D.J. Graffiti: Bling Free Vol. 3 - Review

By many D.J. Graffiti has been honored with the title of “Underground Hip-hop Mixtape King of Michigan.’ His latest release is Bling Free Volume 3, the third installment of the Bling Free Series. This one however is subtitled, “It’s Official”, because it is a licensed commercial release! It’s 38 tracks of quality Hip-Hop, 73 minutes of continuous dope music. “Every track on the CD is dope in my opinion, there is no filler”, says Graffiti. We agree. This installment of the Bling Free series is the best ever, it’s underground Hip-Hop at it’s finest. The album doesn’t only showcase unsigned artists either, it features unreleased tracks from Dilated Peoples, Dead Prez, Slum Village, and EPMD among others. If you don’t have your copy yet go get it, it’s in a store near you.

“Keeping Quality Music Alive”

D.J. Graffiti is a 25 year old mix-tape DJ from Michigan. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Business School and Law School. He has been a DJ for 8 years and has released many mix-tapes including Bling Free Volumes 1 through 3, G2 Volumes 1 and 2 with DJ Goldfingers and Combo Platter #4 with DJ Goldfingers. Graffiti is more than just a DJ he’s a businessman. Although he can rhyme, he is not pursuing a career emceeing, he’s just a DJ. Graffiti formed Bling Free Records to release marketing projects that are in the form of CDs. “The Bling Free Series is of course a mix CD but if you step back from it, it’s a marketing tool because it allows artists to promote their new material and the listener doesn’t have to worry about spending $15 on an album they don’t enjoy.” Bling Free is a branch of the parent company called Rapture Enterprises LLC. Rapture is a marketing company and is also includes Graffiti’s legal and business consulting services. A typical day for him is business, the Djing is more of the fun side. He does legal and marketing consulting work for many companies large and small. He’s also getting into real estate. Graffiti’s doing a lot of sample clearance work right now. “If you’re an artist and you want to make sure you don’t get sued after you blow up, clear those samples now! It’s a lot cheaper than you think. Most labels are willing to work with your budget.”

Graffiti is the tour DJ for an artist called Phat Kat, one of the dopest MC’s out of Detroit and an extended member of the Slum Village Family. He is one of two members of a group called First Down and he tours regularly with Slum Village and Dwele.

Graffiti is not the most popular deejay in the United States. For starters he’s out of Michigan, “That’s a plus and a minus”, says Graffiti. Michigan is well known for it’s DJ underground culture. They hold their DJ’s to a higher standard of excellence than most other places do, Detroit is all about mixing. Graffiti would like to be as well known as he can without making a trade off in the quality of his work. Much like other people on the come up he shapes his business efforts by looking at those who are already where he wants to be. “I just do me. I try to always advance every time I bring something to the table. I feel like what I’m doing is providing something positive to Hip-Hop, and I guess those that keep buying my CD’s and coming to see me at shows feel the same way.”

What makes Graffiti different from a Funk Master Flex or a Whoo Kid is obvious, they are already established and well known but Graffiti is still out grinding and trying to make his mark. In Michigan the mix-tape scene is much less developed but there is obviously far less competition.

Graffiti is hard at work. He does a little bit of everything. He’s putting together a series of events with Scion (the car company) in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan. Besides that he’s playing shows whenever he gets a chance and is preparing to go on tour with Phat Kat this summer. Look out for his Mixperience series. “It’s going to be pure. D.J. Graffiti. The Bling Free series is what it is. It’s meant for the underground heads. However underground Hip-Hop is not the only thing that I listen to and spin. I rock a bit of everything as long as it’s dope, so the Mixperience series is going to reflect that.” Graffiti also does shows and events, he can be contacted through his website or you can email his publicist at dove@tygereye.net. Artists can get on a Graffiti Mix-tape by sending their music to Rapture Enterprises LLC, 2232 S. Main St. #216, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.

Here’s some more of the D.J. Graffiti interview:
Parle: Since our Circulation is mostly in NY, what should the readers know about the music scene in Michigan?
Graf: Michigan has a strong scene. Detroit is one of the hardest places to perform. Cats will stand there motionless the whole time and then once you get off stage, give you dap and props. If you get seasoned in the D I think you can rock anywhere. I’m sure NY is probably the same way.

Parle: Do you offer artists exposure on your mix tapes or is it strictly those artists that are already signed?
Graf: I’m about dope music. As long as I’m feeling the material I don’t care if you are signed or not. However, I do require that the artist have some released material before I put them on my CDs. My CDs are marketing tools, so if you are on my CD I want people to be like “that artist is ridiculous” and go out and pick up your CD. If you don’t have a CD, or vinyl, then it’s a waste of the listener’s time.

Parle: As a successful DJ/business man what advice do you have for people who are reading this and thinking I want to be like that?
Graf: Get to work. It’s a hard road and there are going to be years of paying dues and networking before you really learn enough to survive in this business. It’s all about who you know and what you’ve learned, not what you know. There are DJs in their bedrooms right now that will scratch and mix me under the table, but the only problem is that they are still in their rooms.

Parle: What makes the perfect record? Do you think music is more about the beat than anything else?
Graf: For rap music, the beat comes first, then the delivery, and lastly the lyrics. Most DJs that get a lot of music sent to them don’t listen to music for more than 15 or 20 seconds if they don’t like it from the start.

Parle: Since this is an entertainment magazine what do you feel about music and film right now?
Graf: I feel like music has really taken a turn for the better. For a while the boy and girl band era was getting on my nerves, but I joke that even Britney Spears has a song out that most everybody likes (even if they don’t admit it, they catch themselves singing the hook). Overall though I feel that all the music I’m getting is of a much higher quality than it was a couple of years ago. Maybe it’s because so many of the labels are shutting down and only the strong are surviving, I don’t know.

Parle: What do you listen to, what’s in your radio right now?
Graf: In my CD changer right now is the new Dilated Peoples album, Jean Grae’s album, Dead Prez, a mix CD of slow jams that I made… a lot of Floetry stuff on there, the new Ghostface and the Nas platinum reissue of Illmatic.