As a self admitted "DJ-groupie" this artist spotlight is right up my alley. I just find the skill of not only knowing what a crowd wants to hear but also anticpating what the crowd may like musically, to be amazing.
Dressed very comfortably rocking m big hair, trying to NOT stand out (yea right), I stroll into the chosen meeting space, look around and spot DJ Slowpoke. Hugs are exchanged along with greetings and he says " thats an interesting look your going for...!" I remark about my big hair wig always drawing attention to which he responds "oh so its a 'hat!'" I quickly point out that when I purchase my wigs they say "wigs" not hat and we both chuckle.
See that's the thing about "Poke" he never minces words!! Location: Mountain View, Ca. 2000*
While enjoying Summer Jam, SlowPoke and a friend encountered a guy passing out promotional material (promo cds). Loving the idea of being surrounded by all that music, Poke and his friend asked the guy how they could be down (The guy, AG, happened to be in charge of Def Jam Bay Area, at the time), and were directed to Ingrid of the now defunct, Keep it Real Promotions. After a while Poke went from just promoting to actually running the promotion company when Ingrid decided to walk away from the business. Once the labels got wind that Ingrid was not longer running Keep it Real, they stopped sending music. Enter in Rob Reyes a former Kmel dj that after the mass lay-off decided to get into promotions thus M1 Promo was born. In 2001, Poke came in contact with Rob and was working with Rob and M1 Promo, taking a break to move to Florida in 2003 to attend Full Sail University and once he graduated in May of 2005, he came back to the bay and M1 Promo. Rob taught Poke how to dj, he practiced everyday focusing on blending as opposed to scratching and recieved his first break when Rob need a bathroom break at a "Black Saturday" event he was djing. Once he returned from school he began getting dj gigs on his own.
AKA "HE PLAYED IT FIRST"
Poke seems to be blessed with the ability to just kind of "know" what is hot. So whether its a the club, a party or on his blog, http://newslaps.blogspot.com , he's playing something fresh just for the masses, and more times than not... He's playing it first. He does admit that alot of times he doesn't get the credit, but he has the satisfaction of knowing how it really goes down.
BECOMING APART OF THE CORE DJS
There are six djs in the bay area that apart of the Core DJs: Dj Daisy Dukes, Dj D-Sharp, Dj Juice, Dj SuperJames, Dj Moe-1 and Dj SlowPoke.....
Core djs is about who matters in "their" market (Core djs are a nationwide organization) not about being on the radio, but bringing it back to the dj controlling the party.
MORE THAN JUST A DISC JOCKEY...
All in all Poke has the ear, the experience from promo, the audio engineering degree and plus musical tenacity runs in the family ( his uncle is neo-soul singer-songwriter/producer Rapheal Saddiq, his cousin is producer Mark Garvey) he is looking beyond the turntables. His interests in djing the party scene is already wanning, and he is very much looking into going into A&R. Which would take his career and love with music full circle....
Check out the DJ SLOWPOKE
HTTP://TWITTER.COM/DJSLOWPOKE
HTTP://NEWSLAPS.BLOGSPOT.COM
GET YOU SOME....... DJ SLOWPOKE HOSTED MIXTAPES...
< http://twitpic.com/3rwfnc > < http://omg.ly/2ZGZ > @Prank_GGI-"What The Bay Been's Missing" Vol. 2 Hosted By @Djslowpoke
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