Multitalented turntablist DJ Spinz shares how he perfected his craft on the 1s and 2s and became a producer, creating hits with some of the top names in hip-hop.
Tell us about yourself, where you’re from and how you got into the game.
[I’m] DJ Spinz by way of Augusta, Georgia, [and] I’ve been in Atlanta since 2007. My uncle and grandmother owned a nightclub in Augusta, and I was kind of born into that. So, I was always around the club atmosphere or music and people having a good time. That sparked me into wanting to become a DJ, and [I] pursued it at an early age and kept going [with] it. I didn’t really look back after that.
How did you connect with people and get your name out there?
I moved as soon as I graduated high school [because] my mom [wanted me to] go to college. I got into the Art Institute [of Atlanta] in the fall of ’07. At the time, mixtapes were prevalent, so in the middle of January, I had a mixtape out. I knew people just from networking on the internet, and one of the people that I knew was DJ Scream. I’m very thankful for him to this day. He was my guide into the market, and he put me in some amazing positions.
Who are some artists you’ve worked with, and how did you get into production?
I’ve done EDM tours with Flosstradamus and Virgil [Abloh]. I was with Cyhi the Prynce and most recently an international tour with Future. I wanted to just expand and learn something else, so I started playing around, just trying to make beats, and it was a natural progression. By being at the club, a lot of artists who came to be stars would come into the club [like] Soulja Boy, … Waka [Flocka], Rich Kids and Travis Porter. [DJ Scream] took me to the studio with Gorilla Zoe. That was the first person to really just do a song on my beat, like a full song. Then after that, he took me to Tity Boi [2 Chainz]. Me and Travis Porter, being the same age, we locked in. We recorded some songs. They turned out to be “Go Shorty Go” and “Get Naked.”
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