good love.” “It’s so ironic we were just talking about my time in India and Bangladesh,” he says.
With all this mileage it’s natural that he’s a card carrying member of The Mile High Club, right? “Might as well be,” he says, “everything on a plane except drugs.” Fair enough.
Keep in touch with DJ Whoo Kid on Twitter and stay tuned as he checks in with CY during his travels this summer.
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