Interview- Celskiii: Wife…Mother…DJ

solprecision:

If true hip-hop has taught us anything, it’s this: your race…or gender…do not matter. What matters is the work you put in, the passion you have…and the love you have for your audience. I was first introduced to DJ Celskiii on DJ Qbert’s skratch academy. I remember being impressed by what I saw already…then to hear that she’s a wife AND a mother had me like “whoa…where in the world did she get the time to learn all that?!” I was definitely honored to have some time to interview her on a few subjects.

first question, how long have you been DJ’ing, and what was your initial inspiration?

I started in 97. I bought my first tables. I always wanted to dj since I was a kid but was able to once I got my first job and saved up. I was inspired by apollo, Qbert, Mixmastermike and all the ISPs.

ok, as we all know, originally the combo was a DJ with an MC. With the MC’s getting most of the shine nowadays, what do you do as a DJ to stand out?

Well I don’t try to stand out but work on my skills and make sure I’m well rounded. So besides mixing, I skratch, juggle, trick mix, and do production. Flavor makes a dj stand out. I try to put flava in when I’m doin my thing.

word, which skill was the hardest for you?

Jugglin! Still workin on it cause I wanna do dmcs and make sure my skills are on point.

mannnnn i still cant juggle worth nothing haha

Well its never to late to learn :)

very true, a great attitude to have. With the new technology available for DJ’s, how important do you feel it is for newer DJ’s to have an awareness of how past DJ’s learned?

With anything we do, or what we are about—its important to do the research and learn how we got here. I think its wack when people don’t wanna learn. If your passionate bout something, wouldn’t it be only natural to wanna learn as much as possible bout it right?

Yea i feel the same way. On the other hand you have some old school heads that want nothing to do with the new tech, where do you think a DJ’s balance should be between the old school and the new school?

I think its important to get with the program, haha! I mean you can’t knock technology.

yea, seems like a lot more old school heads are realizing the usefulness of it.

Its like when I was 17 and vestax was hard on the scene, older djs would knock it cause of the smooth ass faders since they got started on some stiff mixers. Anyway, its good to be open to technology and use both old with new. I still prefer using records, love the analog sound and vibrations. But I use serato and love the convenience it gives us esp. when travelling!

yea, i’ve only been DJ’ing a year but i spent that year practicing on vinyl, now i’m learning serato.

Serato’s dope, but the experience and training you get when u look for records is an educatiuon in itself that so many djs that just wanna use serato miss out on! Its all good tho, more records for me! :)

Word, as much as i like serato nothing replaces the joy of digging.

Yes for real, u can do both—dig and upload those babies on your computer.

Ok, somewhat personal question and correct me if i say this wrong. As a wife, mother & student, how do you balance everything out?

Having a family, being a student, and being a DJ is a great juggling act. But I can’t do one w/o the other! Djing is soo important for me esp. Now cause its what keeps me sane. :-) Plus you can’t lose who you are when you have a family! I still gotta do me.

That’s cool that you say that cause a lot of people think that it’s impossible when you’re in that kind of a situation.

I think with anything you do in life, it will be how you make it out to be. And since my husband is Hiphop too, he’s a dj—we’re on the same page and wanna make sure we raise our son with creativity as a priority.

Word, ok last one, What have been some of your most memorable moments as a DJ?

Djing for KRS-One durin 2004-05, performing for Qberts 4 Masters show at DNA lounge with Grand wizard Theodore, DJ Flare, QbertN and Jazzy Jeff in 05, and battling at DMC USA teams this summer..and doin all this with my homegirl, DJ-partner-in-crime Deeandroid! :-) So many dope memories and more memories to make…we ain’t done! Oh one more, doin a tribute to D-Styles at Mighty 4! It was an honor to do that for him. He’s a big inspiration.

We had to cut this short after that but I want to give a huge thank you to Celskiii. This was my first time interviewing somebody and it was an honor for me, and I definitely appreciate her time. If you’re in the bay area you can catch her, Deeandroid, and many more at Skratchpad every 1st & 3rd Tuesday at The Cellar in San Francisco.

-DaiKatamy

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