The Complex 7: DJ Skee

Fresh off a residency in Macau (that’s China, suckas!), DJ Skee is back in the U.S. to continue his various endeavors—a popular online channel called SKEE.TV, a series of award-winning mixtapes and a radio show on L.A.’s KIIS-FM (102.7). Even with that full plate, Skee is still adding new hustles: Next week marks the debut of Skee’s new “Skeetox” show on XM/Sirius (Tuesdays, 10 p.m.) as well as the release of his latest project, a R. Kelly mixtape hosted by himself and DJ Drama. At only 25, Skee is clearly ahead of the game.

The NYC-born, Minnesota-raised DJ got his first break as a teenager when Stretch Armstrong introduced him to Steve Rifkind. The SRC owner liked young Skee’s ideas, and eventually brought him on as a consultant. Since then, Skee has helped launch the careers of Akon and The Game. Recently we got a chance to chat with Skee for another round of The Complex 7 in which he professed his love for Jordans and discussed how he put Chris Cornell on to Twitter. To read Skee’s answers and hear a snippet from his new tape, see below…


Snippet from The Demo Tape by DJ Drama, DJ Skee & R. Kelly

Interview by Jaeki Cho

#1: WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER ONE DEAL-BREAKER FOR A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND?

DJ Skee says: Girls who are around for the wrong intentions. Especially in L.A. it’s tough because they are so many actors and singers. And their looks matter. I might sound superficial, but I’m just being real.

#2: WHAT’S THE WORST WAY YOU’VE BROKEN UP WITH SOMEONE?

DJ Skee says: I could be a jerk sometimes. I just turn my phone off and be an asshole.

#3: WHEN’S THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

DJ Skee says: I’m not going to lie. I’m sensitive. I don’t recall what it was, but I know it wasn’t a romantic comedy. [Laughs.] I was probably watching a rerun of Forrest Gump. That’s real, man. When Bubba dies? Man…

#4: IF YOU HAD A WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

DJ Skee says: I’m dreaming someday when I could literally leave my phone home and just go to an island with a dope-ass spa in a nice hotel. Hang out, get on the beach all day and get a massage. Just do nothing and get your mind right.

#5. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SNEAKER OF ALL TIME?

DJ Skee says: Air Jordan XI. The first shoe I ever got was the Air Jordan X. Those were all right; I just got them to say that I have a pair of Jordans. But when the XIs came out? Those shut the game down. Shoes are like wine—some age well, some don’t. But Jordan XI is a classic. It actually looks better over time. So I literally have a hundred pairs of Jordan XIs in my room in various colors. And as a kid I had a Jordan XI in black and white, but couldn’t get the red and black. So when they retro’d those, I bought literally like 40 pairs.

#6: WHAT’S THE MOST EMBARRASSING PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU’VE EVER WORN?

DJ Skee says: I really can’t remember this one. [Laughs.]

#7: WHAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR FRIDGE AT ALL TIMES?

DJ Skee says: Well, I don’t drink liquor and I don’t even drink soda. So all I have is water and juice.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

Complex: What’s the latest mixtape that you are coming out with?

DJ Skee: I got one with Chris Cornell. It’s kind of like a mash-up with hip-hop, rock and soul. The new album that Timbaland produced for [Chris Cornell] got some backlash. I mean Chris Cornell from Soundgarden has one of the greatest voices in rock history, but rap fans just aren’t familiar with him. People just don’t open their ears. This mixtape is going to have all the old and new rock and hip-hop mash ups just to show that, “Yo, good music is good music.”

Complex: How did you get to work with Chris Cornell?

DJ Skee: His camp actually hit me up. He is just a super cool, workaholic dude. We just premiered [Chris Cornell’s] video “Long Gone” that we directed. I was the first person who really got him on Twitter. Now he has like 300,000 followers in a month. He didn’t know what it was and he didn’t know how to reply back to people with certain stuff. So I just took a day out, went to his house, showed him how to use it through BlackBerry and showed him how to upload pictures. He is addicted to it now. Even at KIIS-FM, I was in a meeting and I was like, “Twitter’s the next thing.” And everyone was like, “What is Twitter?” Now everybody’s on it.