DJ Drama Walks Fans Through his ‘Gangsta Grillz’ Mixtape Series

DJ Drama walks fans through the history of his Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. For episode two of Respect The DJ presented by Global Spin, fans get to spend a day in the life of DJ Drama. The Philadelphia-born DJ was inspired by the hip-hop cult classic Juice film, especially Omar Epps character Q.

"I remember being into music at a young age, both my parents had huge record collections," he said. "I went to go see Juice in the movie theater and it change my life; the character DJ GQ. Just watching him up there, cuttin' and scratchin', it was so exciting the DJ battle at the time and I was like, that's looks fun."

Drama walks you through the budding Philly music scene when he was growing up, how het got his name, earning a scholarship to Clark Atlanta University and meeting DJ Don Cannon and DJ Sense. He then discusses how taking Marketing in college helped him develop his business savy and the infamous raid that happened to him in 2007.

"We got hit with the RICO, what they hit crime bosses with" he said. "I winded up on the cover of Billboard magazine. I feel like a phoenix arose from that and put me in the hip-hop history books faster than I knew I was going," Drama, born Tyree Simmons, added.

Gangster Grillz became a staple in the streets of hip-hop, putting on some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Drama discussed the beginnings of the world famous mixtape series. Rap superstars such as Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Meek mill, Fabolous and many more have dropped the tape.

The co-founder of Aphilliates Music Group and now A&R at Atlantic Records, Drama is the definition of hustle. Check out the video above.

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