DJ SmashKash knows all about preparation meeting opportunity. He’s still getting over jet lag from hosting Akon‘s new club JEWEL, in the Dominican Republic, where he will revisit once a month for his own DJ set. Though his road may have taken a few twists and turns along the way, his hard work and versatility brought him back to what he loved the most — the music.
Starting off in the music scene in the early ’90s as a DJ, Kash snagged a brief assistant position with Sean “Diddy” Combs, before finding stability as a financial specialist. With the crash of the financial market in 2008, DJ SmashKash returned to Atlanta’s music scene, reunited with Akon, and took their relationship to another level. After playing an influential role in the radio and musical success of the Konvict brand in a matter of two years, Akon only felt it right to offer DJ Kash a contract to join Lady Gaga on KonLive Distribution as the official KonLive DJ for Dance Music.
On Diddy‘s work ethic
I didn’t realize that Puff is a machine; he’s not human. He will work literally 24 hours a day. For the first couple of weeks that I was in NY, I probably had a total of 8 hours of sleep. He’s so busy. It was a matter of keeping up with his work ethic.
On Akon
He’s always been one of the most humble people I’ve ever met in the industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re valet or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, he treats everyone with the same respect and a level of dignity that people deserve.
I’ve never seen someone go so hard in the studio as he does. He’s a musical genius when it comes to creating verses. One minute he’s doing a hip-hop record then an r&b record, to a reggae record, an Indian record, to a dance record, I mean he’s amazing. There are no other words to describe how talented he is. It wasn’t until later that I found out he was Muslim like myself, so we connected on that.
Career/Life Advice
Perfect your craft, know about your craft and have a passion for it and don’t give up. They say if you love what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life and I’m definitely a testimony to that. I don’t feel like I’m working. You never know how long it’s going to take or how close you are to achieving greatness. Don’t ever give up.
On Konlive
It’s absolutely a huge honor. I am signed to the same label that Lady Gaga is signed to. That in itself is an honor.
