For just about every genre of music there is a DJ that defines the music and represents the fans. Across the country there are DJ’s that break new artists and stay connected to the fans; people like Wolfman Jack, Greg Mack, Rodney Bingenheimer and Huggy Boy. When it comes to Hip-Hop most of the names that come up are from New York like the late Mr. Magic and DJ Red Alert. On the West Coast one name stands in the forefront, DJ Julio G - The voice of Los Angeles Hip-Hop.
In Los Angeles during the 1980’s, legendary radio station 1580 KDAY moved to the forefront of West Coast Hip-Hop. The station played records from local artists and helped to launch the careers of Ice-T, Dr. Dre and the entire NWA family, Tone Loc and King-Tee while also playing the latest in East Coast Hip-Hop and R&B. The station had a group of DJ’s called the Mixmasters which included DJ’s Tony G, Joe Cooley, M-Walk, Jammin Gemini, DJ Aladdin, DJ Ralph M, DJ Treyski and Battlecat. The youngest member of the Mixmasters was DJ Julio G, who joined just after graduating high school.
KDAY went off the air in 1991 and Julio G would later start the show Westside Radio with the late Eazy-E of NWA fame. The radio show showcased the best music from the West Coast and after bouncing around between FM stations, Westside Radio is now headed online.
In addition to producing songs for Mello Man Ace and Kam, Julio G has also appeared on albums from B-Real (Smoke and Mirrors) and Snoop Dogg (The Blue Carpet Treatment). Gamers may know Julio from his voice work as the DJ for the Radio Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Julio G is currently on tour with Cypress Hill but we caught up with the influential DJ at the album release party for the new Snoop Dogg album, Malice in Wonderland. If you have ever heard his radio shows or talked to him in person, you know that he is very honest about the radio and music business and pulls no punches.
Check out our exclusive interview below.
You can find Westside Radio on B-Real's Stickam channel (stickam.com/breal) on Wednesday nights at 10pm PST.
