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DJ Drama’s ear for new and upcoming talent in the hip-hop world has defined his career as a DJ, record executive and music promoter. Earning the title 'King of the Mixtape', DJ Drama is the co-founder of Generation Now which he co-founded with Don Cannon. It is the record label which is an Atlantic Records imprint and has signed numerous talented artists including Jack Harlow, Skeme and Lil Uzi Vert. He was made popular when he was announced as the official DJ for the Atlanta rapper T.I. His mixtape made him where he is now.
What Ignited His Passion For Creating Music
DJ Drama’s real name is Tyree Simmons who was born and raised in the Germantown area of Philadelphia and was born on April 22, 1978. When he was about thirteen years old, his sister has taken him to the New York City where he bought his first ever mixtape. Since then, he began making his own music and tapes which included Illadelph featuring numerous artists like Dice Raw, Malik B., Black Thought and a lot more. Soon after, he started experimenting with the turntables and during that time he was attending the Central High School in Philadelphia and eventually graduated in 1996
When he entered high school, they have moved to Atlanta to attend the Clark Atlanta University where he decided to pursue mass communication. During his time there, he met Philadelphia-raised DJs, Don Cannon and DJ Sense. The three of them eventually end up forming the Aphilliates DJ and artist collective. During his time at the Clark Atlanta University, he started producing and releasing some of his mixtapes under the moniker, DJ Drama. At the time, he released his first series titled Electric Relaxation which included some R&B tracks. He then released his first ever mixtape which composed exclusively by Southern hip hop such as Three 6 Mafia, Mystikal and Outkast. It was a huge success which led to him starting numerous mixtape series after including Gangsta Grillz. He soon graduated from the Clark Atlanta University in 2000.
Beginnings Of His Career And Producing The Album Series Gangsta Grillz
Together with Don Cannon and DJ Sense, DJ Drama has decided to official form a music group with them named Aphilliates Music Group (AMG) in 2003. AMG started distributing the mixtape series of DJ Drama titled Gangsta Grillz which had early successes at the time with artists like T.I.'s Down with the King in 2004 and Jeezy's Trap or Die in 2005. They soon cohorts into hosting some radio shows on the Atlanta's Hot 107.9 and on Eminem's Shade 45 channel broadcasted on Sirius Satellite Radio. At the end of the year 2005, Drama has already produced and even hosted Lil Wayne's The Dedication mixtape which have spawned a long series of more Dedication tapes. The following year, they have released Dedication 2 on May 2006 which appeared on the top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and was even tagged as among the top 10 best recordings of 2006 by The New York Times.
They then decided to sign a joint venture deal with the Asylum Records on September 2006. The first artist they have signed was American rapper Willie the Kid. However they had a setback when their studios in Atlanta were raided by the Fulton County police officers who eventually seized everything on the studio including the 80,000 mixtapes, 4 vehicles and all of their recording equipment. DJ Drama and DJ Cannon was taken into custody for RICO charges, however there was no legal action was ever taken against Drama or Cannon relating to the said raid. Despite this setback, DJ Drama continued releasing the Gangsta Grillz: The Album in December 2007 with the Grand Hustle label. It was successful and after two years, he decided to release the second installment titled Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2) which turned out successful as well.
Establishing Generation Now With DJ Cannon
DJ Drama has co-founded the DJ incubator and art collective, The Academy, with DJ Sense and Don Cannon in August 2013. However, less than a year after setting up The Academy, DJ Drama decided to join the A&R at Atlantic Records where had signed several artists to the label in his first year. During this time, he continued producing the mixtapes for artists like 50 Cent, Nipsey Hussle and Snoop Dogg. Just a year after he joined the A&R at Atlantic Records, he decided to establish Atlantic Records imprint, Generation Now, with DJ Cannon. Among their first signees was Lil Uzi Vert.
DJ Drama has served as the executive producer on Lil Uzi Vert’s debut commercial mixtape. With their perseverance and great talent for their craft, Generation Now had its first number one on the Billboard 200 with Uzi’s debut studio album titled Luv is Rage 2. With this, they eventually signed more artists on their label including Lyquin, Jack Harlow, Skeme, Lil James and Killumantii. Currently, they are among the most successful label with hip-hop artists and there is no stopping their success.
Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Wealthy Persons, Complex
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