From Beyond The Turntables, Meet DJ Gift

DJ Gift

DJ Gift, the self-described Rockstar DJ, is hellbent on making it out of The Gate City (Greensboro, NC) and making a name for himself, one venture at a time.

The recent high school grad is showing early signs of being a mogul in his own right. Outside of DJing, Gift’s influence surpasses the turntables.

He’s involved in real estate, fashion, and has even started cementing his position as an artist, linking up with YBT (Yung Boss Tevo) of the 83 Babies for his upcoming single, “Big Racks”, set to release later this year. The 18-year-old DJ isn’t your ordinary fresh-faced adult maneuvering throughout life off the strength, trying to figure it out.

He has a plan, a damn good one at that.

I just recently became a provisional broker and I’m going to continue doing that until I become a broker in charge,” says DJ Gift. “After I become a broker in charge, I’m going to do more house flipping to find properties for my real estate company, The New South,” he continues.

Life is a game built on decision-making, and sometimes you have to be willing to make the tough decisions in order to see the finish line, but when the fake love outweighs the real, you have to be disciplined enough to know the difference. “Some people only around just in case you make it, so they can feel like they were apart of something,” DJ Gift explains.

In an effort to better understand DJ Gift’s reserved disposition, Dirty Glove Bastard had a chance to speak with the rising entrepreneur to talk about life behind the turntables, the future of his Rockstar DJ brand and more.

Our conversation, lightly edited for clarity and context, follows below.

What was life like growing up in Greensboro, NC?

Growing up in Greensboro was pretty fun until I released I had to move, I feel like a shark in a fish tank.

Living here has taught me many lessons and made me want to achieve my goals even more to make it out, then come back and give to my city.

I also feel that it’s a lot of fake love.

Some people only around just in case you make it, so they can feel like they were apart of something.

Is their any significance behind your name, DJ Gift?

The Name Gift means a lot to me, it was given to me for a reason.

My uncle’s name is Gift and he solidified that name in the streets, but I’m trying to have a positive impact with the Gift name, turn it into something global.


At what point in your life did you decide to pursue DJing full-time? 

Around 11th grade year, I was 17 at the time and had almost dj’d for every club in the city. I was asked to go on numerous tours, but I couldn’t because of school.

The people around me felt that I could take this to the next level, so going into 12th grade year, I had put in a lot of work over the summer.

By my senior year, everyone knew I was going to take it to the next level, even my teachers.

Was DJing ever considered a distraction while you were in high school or how did you manage to find a balance?

I didn’t feel like DJing was a distraction to school. By the time I knew I really wanted to be a DJ, I felt like DJing was my job.

I honestly felt like school was the distraction to my DJ career, but I wanted to graduate from high-school for my grandma, because I knew I wasn’t going to college.

I never slacked in school, I was always on A/B honor roll. I was in the National Technical Honor Society and the National Society for High School Scholars program, so I always had the brains, I just knew what I wanted to use my brain for.

With your resume featuring DJing for talents like the 83 Babies, Quando Rondo, Toosii and more – what has been your most memorable experience so far? 

My most memorable moment was me DJing Yung Mal and Lil Quill’s set for the 2nd time at Greene St.

We was at the studio before, in the videos, the vibe was all organic, you feel me. They treated me like I was family even though it was business.

I still reach out to stay in contact with them, they good peoples.

What’s your why factor, why DJing? 

Well, when I started my musical career, DJing was the first thing factored in. I also try to involve myself in many different things, for example, I’m teaching myself how to make beats right now, but I can record, engineer, produce and write songs.

My pops was a DJ back in the day and he used to play his old mixtapes, I thought that was the coolest thing.

Ever since then, once I got older, I started seeing people like DJ B Eazy and DJ E. Sudd. After studying them, that’s when I knew I wanted to be more than just a DJ, I wanna be the DJ that’s gonna put my city on .

Outside of music, what peaks your interest?

I wanna invest my money and sell properties, because I’m also a provisional broker.

That’s huge, especially considering your age. With this in mind, what are the future plans for the Rockstar DJ brand as a whole. 

So yeah, I just recently became a provisional broker and I’m going to continue doing that until I become a broker in charge.

After I become a broker in charge, I’m going to do more house flipping to find properties for my real estate company, The New South.

My target market would be the middle-age/older crowd that live up North and want to move down South.

With my clothing line, Rockstar DJ, it was really just an idea to keep myself busy during quarantine, but now I realize that a lot of people see this as a real deal brand, so I’m going to treat it like a real brand and sell it on my website, which is in the making as we speak.

Talk to me about your upcoming single feat. YBT, of the 83babies.

Oh yea, so I got this single called “Big Racks” featuring my boy YBT (Yung Boss Tevo) prod by Flip.

I’ma be real, he just dropped the album Tayo Son and he blanked on that, so if you heard the album, then you already know what this about to sound like.

What has been the most rewarding part about your journey thus far in life?

Honestly, the most rewarding part of the journey so far was seeing my name on BET, VH1 and MTV, thanks to J white, owner of Underground Rich studios and the clothing line Carolina Shyt.

We were doing a Christmas event and brought Toosii and Rich Dunk to the Blind Tiger (Greensboro, NC).

I was DJing the event and he had a commercial advertised everywhere. A lot of my people’s saw it and after that, they knew that I was really working, like this is not a game.

About the Author

Derrius Edwards
Derrius is a music industry professional with experience in content strategy and editorial writing, sharing relevant and resonating stories as a conduit for hip-hop culture advancement.

Be the first to comment on "From Beyond The Turntables, Meet DJ Gift"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*