When it comes to hip-hop, the art of sampling is a form of appreciation, respect, and admiration embedded in between chords which can be used to convey a larger message, deepen an understanding, and bring artistic flair.
DJKool is known for his work as a turntable master, producer, and rapper, who used his musicality to pioneer the connection between go-go and local hip-hop music. The proud D.C. native used the funk-based genre to create a lane of connectivity in the club culture with the success of his 1996 massive hit Let Me Clear My Throat earned a Top 40 spot on the Billboard Chart. However, before DJ Kool was making anthems and he was mastering his skillset in the birthplace of go-go — Washington D.C.
The nation's capital is embedded into everything that DJ Kool is as a person and artist. His love for music began with his familial unit who were also musically inclined and gave him the foundation and support of his own artistic journey.
"First and foremost, just growing up in a musical household. Just hearing music that my parents were playing. Hearing the blues and jazz that my father was playing, hearing the gospel music that my mother was playing," DJ Kool said.
While his home gave him the starting point to his musical experience, he sought out more knowledge which in turn introduced him to a different scene.
"Later on, when I was old enough to go into clubs, a good friend of mine, my best friend at the time, took me to my first club," he continued. "That's where I saw my first DJ in a club. He called himself Maniac McCloud. It was the mid-70s and at that time, he was, I would say, the best DJ in the city at that time, in the clubs."
What stood out for DJ Kool about Arthur "Maniac" McCloud was the way he captivated an audience, a skill that he himself would later pick up when he would be behind the turntables.
"He was more than a DJ. He was actually an entertainer. He would be on the mic as he was playing music," he added. "All his mixes were seamless, perfect. But at the time, he was just very entertaining to the audience. So that was my first introduction into, I guess, the music world."
After getting his first look at the work of a DJ in a club, he began to pave his own way. DJ Kool began working for a mobile DJ company called the Sound Service for two years. His work there led him to be approached by Keith Jefferson who told him "you are good enough to be playing in the clubs."
Jefferson then referred him to work at Paragon 2 where DJ Kool worked from 1976 to 1982. He then worked in several D.C. clubs on a regular basis over the years until 1996.
DJ Kool, his musical journey, and the success of Let Me Clear My Throat
In his years of mastering the skills of a DJ, he also worked on his lane as a producer and rapper. In 1990, he released Music Ain't Loud Enuff, which housed hits such as the title track, "I Can Make You Dance," "Reggae Dance," and "What the Hell You Come In Here For."
From there, DJ Kool was able to step into his next chapter which came from the success of Let Me Clear My Throat. There wasn't a club in the late 90s that was not playing the hit record. The song itself features a sample from "The 900 Number" by the 45 King — which samples Marva Whitney's Unwind Yourself — and "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool & the Gang. The single skyrocketed DJ Kool into international stardom where he was on states worldwide performing the hit. Let Me Clear My Throat is a special track, but the success of it was not something DJ Kool anticipated.
"I did it because I was trying to capture the live essence of the song. The audience didn't know that we were recording — I gave the engineer the countdown, he hit record, and the rest is history. We recorded it in one take."
"You never expect anything like that," DJ Kool said defiantly. "For me, coming from a standpoint, that's just God, you know, doing what he does. If you're using the gift that has been given to you correctly."
DJ Kool would then piggyback off the success of Let Me Clear My Throat to work alongside Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh for the Let Me Clear My Throat (Old School Reunion Remix). He recalled meeting Doug E. Fresh during a 1987 award ceremony; DJ Kool collected nine awards at the DC Street Award show.
He would then meet the late Biz Markie the following year in New York. DJ Kool would then work with the two artists for the remix of his hit a couple of years later where he used the audio from a video recording for playback for the music video to which Biz and Doug were astonished by his choice to record in this way.
"I said, we're going to record the first pass live and then after we get that in the can, then you can use that for the playback for the rest of your footage, for your B-roll footage," DJ Kool said.
"People are like, wow, I've never seen that before. I said, 'You'll probably never see it again, honestly.'"
At the time, DJ Kool said, "I don't know anybody's ever done that. Like some people, that's crazy."
DJ Kool then explained the reasoning behind him wanting to capture the record in this way as he previously experimented with the recording style for earlier records.
"But see, I did that because I was trying to capture the live essence of the song. We also recorded 1994 20 Minute Workout and 1995 I Got That Feeling and live in one take," he shared. "The audience didn't know that we were recording that song. Nobody knew. The only person that knew was myself, my DJ, and my recording, my live recording engineer. I gave him the countdown. He hit record play and the rest is history. We recorded it in one take."
In a sense, while the method of a live recording for this kind of record could have been looked at as different or unorthodox, DJ Kool's capability of having the breadth of live music culture through his recordings was a no-brainer.
Fast-forward to over a decade since the release, the song created several opportunities such as opening for Beyoncé which then led to opening up for the singer and Jay-Z when they toured together.
"Getting an opportunity to be one of the opening acts for Beyoncé with DJ Khaled was amazing," he said referring to the 2016 Formation Tour. "I'm just sitting here looking at the TV and I get a call from Khaled. I'm thinking it was like a prank call or something at first, until I recognized his voice."
"To make a long story short, he said, 'Man, I want you to come. I do like a little DJ segment before Beyoncé comes out and I just want you to be a part of it. I want you to come out and do Let Me Clear My Throat.' And I did it and it was nuts. It was incredible," he said.
The opportunity to open for some stops during Jay-Z and Beyoncé for their 2018 joint On The Run II Tour also had a similar fashion with a phone call from DJ Khaled.
"So that was two great opportunities right there, even though I never got a chance to meet Beyoncé either one of those times."
"But Jay-Z, I've been knowing him since 96. We've been performing together off and on since 96, when he first dropped his first album, Reasonable Doubt," he explained.
"I know him anytime, anywhere that he has ever seen me, he will always make sure that he stops and we converse a little bit and then we kind of keep it moving. So he's never, ever tried to play like he was better than me or anything like that. He's always, always gave me respect, always."
What's next for DJ Kool
DJ Kool has more stories to tell through his music. While he feels there is still a lot more to accomplish — he has his eyes set on bringing a Grammy to D.C. — he has a new project underway called DJ Kool's House Party Project.
The album will not only honor his D.C. roots, but the legacy of his late friend, Sam "The Man" Burns, who passed away in 2020.
Burns was known as a prominent house DJ in D.C., which is why for this next project, DJ Kool will be using the 80s and 90s-influenced house music and 70s and 80s-influenced disco music for this upcoming project.
Having iconic music figures such as Marvin Gaye, Duke Ellington, Roberta Flack, Chuck Brown — "The Godfather of Go-Go" — put D.C. on the map, DJ Kool is confident that his contributions will speak volumes.
DJ Kool's House Party Project plans to capture the essence of D.C. with legends in the forefront.
