In 1999...

It was never my goal to make money from DJing. Honestly, I just wanted to get out these sounds and popular beats that for years my mom would hear me tap out on a table or incessantly beatbox, and let people know that I could make them party.

This is a picture of me DJing a party for the first time, but the dream started long before this. In 1999 I used money that I saved from odd jobs and bought my first pair of turntables, two Missy Elliott and Jay-Z vinyl records, and a mixer. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to me, the guy at the flea market from where I bought the equipment sold me belt-drive turntables which took about 5 seconds to rotate the record up to speed (insert sound: eeerrrRRTTT).

But it was hard to stop this determined fourteen year-old and I tried to use what I had to the best of my abilities. For years I practiced scratching, beatmatching, and filling song gaps with antiquated equipment and hoped that I would soon make myself known.

Fast-forward to 2003 - there was no use of my skills at parties, no one wanted to mentor a young kid who used old equipment, and it was still just me in my room, DJing with the same two vinyl records with the same gear. And, with college around the corner, chances were that the ounce of momentum I did have would soon fade.

But, I never gave up my dream.

next: The Journey