In Hip-Hop, few things are as valuable as the pulse of the streets. Luckily for DJ Scream, his decades-long imprint on local and national radio has afforded him this coveted backing. The veteran has now added podcaster and cultural commentator to his resume, launching his Big Facts podcast with co-hosts Big Bank and Baby Jade in 2019. The Ghanaian-American has witnessed the show become a breeding ground for headlines and engaging conversations.
“I think that my success in media, whether it be radio or podcasting, is actually just that, not transitioning,” he said. “Just doing what I do and keeping everything raw and keeping it authentic.”
Garnering millions of views and attracting the culture’s top figures, Big Facts has raised DJ Scream’s profile and showcased his talents beyond the music. And with his Hoodrich Radio show also doing numbers and his The Scream Foundation making a positive impact on the youth, the budding multi-hyphenate is keeping the public on their toes and staying true to his roots.
A student of the culture, the Tuskegee University graduate’s focus on working with each new crop of artists in the South has made him a sought-out collaborator. His influence as a tastemaker is the product of refined craftsmanship, which he continues to put on display with each milestone. Through his reputation on the concrete and the bells his name has rung across, DJ Scream is legendary .
VIBE spoke with DJ Scream about carrying the torch for Atlanta, his evolution as a media personality, the success and popularity of Big Facts, and authenticity.
VIBE: You’ve been a torch bearer for Atlanta for nearly two decades. What are the qualities you feel that sets Atlanta apart?
DJ Scream: I think for a long time, it’s kind of been in the water. Obviously the city is changing, the world is changing, but we’ve always been a city that prides itself on working together. Showing a lot of love, showing that camaraderie. We’re also a city that arguably, for a long time, was kind of like the capital of the party atmosphere. You’d come party in Atlanta til five or six in the morning, peacefully, no BS. Like I say, the world is definitely changing. Some things are definitely changing now. It’s not the same, but I feel like it’s a Mecca for Black people, still to this day, honestly.
A lot of saying, ‘I’m gonna start my business, I’m going to Atlanta.’ I think that camaraderie amongst all the musicians is a big part of it. Black music, Black producers, Black business owners, Blacks athletes. It’s kind of the Mecca for Black people. For lack of better comparisons, people say this is the real-world Wakanda. So I think that’s been the seed and the catalyst for so long just to keep us where we are and keep us on top. Just showing that love to each other and just wanting to uplift the next person rather than bringing the next person down.
Two artists you worked closely with in the past are Gucci Mane and the Migos. Explain your history with those two acts?
Gucci’s the homie. I’m from the Eastside of Atlanta, so I was a fan from when I first heard Gucci way back in the day. And when I finally got a chance to meet him and chop it up with him and really sit down and just witness his work ethic and witness his creative genius in the studio, we just kind of locked in from there. And of course, Gucci’s somebody that showed a lot of DJs love, but we were able to get a few classic projects in for the streets and kind of just built from there. He did a couple verses for my album as well and showed me some love so salute to him on that.
As far as the Migos, that came from Corey B. Corey B literally brought the Migos to me like, ‘This [is the] next hottest group.’ And when I heard the first song he let me hear, which was ’Bando,’ I was like, ‘Oh my goodness! This is so raw and the sound is so different and new.’ And just meeting them new, it was cool because they told the story on Big Facts about how they brought the first mixtape we agreed to do, and it didn’t move me the way that they wanted it to move me.
So me being a person that’s very transparent, it was kind of the vibe of me telling them, ‘You know, what you’re doing is cool, but y’all can do better. Y’all can go harder.’ And it’s not like it was bad music or wack or anything, but I just knew they had a classic in ’em. I just felt it. So long story short, we ended up making history with that mixtape. Shout out Cory B and [DJ] Ray G, who were the other hosted DJs on there.
And just to see where they’ve come present-day from where they started, it’s just amazing. It’s a big blessing. So I salute to the Migos, always.
You mentioned your Hoodrich collective earlier. Can you tell us about the history of Hoodrich and what inspired it?
Back in the day, you’d have a mixtape with your favorite playlist, [and] it started from there. But obviously, we ventured into housing 15 of the most prominent DJs in the nation and we branched off into marketing. We were a big part of marketing for your Crime Mob’s, your D4L’s, Shawty Lo’s and so forth.
So a lot of it is legacy of what we did accomplish, and I think that a lot of our brothers under the umbrella, they’ve ventured into doing a lot of other progressive things. I can name all of them, but I don’t even want to start to name ’em ’cause I don’t wanna leave anybody out, but it’s really more of a family. A lot of people labeled it a DJ crew at first because that’s what was popular in Atlanta, DJ crews.
Which artist would you say you’ve had the most chemistry with in the studio?
Well, obviously Shawty Lo was more than just an artist I was working with. That’s an actual brother. Rest in Peace Shawty Lo. I think the better way for me to state it is what artist did I spend the most time communicating with outside of just doing a mixtape. So me and Lo worked on mixtapes and we did some classic mixtapes, but we also were friends. So I would talk to Lo on the phone about other stuff, just real life sh*t.
So that chemistry was always special because I was there from the beginning of a lot of people’s careers, but this was like the incubator process, the very beginning. Watching him record and watching him get better at recording and watching him perform. And the fact that he showed me love back, too, and never will let a moment go by without, ‘Hey, I gotta shout out Scream. I gotta shout out Hoodrich, I gotta shout out Rip.’ That wasn’t just a rapper/DJ relationship. That’s my brother, that’s my friend and I miss him all the time. So salute to Shawty Lo.
You’re also big on the radio and have your own show on iHeart. What would you say has been the biggest part of that transition and evolution, going from a curator on the streets to being on the national airwaves?
I think that my success in media, whether it be radio or podcasting, is actually just that, not transitioning. Just doing what I do and keeping everything raw and keeping it authentic. When they first called for radio, I was kind of like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to do that, radio’s watered down’ and so forth. There’s certain rules you have to follow within radio, but I kind of just let everybody know, ‘If you bring me in, this what you get.’
It’s not that I’m trying to burn down your building or nothing like that, but you’re gonna get someone who’s raw, who’s authentic and if there’s a conversation that needs to be had, that’s what people want. Just as somebody might speak to my mixtape legacy, which is going on 20 years strong now, I think it’s just as equally important to talk about my media and radio legacy which is now going on 15 years strong.
I’ve been on Sirius [XM] radio and successfully managed that show for over 15 years. I’ve been on local radio, iHeartRadio. I’ve been on all those and successfully had media platforms on those from a radio perspective and that’s just because that’s the motto I live by: keep it raw, keep it authentic and keep it true to yourself.
You’ve increased your visibility due to the popularity and success of the Big Facts podcast with your cohosts Big Bank and Baby Jade. How did the idea to jump into the podcast lane come about and how did the three of you connect?
Big Bank is a friend. That’s a brother. We kind’ve ran into each other, chopped it up. He was doing a podcast, I was doing one and we both are intelligent enough to say, ‘Well, sh*t, instead of us competing against each other, why don’t we do it together. We all got strengths.’ Later on, we brought in Jade to just kind of give it a female perspective and it’ll be three years in December. We’ve had some major amazing conversations.
We pride ourselves on being able to stop a couple beefs, squash a couple beefs rather than starting beefs and adding fires to the flame, so that’s what it was really about. Big Facts, man. Let’s talk about the facts. Let’s get to the facts of the story, but also aside [from] that, let’s use our platform to build. You’re gonna have situations where certain stuff goes viral and everything, that’s just how media is. But at the end of the day, we try to solve the issues with the facts rather than using lies to create bigger issues, if that makes sense.
So that’s basically how it’s come together and we’re proud, man. We’re 140-plus episodes in and as long as the people are gonna salute us and show us love and let us know that they’re happy with what we’re delivering, we’re not gonna stop, we’re gonna keep going. We feel like we’re just getting started as a matter of fact.
What do you see the Big Facts brand evolving and growing into? What’s next for the movement?
It’s nonstop, man. We just had an amazing run. We also did Revolt Summit, shout out to Revolt. We were able to sit down with Boosie [Badazz], that was a big conversation. Like you said, we did ONE Musicfest, we were able to go out in a different manner and show people we could be performers, as well. We’re looking at our three-year anniversary in December, there’s some conversations about some podcast tours.
Obviously, individually, we’re all doing our thing and continuing to enhance our brands. We’re showing love to the community, we’re showing love to the streets. When it’s said and done, which hopefully that’s no time soon, we just want to do the same thing collectively that we’ve been able to do individually for the city of Atlanta. Everybody who’s a part of that podcast is a staple of the city of Atlanta and has done that.
In recent years, there appears to be a resurgence in the significance of the DJ. How has it been to witness that evolution in the perception of the DJ as not only curators, but stars in your own right?
That’s an amazing conversation because when I first fell in love with hip hop, it was me watching Yo! MTV Raps and there was no rapper without the DJ. It’s like Eric B andRakim. DJ Premier andGuru. DJ Jazzy Jeff andThe Fresh Prince. I think it’s beautiful, but I think it’s just the Hip-Hop culture correcting itself because we love the rap artists. We know what the rappers are, we know what the performers are, we love them.
We thank every rap artist for what they’ve done, but this is a complete culture. So just like you have the rapper, the DJ is important, the producer is important. If there are breakdances or if there are just dancers that support these artists on stage, they’re just as important. There are graffiti artists or—I feel like the modern-day grafitti artists are graphic designers—they’re important. It’s all very important to the culture. So when you take the DJ, I always just say this and I kind of leave it there: If the music stops, then what?
For anybody that’s wondering about the importance of the DJ to our culture or just as a whole, just walk into your nearest lounge, nightclub, whatever the case is. Go pull the plug on a DJ and see what happens to your event. We’re the backbone and I’m not saying that ’cause I’m a DJ. So I think that we all need to continue to show our rappers and our artists love. Protect our culture, protect our rappers, but at the same respect, let’s definitely show love to all other elements of the culture.
And now, a very big part of Hip-Hop is also the business executives, so we’ve gotta salute them too. I think we’re going on 50 Years of Hip Hop. Wow, look how far it’s coming and look how far it’s grown so, I think it’s beautiful to see.
What’s next for DJ Scream?
As important as Hoodrich Radio is, I definitely think I’m in some conversations to get in the mixtape synergy, so hopefully those conversations will come to fruition. A lot of the fans are kind of on social media, too, saying, ‘Yo, Scream, we want you back on the mixtapes,’ so hopefully that happens. It’s very important because of the ever-changing world.
Also The Scream Foundation is going on two years in December, so I’m doing a lot of community efforts, a lot of philanthropy efforts. Going to the community talking to the brothers and sisters and trying to create that conversation for change and for progression and showing them that there is hope. So that’s near and dear to my heart, The Scream Foundation, and just keeping it real with you, man. I’m a father now. I’ve been a father for one year. Just being a family person, but I’m not a role model.
I don’t want nobody looking at me if I do something crazy, like, ‘Oh, you’re a bad role model.’ But just being the best example of progression and change and uplifting and a strong standing Black man that I can be. So that’s my priorities and giving God the glory every day.
I don’t want nobody looking at me if I do something crazy, like, ‘Oh, you’re a bad role model.’ But just being the best example of progression and change and uplifting and a strong standing Black man that I can be. So that’s my priorities and giving God the glory every day.