What’s happening
Mami ? I understand you’re Wichita (Kansas) ?
Yeah, Wichita. U say that country, just
like me. I hear ya. I am from the South.
How did u end up in Atlanta ?
What happened was, I was going to school
at Kansas State University...... That’s where I first learned
to spin vinyl and me and a friend went to Miami for MPACT convention,
and I met a guy there from Atlanta. He said I can give u a job
in Atlanta as a promotion, making $500 a week. And I was like...
Oh, OK ! So then I go back to Kansas State, and I’m just
tired of being where I’m at. So I called him up and said,
do u still have that job? And he was like, yeah! So I drive 17
hours with $200 and my little crates and everything.And I got
to Atlanta and he was fake. He just wanted to have sex. I put
myself in areally bad situation, though, because the only good
thing about that situation was,he was an actual promoter and he
took me up to the radio station. He just didn’t have no
money to pay me. And uhmm, I met M&M and she let me intern
for her. And thenmy ex-fiance’s brother’s girlfiend....Did
u get that one ? My ex-fiance’s brother’s girlfriend,
let me stay with her for the summer (rent free). So if it weren’t
for her, I wouldn’t even be in Atlanta. So I interned for
about 3 months, then I got hired for the radio station, Hot 107.9.
At first, I had to take the little part-timejobs and all that.
Now I’m doing what I love to do and I feel very blessed
to be able to do it.
How difficult has it been for u as a female
dj ?
I think it’s just hard being a dj,
period. Female djs.... Yeah, of course, u gotta prove to everyone
that u can do what u do. As bad as it sounds, if a female in the
industry isn’t necessarily pretty, it’s harder. Because
people don’t wanna mess with an ugly female or
someone who doesn’t look like Beyonce. But don’t get
it twisted, cause when you’re a pretty female in the industry
or djing, everybody tries to have sex with u.
A lot of djs are putting out mix cds, is
that something that you’ve done or hope to get into ?
Oh definitely ! I’ve done 2 mixtapes
with BMF. My mixtape game, I’m about to really concentrate
on that. I think almost any dj can do a mixtape, but I never really
had time to concentrate on it. If I wasn’t doing radio,
I was touring. It’s like, I’m not doing that many
clubs, so let me concentrate on some mixtapes. Me and DJ Bobby
Black, we’re
about to do one together with DTP hosting it. And we’re
gonna do that for Birthday
Bash. I wanna start producing. That’s what I haven’t
started to do.
U got that kind of musical ear, too, huh
?
I’ve got a lot of good ideas. I just
don’t know how to put em out, yet. I’m gonna see if
I can do it. Not everyone is built to do everything. I’ve
wanted to sing sooo bad. All I can say is that my singing teacher
said I was the most improved.
U use to do a show on Hot 107 with Jazze
Pha, right ?
Yeah ! We were on together for like two
and a half years. He definitely has a big influ -
ence on my career.
Did u ever discuss your wanting to produce
with him ?
Oh yeah ! He’s the one who said,
“It’s time for u to start learning.” But when
people
come up to me and say, I wanna dj, that’s just not enough
for me to teach u. If You’re
not gonna engulf yourself in what I love to do, then it’s
not worth my time to teach u.
So I just felt like I wasn’t ready for it. Cause I hadn’t
learned all the aspects of djing like I wanted to. Although, producing
makes a whole lot more money. It’s coming though.
U belong to the Murder Mamis organization.
Tell us a little something about that.
Murder Mamis is a female crew, and we stick
together. If I go to New York, then I have somewhere to stay.
If I go to L.A., I have somewhere to stay. We really support each
other. Me,Lazy K., and DJ Lady Tribe were actually about to do
a mixtape together. I’m gonna do the down South. Lazy K.
is gonna do the East. And DJ Lady Tribe is gonna do the West.
Yeah, it’s for Joker Clothing.
Whose idea was it to form Murder Mamis
?
It was First Lady EL. and DJ Lazy K. They’re
the founders of Murder Mamis. In New York,
we get a lot of respect and love. We’ve got Murder Mamis
everywhere. We got em in
Chicago, Alabama, Texas....We got em everywhere. We have program
directors...
Any women who are out there doing something positive. Something
in the industry. U know, some type of presence about them. You’re
the first magazine that I’m telling this, but I recently
kinda like, joined The Core DJs.They’re just another family,
really. Murder Mamis, I’ve been with them for 3 years. Core
DJs do a lot, too. U know, djs can rep more than one crew now.
Has being a part of Murder Mamis and The
Core DJs opened up some doors that normally wouldn’t have
been opened for u ?
Murder Mamis has definitely opened some
doors for me. I go to New York and dj because of them. I know
a lot more people in New York because of them. I’ll go up
and dj for Hot 97. The name Mami Chula, where does that come from
? It means sly, sexy girl. It’s the opposite the guys version
of Papi Chulo (which is like a pimp). He gets all
the girls. What’s next for u ? I wanna go back out on tour.
I just love it. There’s no feeling like being on stage with
two turntables and 10,000 people. There’s just no
feeling like it. Right now, I’m just gonna put some attention
into the radio station.
www.djmamichula.net
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