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Doin' the Damn Thing:
Toronto DJs making some noise: Golden Child...
YOU WANTED TO KNOW
Positive, deep, focused and real, these are a few words that I would use to describe Gordon, a.k.a. Golden Child.
I was really curious about his DJ name, so the first question out of my mouth was, "How did you come up with your name?" He was quick to say that he didn't come up with the name; "some of his boys" came up with his alias.
When he was younger, some of his friends were involved in some less than legal activities, and since he did not want to get caught up in all the drama, he constantly told them "there's a better way out." Determined to do better with his life, he made up his mind and shied away from the thug life. He did continue to hang out with his boys, but chose to go down a different path. As a result, his friends nicknamed him "Golden Child." When shit was about to go down, they told him to leave because they didn't want him to be involved, but more importantly, they knew that he was destined for something great.
It was in 1996 that Golden Child got his first taste for DJing. He was a co-host on the radio show, "Tuesday Night Live with Darkman," on CHRY 105.5 FM, but would occasionally jump in and play a few sets when Darkman, the DJ, would sneak out for a smoke break. He hit the turntables and developed a serious love jones for DJing.
It was at this young age (he was fifteen years old when he started the show with the other members) that his love for spinning tracks grew even stronger. They eventually turned the normal hip hop show into "a crazyass hip hop, I-don't-give-a damn" type of show. A lot of people loved the show, but he assured me that the Program Coordinator didn't. He admits that he was given a lot of freedom, especially for a fifteen-year-old, and pushed that freedom to the edge.
"A bunch of stuff that we were doing, we could not get away with…we were swearing [on air] and saying explicit things." They were put on probation during a brief period, but were not directly informed that they were put on probation. "The committee (a committee that regulates the content of the radio station) listened during one particular show…and we were ridiculous." It was soon after that they were kicked off the show.
"I think it was the best thing that could have possibly happened to us. It really opened up our eyes to a lot of things. Mine at least. You could really lose something you care so much about."
Once he was kicked off, it was about six months later that he landed a spot as a guest DJ on the ill kidz show, "The Morning Rush" (Tuesday mornings from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM), a hip hop program also on 105.5 FM. The ill kidz were featured on his cancelled show, and they returned the favour by asking Golden Child to fill in from time to time. Another added bonus was that they were friends from way back.
Some of the members of the ill kidz have since left the show and gave the time slot to Golden Child. He has been honing his DJ skillz on "The Morning Rush" for the past six years (the show is co-hosted by Noodlez, from the ill kidz family, and Melissa) and enjoys every minute of it. I could tell that he loves doing the show because he doesn't have any immediate plans to leave the station. He was approached to go to other radio stations, but said, "The time just wasn't right."
In addition to throwing down every week on the show, Golden Child rocks the crowd at several clubs in Toronto. He spins R&B and hip hop primarily, and tries to throw in a few conscious tracks for the crowd - like Black Star's "Definition." He chooses to not be tied down to just one club, as he needs "constant stimulation," and he also states that he likes "to keep things spontaneous." I thought that was free-spirited of him, as playing exclusively at a club would provide stability and financial security. I asked him about that and he said that he DJs for the love of music, rather than for the monetary gain. Preach it, my brotha!
In most jobs, there is a certain amount of office politics that are involved. DJing is no different. Golden Child revealed how much he hates the politics [of DJing] because "sometimes it's who you know…[club promoter]… and the relationship that you have with the promoter that will guarantee you a spot."
As we near the end of the interview, Golden Child confesses that even though he is very happy DJing, it is "secondary to a lot of things." He is currently enrolled at York University (majoring in Communications and minoring in Political Science and History) and says that school takes priority before anything else. His long-term goal is that he sees himself "influencing a great number of people," either by being involved with the community, or being behind the scenes in the media industry. His ultimate goal is to own his own television station.
I begrudgingly click off my tape recorder as I realized that the interview lasted well over an hour. I have to admit that I could have spoken about music and DJing for another two hours. I loved what he had to say about DJing, about the music industry (we had a long conversation about R. Kelly and Nelly - we agreed that R. Kelly is a dumbass for his freakish ways, and Nelly's "Air Force Ones" was the WORST song ever released!), and he also made me want to try my luck on the wheels of steel. Maybe one day I'll crash his show and watch him DJ up close and personal so I can steal his skillz. Maybe he'll let me spin a few tracks. Yo Golden Child, you think you could hook a sista up with some lessons? Holla at me. ¤ Michelle