DJ Reese is thankful for the current perspective he has.
The official DJ of Lil Durk and Tink has seen a lot during his time in the music industry. Meanwhile, in his life, his off-stage priorities changed to focus on a more faith-centered way of living.
In May, after Lil Durk performed in front of a raucous Atlanta crowd, DJ Reese stopped by rolling out to discuss it.
The two hottest rappers right now are arguably Lil Baby and Lil Durk. How is that experience of being the DJ of the hottest artist right now?
It’s great. It was great when they both went on tour together. You could see it growing and crazy. Deejaying for Durk is definitely different from the beginning days. Now, it’s like super crazy.
When did you first get interested in music?
Early. My mother was a DJ, so we always had DJ equipment in the house and music. From an early time, I can remember when I was like 9 or 10, breaking my mother’s needles and things like that, blaming it on my sister. Then by the time I was 11, my mother fully taught me how to DJ. At 11, I was doing my own parties in the basement. My mother was waking me up in the middle of the night to DJ for her friends, that kind of thing. It’s just always been in my life. I’ve been off and on with it. In my teenage years, my early 20 years, I was, involved in the streets and things of that nature, so I wasn’t taking it seriously. Then, I took it seriously in 2000. I prayed to God to make me do something else because I’m not going to do it on my own. The girl I was dating at the time bought me some turntables because she knew I liked to DJ and because I would come in and listen to the DJ every night. And then as I got back into it, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
What has your relationship with God been like?
It’s been great. I tell people all the time, he has never, and when I say, never never let me down. Everything I pray for comes. It may not come right when I want it, but it’ll be there. That’s an amazing thing. Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people and it’s like I’m feeling real tripped out right now even thinking about it. Like I pray for days and then it shows up. It just happens. Whatever it is, man, I don’t know how to explain that. I don’t know how, I believed it, [it’s that] simple. I believe in God, and I believe in if we pray and do right by people, [they’ll] do right by us.
Do you ever battle doing your job while being a faithful servant of the Lord?
I look at music as art. As long as I look at it that way, I know how to differentiate.
