I had the chance to catch up with 93.9 FM WKYS’s DJ Gemini at an undisclosed fast food restaurant location in District right before his live broadcast from Ibiza, one of the hottest clubs in the DMV. For those in the know, KYS is one of the top 10 radio markets for urban/hip hop/R& B music in the country. Along with his colleagues, Gemini is a large part of the success.

During our conversation, he opened up to me about the current state of deejaying, fake deejays, the real job of the radio deejay, love and hate in the DMV, his thoughts on Wale and other rising artists, Lil Wayne, and fashion.

Trey P: Who are you and how long have you been doing this?

Gemini: I’m DJ Gemini and I’ve been deejaying for about 30 years. My dad was actually a deejay, and he also owns a music store. I was kind of born into it.

Trey P: What’s the name of the music store he owns?

Gemini: It’s called Sound of Maryland in Oxon Hill, Maryland. He’s originally from Baltimore where he ran Sound of Baltimore.

Growing up in Baltimore you kind of want to be a deejay. I know I did. In DC, everybody grows up with the go-go bands. I put out a Baltimore Club records years ago. I was definitely heavy into Baltimore Club. I’ve got all the Unruly Records. I couldn’t wait to save my lunch money, get on the bus, go down to Howard Street, and go to the music store.

Trey P: But you took the path of a radio deejay instead of staying in the clubs?

Gemini: I started off in the clubs. I really didn’t get into the clubs until I came to DC. Like I said, my dad owns a music store and some guy who works for Liaison Records named DJ Mike Scott used to deejay at the Ritz, a legendary club here. So the Ritz was one of the only clubs in America outside Baltimore that would have Baltimore Club music. The Ritz had like ten rooms. They had a reggae room, three hip hop rooms, a Baltimore Club room…so their thing was “we got to get a DJ from Baltimore.” That was kind of how I got lucky out here. This was twelve years ago, and then I took it from there. Ever since the Ritz, I’ve been fortunate enough to always land in big clubs.

The radio happened when I was really kind of heavy on the downtown scene here in DC. The radio deejays would all be at the same clubs. But it was still hard to get on. DJ Sixth Sense was actually the guy who brought me into the station. Like I said, I pretty much have a relationship with all these guys, DJ Alizay, Quicksilva…all those good guys. So they helped me out. I’ve now got two shows on radio so the last…maybe three years I’ve been just killing it.

Trey P: What’s a typical day look like for you at the station?

Gemini: I go in about 10 am. My show doesn’t start till about 12 pm. My first show is the twelve o’clock mix with Jeannie Jones. Then I have another mix show that comes on at 12 am with DJ Reddz. It’s technically a live show. So what I do is I try to get up there early for the 12 am show. Then I go up after my first show about 12:30 to 1 pm and meet with independent artists. I do music meetings. I get out about 3 pm if I’m lucky and then I go to run the music store with my dad.

Trey P: How has the deejay game changed, say, in the past five years?

Gemini: Man…there’s a few different aspects of the game. Being a deejay, Serato has completely flipped the game. The positives of Serato are you’re not lugging around eight crates. You can carry a lot more music. You’re not normally faced with “well, I don’t have that song.” That helps you as an individual Deejay. The problem with the Serato is after somebody buys Serato they feel like they are a deejay, and you know that ain’t so.

You can find music a lot easier. A lot of people are making music with the computer carriers. A lot of people are making music that should not necessarily be making music because it’s so easy to make. Before, you had to get vinyl pressed and you really had to do a lot to approach a deejay. Now, you can kind of go to your house if you have the Garage Band software. Garage Band is no joke, but it’s made a lot of things easier for the wrong people. Everybody wants to be a DJ.

Trey P: Do you prefer vinyl still?

Gemini: I use vinyl on the air a lot. In the clubs, I use CDs. I still use Serato, but I prefer CDs in the club. You don’t have to worry about bumping tables when you’re on the air.

Trey P: So what do you have going on at WKYS?

Gemini: Same old ratings looking good. So that’s always a good thing. Like I said, I have two shows.

Trey P: What’s the political hierarchy look like at KYS? Is it good? Is it bad?

Gemini: A lot of people think that there’s a lot on the pay-o-la. I personally don’t see it. Let me clear this up. I’m way down at the bottom. Us deejays, we’re kind of low. We’re just the personalities. We’re talking about a really big company. Radio One is huge. We’re really down low on the pole…

Trey P: But you’re also the link to the audience.

Gemini: Right. We’re the link to the streets…the direct link. On a personal level, when I see talent, if I hear things, it’s my job. Right now, it’s like you’re an undercover cop. If someone robs a store, even if you’re not on duty, you still gotta save the people in the store. If I hear something, and I’m out on the streets, I take it there, know what I’m saying? If you win a Grammy, I’m the type of guy who wants to say, I helped him win that Grammy.

Trey P: Is there a lot of love like that in the DMV in your opinion or do you see a lot of factions going on?

Gemini: You know, everybody has their own circle. But, it’s a lot of love too. You hear the hate, but the muth#@$% that hate are kind of nobodies. They don’t matter. I’ve never had any problems from any artists. Tabby is my dog. Wale is a good guy. Kingpen Slim is a great guy. Whitefolkz is my dog. What I see with them all, they all seem to have love for each other so I don’t see [the hate]. But when the door closes at their house…whatever, I don’t know. It seems like a lot of them are starting to realize that if one person makes it…

Trey P: Is that true though? I mean, Wale made it. Do you see everyone making moves with him?

Gemini: I think Wale helped a lot of people. He can’t help everybody. You know what I mean?

Trey P: Yeah, that’s true.

Gemini: So naturally the people that feel like they should have been helped will be kind of pissed off. But at the same time, Wale signed with Interscope, which is a machine. So, there’s only so much that Wale can do.

Trey P: Cause the machine will slash out everybody else.

Gemini: Right. For instance, the Pretty Girls record…that’s the s#$t right now. Wale brought the record to us [WKYS] months ago. He would say, “you know this is the s#$t, but the label isn’t letting me let it go right yet.” I mean, it’s only so much that he can do. He can’t just say, “I’m gonna take everybody in the DMV and get them record deals.”

Trey P: But his break at this point is pivotal because nothing’s come out of here. So he’s breaking it out for everyone.

Gemini: I think Wale did a pretty good job.

Trey P: He hooked it up with Mark Ronson. And Ronson really put him on.

Gemini: Definitely. You know, Mark Ronson is always a good look. Alizay, who pretty much broke Wale, is a good friend of mine. I used to deejay at Platinum. And Alizay was at Platinum. I seen Wale kind of…we got the same watch, man.

Trey P: Oh really (laughs…looks at watch).

Gemini: Anyway, I saw kind of how he was coming up. This is one thing I saw with Wale, kind of going off subject…before Wale’s album came out, and people are not going to like me saying this s#$t…whatever. I think everybody was kind of Wale crazy. So, I said, “I want to see how crazy they are when his first week of sales comes out.” He didn’t do as well as we thought he would do. So where were all these people? You know, people turn on you. People will turn on you quick.

Trey P: That’s true.

Gemini: I think Wale did a pretty good job. All the guys who broke through, Wale, Tabby, Mully right now is killing them, Bossman in Baltimore was really killing them, Raheem. You know, I think people do what they can do. I don’t think Wale got on, Tabby got on, Mully got on and said “f#$k the DMV.” You know what I’m saying? I think they do what they can do.

At the same time, the world is bigger than the DMV. So you kind of have to cater to everyone. So everything can’t be DMV. You can’t make the Pretty Girls f#$king DMV remix because you still got people in Compton, California who don’t give a f#$k about the DMV and don’t need to hear that song. So you kind of have to prepare like that.

Trey P: So what’s your five year plan?

Gemini: Awww…man. I love deejaying.

Trey P: Are you hooking up with any artists right now?

Gemini: Right now my focus is Mully Man. On a personally level, I love deejaying. I know I’m not going to be a DJ for the rest of my life, so hopefully I’ll be running one of these radio stations you hear me on. I do have a daughter. So definitely, taking it to the next level.

Trey P: Do you have anything you want to plug…anything for Mully Man?

Gemini: Mully’s the Twitter king. He’s not hard to find. I’m not hard to find. I’m in the DMV at all the clubs. Just a shout out to everybody. I’m pretty positive. There’s a lot of arrogant deejays out there. But it all kind of catches up to you later in life. It’s karma. I’m doing a little bit of traveling. I’m gonna be on Shade 45 next Sunday with DJ Whoo Kid.

Trey P: So one last question. What are your thoughts on fashion in the hip hop community?

Gemini: It’s a big deal. From Run DMC with the Adidas, Naughty by Nature…man, it’s a real big deal. I’m not a real big fan of the skinny jeans. But what I will say is that is that generation’s. When we were young, we were doing some s$%t that thirty year olds wouldn’t do too. I don’t knock the kids. I don’t like it, but that’s my own personal opinion. You gotta look at it like this on the fashion end. It kind of goes back to music. I love Air Force One’s. I love Timbalands. That’s what I was doing when I was 15. That’s like what’s happening with hip hop.

Trey P: Well, there’s only a couple of guys that are really killing it like Wayne…

Gemini: But Wayne is what’s hot so Wayne is what dictates hip hop. So whatever’s hot…how he dresses normally dictates what you as a fan are gonna want to wear. When Kid ‘n Play was wearing high-top fades that was the craziest looking thing that somebody who was 40 or 50 years then saw. “Why would you want to do that with your hair?” So it’s like Wayne with dreads or the New Boyz with skinny fronts…it’s what kids see. Fashion is fashion in my opinion. I’m not too flashy. I put on my flannel, my North Face vest, and my Timbs.

Trey P: Gemini, thanks for your thoughts and insights.

Gemini: Thanks.

For more info:

www.kysdc.com

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