DJ Dankish sits down with ROX-TV to chop it up about the music and the memories
I am happy to announce that we have DJ Dankish in the house tonight. We are glad to have him here and thank him for taking time out of his busy life to chop it up with the website readers. As always, we strive to bring interesting content to our readers, with music obviously being a major part of that entertainment. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the wheels of steel, going back some thirty years myself. I got keyed into hip hop and rap, during the explosion of the late 1980’s and early to mid 1990’s. From the minute I got exposed to the B-Boy culture, I was held captive by the sights and sounds coming from the cities all across the country.
I started listening to rap in 1989 and quickly got turned onto the sounds of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Sugarhill Gang, Ice-T, and many more. I couldn’t get enough of the music and sought it out everywhere I could. Some of the early movies that highlighted that culture were Krush Groove and Breakin. There was a brief period of rap for me, which harkened back to those earlier roots. That included the break dancing, the style of dress, the rapping, and especially the graffiti. I was learning more every day, catching up on the things that had gone before but it wasn’t long before the gangster rap would explode onto the scene.
My first gangster rap song was “6 in the morning” by Ice T. This song is credited as being one of the earliest gangster rap tracks ever. Ice T talked about his influences and how another rapper had been doing some similar things, but everyone still remembers “6 in the morning” before anything else or at least that’s my opinion on the matter. For me, there was early rap, and then there was the gangster rap, which was growing out West.
My head was constantly exploding back then, because of all the self-discoveries I was making. During that same time period, I also stumbled across a copy of Inner City Posse’s Dog Beats cassette at a family members house, opening the door to ESHAM THE UNHOLY. I had started out as a B-Boy, but soon was caught up in a tornado of hip hop, rap, and underground. I was getting blown around worse than Dorothy and her little dog, out in Kansas somewhere. It was fascinating and time consuming.
Back then, rap wasn’t as socially excepted as it is today. Rap basically has conquered everything and has reigned supreme for a long time. Not to say that there isn’t other stuff out there, but if you weren’t alive in 1986….to see it go from “bastard status” to king of the playground was something to really see. I never doubted the greatness and have been on board the train for the whole ride, and in a way, I’m proud of picking a winner. Not everyone wins. Go ask the NKOTB fans, or the sad sacks who supported Billy Ray Cyrus, and the list goes on. So many people talked shit on me for digging rap back in the day, and most of them supported shit that didn’t last more than a year or two.
So I guess I have the last laugh on the matter. You couldn’t escape the long reach of rap and hip hop now, no matter how much a person tried. It feels good to have stayed true and now I’m forty years old and can celebrate the success of the movement. I’m one of those assholes who stands around in the back of the room, mumbling about how “I was there” to anyone bored enough to listen. With a little of my personal background on the subject out of the way, lets get moving….
DJ Dankish, as with all my interviewees, I am fascinated by the moment that music became a turning point in artists lives. I had a very specific revelation in 1989 myself. Can you tell the ROX-TV viewers, at what point music came into your life as something special, not just awareness, but actually something that you really dug?
Music started for me in 1984 mainly because I heard my dad bumpin some LL Cool J & some RUN DMC. and I was hooked from that very moment ✔️😎🔥
How long was it, from that point that you were a fan of the music, to actually wanting to get involved with the creation and celebration of rap/hip hop music?
Once I was old enough to understand how music was made was when I started making beats, I didn’t become a Dj until many years later in which I’m glad I did because nowadays it’s my complete life
Like a lot of people who got interested in rap, to have a set of turntables was the absolute goal. I owned a couple of Technics myself and although I never got “good” or even “decent” on the wheels, can you tell the readers at ROX-TV when you got your first set turntables and how that came to be?
I started off deejaying in the clubs and bar scene in Toledo Ohio in 2011 then once I really got serious about learning my newly found craft. I in fact wanted to learn the whole culture side of turntablism which is doing tricks on turntables and mixing sets down etc. My first turntable was purchased in 2014-15 season because before that I always used Cdjs and DDJs and I also had an original V7 with a shit mixer (Still worked out in public lol) and then Numark NS7 model, however when I purchased my first decks I still haven’t put them down on the practice tip, it’s something I love to do daily which is learn and I never stop learning each and every day because you will never learn everything on turntables it’s always constantly got me learning something new developing skills and muscle memory!
Everyone who ever dabbled in “scratching” or DJing probably has one moment where they fucked up some equipment. For me, I burnt out my dad’s turntable in the home stereo, trying to scratch with the proper set up or pads. That motor burnt out quicker than a joint in the wind and no one was very happy about it. Did you have an early mishaps with equipment or any interesting story about destroying equipment, as you learned your craft?
Lol yes I blew out plenty of styluses (Scratch needles) I use to be heavy handed on my cuts but that was an expensive habit so yeah I’m so damn glad that I maybe break a stylus once a year or so ha ha.
At what point did you cross over from a “novice” to DJing for live acts?
One year into my DJ career I spun live for Cappadonna from the Wu-Tang Clan after doing about a dozen of hip hop shows beforehand, I remember when I made the transition from spinning in the clubs to cutting up hip-hop shows A friend asked me if I wanted to do his hip hop set and from there I just never stopped and now I’ve shared the stage with Bone thugs n harmony, Three six mafia, Mobb Deep, 2Pac’s- The Outlaws, The Dayton family, Do or die also I’ve spun live show sets for Bizarre from D12, Esham, Cappadonna & Killah Priest from the Wu-Tang Clan, King Gordy, Kool Keith, Chino Xl, Twisted Insane to name some off but I must say it made me more humble after mixing down so many str8 hip hop legends sets plus it made me a better DJ in the clutch on stage ✔️😎
In regard to your first show with an audience, what were some of the things you were feeling up there when you were rocking the party? (nervous, happiness, joy, excitement?)
Lol this is going to be comical because I went to watch my friend Preston Prescott DJ and he ended up going up to the bar mid set getting drinks and left me at his DJ table in which I had no clue what I was doing and he didn’t come back and it forced me to be up there in which I didn’t know how to DJ at that point and it was so awkward and I didn’t mix because I didn’t know how to and I didn’t know how to scratch but I just back spinned out the tracks all night and everyone seem to love it and from there I was hooked as hell but I wanted to learn the craft inside and out so good that I wanted to rock the crowd and control their emotions but at that point I couldn’t so I just felt kinda embarrassed to be up there faking the funk ha ha Good times 😎
I’m a lifelong fan of Esham and enjoy everything that he’s brought into creation. From what I’ve read, you actually performed with Esham. You have to tell the readers about that experience and how it came about?
Yes sir Esham was one of my favorite rappers as a young adolescent teenager and still is however I was at the Esham show to DJ for one of my friends because he was opening up performing and the sound man came up to me asking who is doing Esham’s set like does he have a DJ or am i running it so Esham asked us who is running my set tonight and I looked at Esham and Go Kart J (Sound guy) and Go kart said you get to run it tonight and at that moment I almost shit my pants on some fan boy shit but yup I got to cut up Esham’s set in my own city of Toledo Ohio which was a sold out show and one helluva vibe, I gotta thank god for that one because I didn’t see that coming fo sho lol
Other big names include Cappadonna and Killer Priest, Kool Keith, Kxngcrooked, and Chino XL. You have to tell the readers about some of these amazing experiences. Please take all the room you need. We like to preserve history on ROX-TV and this interview is a living document for the culture.
Each experience was unique in its own fashion to be honest man I owe it all to god because without him this would never happened for me but yes I’ve had a lot of great opportunities fall in my lap that I completely adored in retrospect…I’ve had a lot of good experiences from my Homies booking shows and I got to put on like M-80 and Innovation concerts booking big shows over the years and me getting the nod to DJ, What a blessed life it is 🙏
What have you been up to recently? Any recent projects or collabs you have dropped in the past year or so that the readers should be looking for?
I have an album about to drop mid to late summer called Dankish Underground hits with a fuck ton of national features on it from Kurupt from the Dogg Pound to Bizarre to Bizzy bone, it’s gonna be dope sauce also I’m throwing a Supa dope hip hop show at Simons after Dark May 21st so be there or don’t be anywhere fam 😊
Going forward with 2021 and beyond, what does the future hold for DJ Dankish?
Music videos & Albums, Raves & hip hop shows + Turntable events is all I need in life going forward after Covid, I’m ready to get back in the swing of things to be BIGGER AND BETTER for the culture and the fans 🙏
Any shows or other news you’d like to tease out for the readers?
Yessss please check out the void and International big time wrestling on ROX-TV it’s really dope !!!!! Oh yes I forgot I’m throwing a rave at Main St in Toledo Ohio on May 1st with Buckeyewood entertainment, It’s gonna be dank as hell come thru everyone and anyone just wear a mask until this is over (COVID) Lol thanks ☮️
I’m from the 90’s and I dig shout outs. Shout out anyone you want brother, this is the time:
Shout outs to God first and foremost for putting me in the driver seat always, all my friends and family and to all my crews from Toledo to Detroit plus my guy M-80 for helping me with my upcoming album that’s going to drop mid summer – Dankish underground hits Vol. 1 the feature, be on the look out and shout out to ROX-TV and you kind sir for the love it’s much appreciated 😊✔️🙏🎧☮️
Thank you for sitting down with us tonight. I hope the readers have enjoyed the trip with DJ Dankish and we look forward to seeing what you get up to when the world opens back up again. Much respect and support.
Signing Off,
Mike Shepard
ROX-TV Head Writer.
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