DJ GI JOE





Bio

It has taken DJ GI Joe quite a few years to find himself where he is today. He has toured the world and rocked for crowds of thousands of people on four continents. He has made his name known not only as a DJ but as a bboy as well, doing his best to keep hip hop alive and thriving. It’s obvious that hip hop is a large force behind his life, but what many may not know is that his fascination with music almost prevented him from being able to do what he loved before he even realized how much he loved it.

Born in Manhattan, DJ GI Joe grew up in Alphabet City at Albizu Campos Plaza on 12th St. and Avenue C. One of DJ GI Joe’s earliest memories there is trying to reach for a crate of his mother’s records that was sitting on a table nearby. Joe fell off the chair he was standing on and broke his arm. He was rushed to a hospital. Because the break was so severe, doctors recommended his arm be amputated. However, his grandmother was not about to let her grandson’s arm get cut off, and ordered that he be taken to a different hospital. Fortunately, they were able to repair his arm via surgery. To this day, a scar remains – a chilling reminder of how different his life could have been.

Although it’s still a mystery as to what records were in that crate, Joe was definitely exposed to Latin American music of all genres at a very early age while growing up in a Puerto Rican home with his grandparents. Rap was just starting to hit the scene in the 80’s, so he listened to a lot of it on the radio, but his love for rap and hip hop really grew when he started watching Def Comedy Jam, which featured Kid Capri as a DJ. At the end of each episode, Kid Capri would DJ and a bunch of people would be dancing to what he was playing. This proved to be a major inspiration for Joe, and he started to realize that he wanted to dance and be a DJ himself.

The dancing part of his dream came first, because it proved to be more affordable. DJ equipment was expensive, and money wasn’t coming easily, so that would have to wait. And while Joe was adjusting his goals and starting out his career as a bboy, his family was ready for some change as well. Around 1989, his mother, who was pregnant with Joe’s little sister, wanted to get away from the drugs and negativity in Alphabet City and move the family to a better place. Joe’s family relocated to Chelsea, Massachusetts, which at the time was one of the poorest cities in the state. Chelsea wasn’t much better than New York City, just different. Over time, Joe lived not only in Chelsea but in other towns such as Salem and Lynn as well. In Massachusetts, Joe started breaking. Eventually, he became known for his dancing locally. When he would show up at The Point in Salem people knew him as “Joey the Breakdancer”. Being a DJ was still out of reach financially. That is, until a man named Tito came into the picture.

A friend of Joe’s knew a guy named Tito, and ended up introducing them to each other one day. Even though Joe didn’t know Tito well, he decided to show up at Tito’s crib randomly one afternoon. Tito may not have known Joe from any other kid on the street, but welcomed him and let him try out his turntables. That’s when DJ’ing really started for Joe. Soon after, when he was about 15 years old, his mother bought him his first set of turntables, some speakers, and some cassette players. The equipment was pretty minimal, but he did all he could with it and slowly began to build up his skills. Before he knew it he was the hood DJ of sorts in Salem, and was DJ’ing house parties for everyone around the way.

Over the years, Joe worked a lot of random jobs (that included Little Caesars and a four hour stint at Wendy’s) while DJ’ing on the side, and was saving up money to slowly upgrade his DJ equipment. Things seemed to be working out until he got expelled from high school for carrying a knife and ultimately ended up in boot camp. After he got out, he began a job working at a hotel, where he would meet a DJ who sold him his first set of Technics 1200’s.

Once again, though, DJ’ing would end up on the back burner of Joe’s life. Joe’s son, who many know as Sick Vic, was born in January 1998, and soon after Vic’s birth, Joe moved back to NY. While there, Joe linked up with Full Circle, a breaking crew created by Quick Step and Rockafella. Joe began doing shows with them as a bboy and gained popularity more so for his bboying than his DJ’ing. The situation in New York wasn’t working out once again, and Joe returned to Massachusetts, although not before meeting a guy named DP One. Even though he was back in Massachusetts doing the job and normal life thing, Joe remained in contact with DP One and made frequent trips back and forth from NY to Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, he started rolling with a dance company called Phunk Phenomenon, doing shows and eventually teaching breaking in their studio. This kept him busy during his free time, but the desire to move back to NY was on Joe’s brain. Eventually, DP One found himself looking for a roommate, and Joe took that opportunity to relocate back to NY. Joe built with DP One, linked up with his crew, Turntable Anihilists, and soon began DJ’ing and making mixtapes with them.

While DJ GI Joe was becoming well known as a DJ around NYC with DP One, he was also becoming even more well-known as a bboy. He was presented with the opportunity to tour the country with a crew of dancers. Joe soon found himself opening shows for such notable names as Kanye West, John Legend, and more. Although things looked like they were going well on the surface, it was a different story behind the scenes. Joe and the other dancers were being overworked and underpaid, and the stressful environment began to bring other problems to the forefront. While on tour during a stop in Mississippi, Joe had to be rushed to the hospital. It was then that Joe learned that he had a heart problem, and it has impacted his career as a bboy ever since. The stop in Mississippi was a turning point in Joe’s career. DJ’ing was physically less exhausting, so to maintain his health he decided to focus his time and energy on his career as a DJ.

DP One played a huge role in helping Joe network throughout the NYC hip hop scene, and eventually the two of them were opening for people like Slick Rick as a DJ “team” of sorts. The DJ’ing duo were putting out mixtapes and making sure the city knew who they were. Soon, however, someone was about to learn Joe’s name that would solidify his career as a DJ.

Word on the street was that a rapper named Immortal Technique was on a search for a DJ. DP One, staying true to form helping Joe out with networking, got Joe in touch with Tech. Just like anybody else looking for a job in the music business, Joe sent Tech a “demo” of sorts, which was really some footage from a DVD entitled “Kings of New York” in which Joe was featured. The clip showed Joe doing some headspins and a minute or two of him doing his thing on the turntables. It wasn’t a long clip, but it was enough to catch Technique’s eye. Tech invited Joe to be his DJ at a show in New York that featured Tech, Styles P, Saigon, and Hasan Salaam. Soon after, Joe found himself DJ’ing the release party for Akir’s “Legacy” album, and eventually Technique decided to keep Joe as his DJ and take him on tour.

The first tour Joe did with Immortal Technique was the Invasion Tour in 2006, the first tour Joe ever did as a DJ only, and not a bboy as well. On this tour, Joe realized he could make it as a DJ. He could dance for fun now, instead of as a job. This was a shock to some of the people Joe used to roll with, since a lot of people that knew him from his dancing had no idea he could DJ at all. When Joe started backing Tech at shows as a DJ, people began to take notice. The tour’s first show had an audience of about 6,000 people. That was “show and prove” time for the emerging DJ, but the shows afterward became easier and easier. Joe had shown his skills and successfully proven himself, and more tours with Technique soon followed.

Touring with Immortal Technique helped Joe immensely in building his stage presence and character, and as most people who have seen Immortal Technique live will tell you, Joe’s presence on stage is undeniable. The tours only helped Joe’s reputation grow, and he has since done shows as a DJ for a number of other artists, including Chino XL, Swave Sevah, Poison Pen, Diabolic, Akir, Da Circle, J Arch, as well as tours featuring the QN5 collective and Redman. He has performed in various countries across the world including Morocco, Colombia, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, and more. And although this may seem like an improbable list of accomplishments for that young kid from Alphabet City who was falling off of chairs to dig through some record crates, DJ GI Joe’s story is far from over.





Buy merch here: http://www.djgijoelive.com/category/store

Links:

http://djgijoelive.com
http://www.myspace.com/djgijoe
http://www.youtube.com/djgijoe
http://twitter.com/djgijoe

Did they ever retry DJ GI Joe for that bullshit charge over the summer the ended w/ a hung jury?

good topic i actually have never heard about dj GI JOE until now...thanks!

^ same. thanks for the info Lor3nzO. he sounds like a real good dj... hella long bio, lol.

Wow Huge Ass Dead Snake LOL

Here Is The Video That GIF Came From

An Iranian Barber Wrote:Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes.

^ Strong Argument Right Up Until The Last 3 Words LOL ^

This guy is THE MAN. He lives in the Boston area and works at a Guitar Center in Danvers. I met him once and he is a pretty cool guy, and he recognized me because I was playng Dance with the Devil on the piano