A music lovers prayer:
God. Bless the DJ. May he play something that
makes my cares and troubles float away. May he or she
Dear God, teach me the meaning of rhythm and dance. May
he/she make me awaken my awareness of fresh new talent, vibrant
talent, and masterful talent. Bless the DJs hands and
ears. Stay with the DJ lord as he/she leads us down the
path of all that is good and satisfying in the realm of musical
offerings.
Amen.
Not everyone can be a DJ. In the bigger scheme of things
the DJ is master conductor who must keep the party going. Some
DJs are good at one genre of music. The genius of Junior
is that he is a master of discovering great talent, no matter
the genre.
His mission is to bless us with music we may not hear on a
daily basis; music that needs to be heard.
Each Friday from 6 to 9 PM EST, Junior shares this passion
for independent artistry on Eavesdrop,
the radio show he co-hosts with Philly producer Lil’ Dave .
The 6-YEAR-OLD show, which is broadcast by Drexel University’s
WKDU-FM and airs on Junior’s web site, www.recordbreakin.com,
features interviews with artists like King Britt, Mark de Clive-Lowe,
Ursula Rucker, Dwele, Lizz Fields, Platnium Pied Pipers, Jazzanova,
and tracks by hundreds of signed and unsigned musicians. By
providing a platform for those outside of the commercial loop,
Eavesdrop has attracted a worldwide following of thousands,
including ?uestlove, Zap Mama, Benji B (BBC 1Xtra), Rich Medina
and Foreign Exchange’s Nicolay.
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Junior is a very modest DJ who maintains that education is
his underlying cause in doing all that he has done for many
artists around the world who may not receive love through conventional
channels. What else can you expect from a brotha with
a PHD in education who has also worked for the Dept. of Education. Yes
education is his passion.
His show and career as a DJ, let Junior tell it, just took
on a life of its own. Once he started making his mixtapes,
folks eventually began contacting him asking if they could
get on. His mixtape “Lend Me Your Ear” recieved
distribution overseas in both Europe and Japan.
True to his word whatever is left over from the sales of the
CD goes to an educational charity.
“My purpose is not to take,” explains Junior. “But
to give.”
Not genre specific, you’re liable to hear a good mix
of whatever’s out that’s good. Eavesdrop
is definitely a show for those whose ears extend past the box.
“I’m not genre specific, because you limit yourself when you do
that. The music I like depends on my mood and vibe. All I ask
is that it be soul-full,” he says.
His “o-come-all-ye-soulful” philosophy has paid
off big time. His show Eavesdrop is downloaded over 2500
times weekly.
Steadily booked overseas...hey how did he tap into the overseas
market anyway?
“I went to visit some friends and they were like hey
bring some records. Well I was just trying to visit
and have fun, but I brought my records anyway. Before
I knew it they had me spinning over there. It just kinda
took wings from there.”
Well overseas loves him, but he does have plans to bring his
tour stateside and soon. Junior has a lot on his plate.
Not only is he booking more gigs and being selected at ‘beat-finder’ for
multiple projects, but he owns his own artist development firm.
According to his bio, “...Junior is as low-key as they
come, his unique gifts haven’t gone unnoticed, On the
strength of his Eavesdrop interviews and the content he writes
for recordbreakin.com, Junior was invited to Amsterdam, London,
Manchester, and Lisbon where he did a dj tour, guest radio
spots on BBC Radio 1Xtra, and interviewed various musicians
and producers for various publications. He also pens music
reviews for Beautiful Decay magazine, The Philadelphia
Weekly and writes a column for Dork Magazine.
In 2005, Junior was selected to design a sneaker for ‘Puma’s
Mongolian Barbecue’ project. He also
began ‘Excursions’,
a monthly listening lounge at Philadelphia’s Latest Dish.”
Did we mention that he served as “beat-finder” for
Nicolay and Wale Oyejide? He was one of the producers
for Wale Oyejide’s afro/broken-beat album“The
Afrofuture”and served as Nicolay’s beat finder
for “I Love The Way You Love” featuring Darien
Brockington on Nicolay’s 2006 album “Here.”
Whew...hope we haven’t missed too much.
Of course theirs more to his story. Check
out www.recordbreakin.com.
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