The Oridgenators presented by Ruffles is a six-part IGTV series that spotlights pioneering Black creators from the intersecting worlds of basketball, sneakers, social media, music, and entrepreneurship. Each episode profiles one unique individual who defied societal norms in pursuit of their dreams to inspire and uplift.
Some creators instinctively know their calling, while others figure it out more serendipitously. For DJ Clark Kent, his career in music came accidentally.
“When I was a kid I used to mess around with my grandmother’s stereo,” Kent says. “One day when she was coming in from work, I made her favorite record play and she was so happy. [Her happiness] did something to me.”
What it did was it ignited a passion and a drive to master his love for music. “Once I saw my grandmother happy because I played a record, that turned into wanting to really understand how I could [continue to] get joy from that.”
During the final installment of the Oridgenators, Kent strolls down memory lane and speaks in length about his multifaceted music career, which all stems from his beginnings as a DJ. “If I’m not a DJ, then none of these other things happen,” he says. “I don’t become a producer. I don’t become a record exec. Everything is because I’m a DJ.”
Yet, despite all of Kent’s successes and challenges, no matter what comes his way he keeps an open perspective whatever the outcome. “I never looked at the things that didn’t happen as an L,” he says. “I look at the things that did happen as a win. I don’t think there are wins and losses. I think there are wins and lessons.”
