How would you describe your identity and background within the music world?
As an artist, I look to try and bring forth my own narrative and story to the world around me using art like photography as its medium. I feel as if it is the best way to bring my wild thoughts to life. For a musician and DJ? I am still learning and growing both in knowledge of the various genres I listen to each day – hip hop, R&B, K-POP, Rock, Jazz – and seeing both the cultural significance of it all and how it impacts us beyond just tapping our feet.
…how it impacts us…?
Music is much more than just a track that we put on to get through day-to-day life. It unites nations, people of conflicting views, brings entire communities together, and lets us have a moment of peace, a moment to release our stress and tension, a moment to feel free in a world that is chaotic. Music is more important than we realize. I think back to artists like Bob Marley who made music to bring people across the world together.
Have you always felt this way?
Maybe not as much as I do now, but I feel like in a way I might have always thought this but never truly understood the scope of this thought that I now have come to accept and believe in. There’s always music for something. An event, an emotion, etc. When we think of iconic moments, music is involved most of the time. You hum the theme of the X-Men or Avengers and people think back to the movies and the feeling of waiting for the Infinity War saga. When you hum an introduction of an anime, you can more than likely find someone else who knows it and spark a conversation. With having a break-up, there is always that one song that either empowers you to bounce back or a song that reminds you of what once was. Let it be good or bad.
You sang in church? Or you still do?
The Youth group sang every other week. It was really fun. I also learned that vocal ranges change as you grow up. I had a very high-pitched voice and went with soprano but as I grew up, I could manage alto at best but now I stay around the tenor range. With a good warm-up I can hit high notes but not like I used to. I played the brass line throughout High School. Trumpet, Tuba, Baritone, Trombone. But nothing sounds as heavenly as a Saxophone.
What’s YOUR favorite part of the saxophone, I guess what do people miss?
How versatile it can be. Have you ever thought about songs and thought “Let’s add a saxophone solo in it” and it turn out to be great? There may be a few songs out there that have what many call “Unnecessary saxophone solos” but they can be extremely fun to listen to.
Do you have any saxophone recommendations? Unnecessary solos or otherwise?
My most recent one would be “Profaned Community (From Fraudulence Vol. 1)” by Marzuku (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAcXVBtdHLg) and others. It’s a clash of music styles that shouldn’t work but do. And then the sax kicks in and it throws it into an entirely different realm. A mix of Nightcore, Video Game soundtracks, and of course the perfect Saxophone solo for a track like this.
What about your role within SCAD Atlanta Radio?
From my shows, you’ll be expecting some Old-School, Hip-Hop, and R&B, but now that we’ve been talking about it, I wouldn’t mind including a Jazz hour every once and a while just for sharing my love for the art to everyone. I’ve been doing DJ work with SCAD Radio for a long while. If we consider the gap it was inactive due to Covid, it’s been nearly 3 and a half years. Being on campus during COVID and when the SCAD Radio team had to change up due to moving buildings and more caused the music to shift a bit. That and my source of after-class activities was kinda gone. I understood why it was not up, but I had to make an adjustment. But believe me when I say that the moment restrictions lifted, I made my way to network to find who was in charge of the stations and how to get the music running again.
What was your role in that?
A ton of outreach, finding the people in charge, and leading the force to get things back up in running and establish the team that we have today!
And that was a challenge, right?
Indeed it was, but it was worth every second spent on it.
With that, DJ Afro encourages you to not listen with your ears or your soul, but listen with your heart. Music is a method which carries us in community and accompanies our lives. Singing along with a friend, sharing a jam sesh, or just making a playlist for that meet-cute; we are connected by a certain special groove, and it’s certainly special to you.
Interview by: Avenue Waddy