Got the chance to speak with Vancouver’s DJ Hustle about music, nightlife, his new mixtape, The “It’s All Good” Mixtape, and a bit of the past, present, and future for him and Phreshvibe and High Society.

Your first official time spinning was at Cherry Bay in Vancouver 3 years ago. What have you learned since then… about the industry, the job, the music, and the nightlife scene?
Over the past few years I’ve realized the importance of networking and keeping a good relationship with contacts. I’ve learned to surround myself with good people who make good moves. To get what you want, you have to hustle hard, but be patient. When it comes to throwing parties, you’re only as good as your last party so always find ways to outdo yourselves. In regards to DJing and the music itself, I always try to enjoy myself. If I feel good, the party people will feed off of me. Also, creativity and quality go a long way….

A lot of people would agree: DJ Hustle’s got a GOOD ear. Since you are not exclusive to spinning at clubs, let’s do something real quick.
I’ll blurt out an event and you tell me one of the first songs that comes to mind that you would play:
Fashion show: Depending on the style of the fashion show, something obscure but sexy
Start of the party: Next – Too Close
High school dance: Anything currently Top 40
Summer BBQ: D’Angelo – I Found My Smile Again
Chilling at the beach: Notorious B.I.G. – One More Chance (Remix)
Wedding: Al Green – Let’s Stay Together
In your car: Keni Burke – Risin’ To The Top

HAHA thanks! Just one more. What do you play when you see there’s no one really on the dance floor? What usually gets the girls yelling and dragging each other to dance (and the guys following after them)? You know what I mean. The kind that gets them sayin “OMG! I LOVE this song!”
I always focus on getting girls to fill up the dance floor so I usually play either some 90’s R&B or a song that people currently like. My favorite reaction that I get from people is when they hear something in the club that they grew up listening to and they recite the lyrics word for word. It feels as good to me as it does them…. When I started off DJing in clubs, I usually just did early opening sets, so spinning for the transition from an empty dance floor to a hype party is always pretty fun.

After having attended a few SoPhresh Saturdays at The Wild Coyote and really digging “The Old School Happy Hour” I was expecting those kind of tracks on your mixtape. Instead, I got a mix of 90s, classics, present-day…It’s a really refreshing, chill sound. How would you describe it?
A chillin, laid-back vibe of classic and soulful hip-hop. It’s many of my favorite 90’s hip hop songs remixed with “boom-bap”, soul and jazz influences. About 85% of it is old school while the other 15% is the newer artists I enjoy listening to like Drake, Little Brother and Slakah The Beatchild. Since I made this mixtape in the beginning of the summer, I wanted to make something for everyone to bump at their BBQs, parties or cruising in their ride. The response so far has been dope and humbling. If you don’t have it, get it!

Quality takes time. How long did this mixtape take you?
About one week of 8 or 10 hours a day, locked up in my little studio. I did a lot of remixing, so that took up a majority of the time. Shout outs to Richie McFly for his work on the imaging and hosting the tape as well…

40 tracks and tonsss of great songs. What are you going to use on your next mix tape?! (Will there be another?)
My next mix tape will have the same feel-good vibe as the last but with R&B and neo-soul. I’ll be focusing on mixing 90’s R&B artists like Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo with newer artists like Musiq Soulchild, Alicia Keys and the Avila Brothers. I want it to be original so I’ll be remixing a bunch of the songs and hopefully have beats from some producers I know as well as myself. I know that a lot of people love hearing all the old school stuff, it’s just a matter of getting to them.

You seem to have made yourself at home at ‘Yote with the promoters and other deejays. Phreshvibe’s SoPhresh Saturdays are big, and now, it looks like y’all expanding on that. “High Society: Coming Soon.” Care to elaborate?
High Society is a network of young professionals who are involved in a range of industries in Vancouver. Whether it be music, fashion, design, photography or culinary arts, we are all making moves throughout the city . The purpose of High Society is to improve the quality of our culture and to inspire the generation after us. Most of us are in our early to mid-20’s so we are all striving for that higher standard of living.

You are one busy guy. What can our readers keep their ears open for? What’s in the future for you, Phreshvibe and High Society?
You can catch me spinning at clubs and events all over Vancouver, put on by Phreshvibe and High Society. Keep your ears open for mix tapes with DJ Juice, Richie McFly and Brendan Butter, as well as an album with the GhettoTek. My next endeavor in my music career is production so hopefully that works out for me!

For more info on DJ HUSTLE check these sites out:
www.phreshvibe.com
www.hslifestyle.com
www.facebook.com/hustlemusic
www.twitter.com/djhustlemusic

HUSTLE MUSIC DOWNLOAD
ONE TRACK VERSION (FOR IPODS):
TRACKED OUT VERSION (FOR CDs):