Interview w/DJ Cosmic “Strictly Skills” Kev (of Power 99/Come Up Show)
By: Justin Weleski
Download a FREE classic DJ Cosmic Kev mixtape “Jackin For Beats” Vol. 22 (1997) - Click HERE , AND to comment and look at track listing Click HERE

While growing up in Philly, listening to hip hop (way before the internet) we had very few outlets to hear what we wanted to hear. It was either requesting a music video on The Box or tuning on Power 99 on a late Friday night or if lucky enough coming across a DJ Cosmic Kev mixtape. On a website titled 215hiphop.com it’s only right that we finally got a rare opportunity to sit down with an innovator of both urban radio and the 215s hip hop DJ culture…DJ Cosmic “Strictly Skills” Kev. So in what may very well be his very first online interview we went all the way back to his days at WKDU through how, in 2008, he is still very much as relevant to the radio as he was when he first came onto it. So enjoy the read of not only the history of Cosmic Kev…but the history of urban radio, mixtapes and to the city known as “the home of the DJ.”

215: Numerous people (mixtape, club and radio DJs) mention you as inspiration for them being a DJ. Who was your inspiration in all of this?

DJ Cosmic Kev: Well there’s different levels of it. As far as DJing, my 1st inspiration to really get into it was this kid named Brian, AKA Grandmaster B from my block. I was like 12 or 15yrs old. He wasn’t scratching or anything like that but just blending one record into the next. The 1st people who were a high level inspiration to me were most definitely Grandmaster Flash and Grand Wizard Theodore. They were the 1st guys I actually heard scratch records and mix break beats. I was amazed by it. Because I was always into music and used to play the drums and no one else was doing what they were doing. That’s what got me into the game. As far as mixtapes I always made mixtapes but they were a different kind of mixtape. What I was making was the old tapes that New York was making by just recording block parties and whenever I was out DJing, just recording live. As far as the late 80’s and 90’s I would say Kid Capri and DJ Clue. I wouldn’t say they were inspiration, really, because I was already doing it. But they did make it national and made me change my way of doing mixtapes. It went to getting exclusives, exposing new artists and so on.

215: What was your first piece of DJ Equipment and first record?

Kev: SLB 12’s (belt driven turntables), Stanton needles and a Numark 1200 MD (I think) and a Gemini 2200.

215: For those who may not know, how many years have you been DJing for?

Kev: Been at it for 26-27 years.

215: Now most people that started back in the 80’s always had something else that they tried first or did. So what was yours? Graff? Breaking?

Kev: Nah I never did any of that. I was already musically inclined by starting off with the drums and was always into the actual music. I played the drums for 2-3 years.

215: Speaking of drums did you ever try to produce music by way of drum machines?

Kev: Yeah I had a group, which never really went anywhere, that I was affiliated with a group called Shockwave. We were signed to Damon Goodman the brother of Lawrence Goodman of Pop Art records. I did a few tracks with guys named John and Solomon. We shopped it around and there were a few labels interested but nothing materialized. I would gather up the samples and John and I would put the records together. Nothing ever on a commercial or high level.

215: What’s the exact story on how you first got into radio?

Kev: Well my actual first radio job that I ever had was at a station called WLFR at Stockton State College. It was a job with Mister Cee (not the same Mister Cee from New York) aka Cameron Williams. I think this was ‘87 in Atlantic City as an engineer for 2 to 3yrs. Then a friend of mine named Ahmed Khan who was a house DJ told me that I needed to go back to Philly to get on radio. So I came back to Philly after living in Jersey for 2 to 3yrs and my ultimate goal was to get on Power 99. At the time I knew Colby Colb but he didn’t really know who I was. I also knew Joe Simmons aka AJ Shine and he was on WKDU. He was a neighbor of mine. We used to do parties back in the day in the late 80’s. So when I came back he asked me if I wanted to come down and spin. From there we created a relationship and he made me a part of the show. It was me, him and Vernon Preston. We did that show for 3-4yrs but at the same time I was still trying to get on Power 99. Eventually, Colby Colb and DJ Ran helped me get into the building.

215: How did the Come Up Show develop?

Kev: What happened was I was a part of the show Radio Active that Colby Colb put me on and had me do every Friday for a half hour. Then Colby eventually moved up from doing the mix shows to evenings; Mon-Fri. 6pm-10pm. They felt that they didn’t want him doing both so he had to give the show to someone else. He gave it to me but he wanted to have a host on it with me. So that’s when I brought in AJ Shine and he did it for a few months. I guess, as times go on, relationships change and at that time we had a falling out and he wasn’t the host any more. That’s when a guy named Wongest came in and worked for like a year or so. Then, Q Deezy came in and has been there for like 5-6yrs now. Out of everybody who I’ve worked with Q Deezy’s been the best…hands down. But it came along as a bounce off Radio Active and Colby passed the torch. Even though he works for the other station I ain’t even gonna front. I just tell it how it is.

215: I imagine anyone can walk into the station and you keep your cool. But who was the first guest you ever had that made you nervous before they came & during the interview?

Kev: Wow it’s been so long I’m trying to think. It had to be Biggie. Because I remember I was really amazed that Biggie was coming to the station. No matter what I am doing, I’m always a fan first while keepin’ a solid level of professionalism. But Biggie coming into the station back then that was really big to me.

215: You were one of the first mixtapes I ever heard back when it was straight, no talking and just pure raw mixing. At what point did you start to see mixtapes becoming more hype & personality than actual DJ skill? And what made you switch your style to stay current with the times?

Kev: Okay I’m going to go back a little bit. When I was first in the mixtape game really hard in the early 90’s up until maybe 2002; I used to make personalized tapes in my basement for specific customers, as opposed to making one tape and just dubbing it (at first.) I used to go into the mom & pop stores like Armands and City Sound. They used to ask me what was on it? Then they would say that’s alright but Clue, Ron G, and Whoo Kid got the hottest tape out right now. I used to be like “why are those tapes so hot?” And then they’d reply that “they have the hot new exclusives” So I was like “so what, those guys don’t have any skills; they’re just talking and playing songs.” At that point it was the consumer that wanted it. After a few years, because I used to hate being dismantled, I got myself together and a friend told me: Look you can’t beat them at that game. How they get exclusives; you need to step your game up and get that but still be yourself, mix and cut, just have some exclusives on there so you’re not selling out, but your giving the people what they want.
Then I started to gather up the exclusives and at the same time still do my thing. So it’s sad to say but in order to get in the game I was still myself but I had to compromise to get the consumer to want my stuff. The times changed and people didn’t really care about being a skillful DJ anymore. To me that’s what Philly was all about! But, the times change and kids don’t want to hear all that. They want to hear new songs that you can still cut over but it’s the exclusives they want. That’s what kinda made me change in that aspect. It got to the point where even people at my job were getting more notoriety for being more vocal on a record, because if you have a new record, and not claiming the record, and making it your own then another person will and get credit for breaking it. Now I don’t think you should talk through the whole record or anything like that, but you really have to adapt to the times without selling out. I also feel at a certain point you need to decide if you want to stay underground. Not that there’s absolutely anything wrong with that. Or to become mainstream but you’re going to have to give and take a little bit and adapt to what people want to hear. That’s what made me change my style a bit with both radio and mixtapes.

215: Many DJ’s and personalities I talk to today in urban radio say they’re just doing a job and a lot of the fun has really been taken out of what they do. Do you agree and what keeps you going in this industry?

Kev: It’s definitely still fun for me.

215: You serious?

Kev: Yeah it is. What makes it fun for me is when I get a new record and I know that record is a hit. I play that record, talk about it, and take ownership of the record. And people say later “ohh Comsic Kev said that record was hott a long time ago and now it’s all over.” That’s really the only thing that’s still fun to me to and its keeps me going. I like challenges in knowing if a record is hot or not. Especially to keep relevant in this game, because there’s so many DJs that have come and gone. I’m still on radio not because my boss loves me but because I’m still able to keep a relevant ear to music. I adjust to what is going on now and not what happened before. That goes from the turntablist knowing what new scratches to use, to the on-air personality knowing what new songs to talk about, to having a relevant ear and stayin’ sharp to what this new generation wants to hear.

215: Mentioning how hip hop has such a huge generation gap now when do you think old school hip hop will have its on dial on FM radio? Now it’s either very young (Power 99) to very old (WDAS.)

Kev: Well it’s already on satellite but as far as Urban AC (Adult Contemporary) stations go they feel like rap is a young audience, which it is. They feel that old school rap is also still for the younger generation. They gotta understand that the average 35-40yr old was brought up on rap. They may have been exposed to the Temptations & Barry White but they were brought up on Kurtis Blow, the Melly Mels, and even the EPMDs. Urban AC’s are afraid to touch it because to them it’s still just rap. Where the problem is that when they hear of old school rap and an audience of 30-40yr olds, they don’t think that exists. They think that age demographic doesn’t want to hear rap anymore. I personally don’t think that’s true. I think it could happen on FM, someday, we’ll see.

215: Going back to breaking new artists and records I remember you were one of the first to really show 50 Cent a lot of love. Even up to this day he shows you a lot of love back and it seems that you guys have a solid relationship. So if you could explain to us a little bit about the history of that?

Kev: The one thing about 50 Cent is that I will always say is that no matter how much fame and fortune he’s been able to obtain, and he changed a little bit (just about anyone else on the planet would), but I can still get 50 Cent on the phone with no problem. The problem I’ve seen with numerous other artists is that once they get to a certain level they change so much and you can’t even get a hold of them. With new artists my thing is if a person is really buzzing like that, it’s my job to play them. As far as new Philly cats we got Meek Milz, Joey Jihad and Reed Dollaz; a lot of my audience loves those guys. So it’s my job as a person who’s connected to the streets to give them some type of outlet. And my boss depends on me to do that, cause my boss isn’t on the block or in the studio so if your buzzin that hard, then that’s my job. The same situation went towards 50 cent. He took an avenue that once again no body was taking and you got to remember back in the day artists were fronting on mixtapes and to get an artist to host your mixtape or do one was like pulling teeth. He used that avenue to blow himself up. I just felt that I needed to put him on and I took a chance on that, and he’s still the same person today when I first played his record.

215: You do show a lot of love to local artists on your show. But you show no love to the so called “other side” of underground hip hop; artists who actually tour the world, put out internationally distributed albums, invest in they’re own albums, and so on. So why is that?

Kev: Well its two things: 1) I just don’t know of them and 2) its like what I said before that if an artist is really buzzing and I hear about it. I want to inquire about it. If I don’t hear anything about it, it’s impossible for me to play it. A lot of the so called purist artists I just don’t know them and I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to get to know them, I just don’t. So maybe you may know some and can put me down with. But also I feel that a lot of those artists don’t make themselves be seen or heard. Like you look at these street artists they go out on a limb and make themselves both be seen and heard and a lot of purist artists don’t simply do that. I think the last purist artist that I came across that made his presence felt and that I heard so many good things about was Journalist. So I’m not saying it’s not possible that I wouldn’t give a purist artist a chance to be on my show at all. I just need to hear it.

215: With even having the Come Up show having such a strong brand name in this city. Do you still catch heat for bringing up un-signed local artists to the station?

Kev: No. Well we have a different policy now where we pre-record 95% of our shows. Because some artists don’t understand security issues and that they can’t come into the studio with a thousand of their boys smoking blunts, like some artists just don’t understand that. You know, it’s a place of business. So we prerecord a lot during business hours.

215: And how does one local artist get on your show?

Kev: Well lately I would like people to email me at: strikskillz@aol.com because I’m actually looking right now for a diamond in the rough that no one has heard yet.  Everyone’s already heard of Joey, Gillie, Reed, and so on. Everyone’s already heard of them, so I’m looking for something new. Just as long as it’s hot.

215: Did you ever at one point want to DJ for an MC and go on tour?

Kev: I wanted to do that the first 15-20 years of DJing. I don’t want to now due to having a family at home. It’s something I wanted to do early on and the last artist to ask me was LL Cool J a few years ago but nothing materialized. As far as an upcoming DJ goes, touring is great opportunity to see the world and to get known.

215: Now what is your favorite show, guest, or freestyle that was ever on the come up show?

Kev: Wow there are so many classic moments. I remember one time when Cam’ron called up back in the day. This was when he used to roll with Children Of The Corn in New York back when he first came in the game. He rapped on the phone line for at least 30 minutes straight and we had to shut him off after 20 minutes. We came back off a commercial break and he was still on the phone rappin. Of course a classic show was when Major Figgas and Beanie Sigel came up for the very first time back when they were the most talked about MC’s at that time, back in like ‘98 or ‘99. That was classic. Biggie was a classic show. Black Thought killed it one time and I would like to have him back. Thought holla at me!

215: Now speaking of interviews you very, very rarely do any. How come you don’t do any local interviews?

Kev: Yeah I don’t do a lot of interviews at all and if you listen to me on the radio you would think I’m a real out going type of guy. But really I’m not and am more of a private person. And I just don’t give out a lot on interviews and as you can see I’m not really a flashy dude. I’m not broke - I’m not rich. I’m just a normal guy you could walk pass me and not even know it’s me. I’ve done some things with MTV and BET but I’m more into my craft and being happy at what I’m doing and am not that concerned with trying to be bigger than the next person.

215: Now what’s the one thing you like to do in your personal life to relax?

Kev: Your probably gonna laugh but I’m a big UNO guy. Me, my kids and my family get together and have big UNO tournaments. But other than that I’m just a chill guy, hang out with friends, watch movies and just lay low.

215: What is in the near future for you?

Kev: Trying to seal some deals with a few artists and trying to get this publishing company done. I had aspirations of being a program director but am not sure if God’s path is going to take me that way. I’m not counting it out totally because I always would love to be a radio programmer so who knows. And probably stay on the radio for the next 5-8yrs.

215: Now for those living under a rock, when are you on the radio?

Kev: Monday - Thurs 8pm-9pm, Fridays 10pm-2am, Saturday 6pm-9pm, Power 99 - Listen online at power99.com

215: Any last shouts:

Kev: Shouts to you for the interview, Brock of Heat Holders, my cousin Skip, the whole Power 99 family. Q-Deezy, my family and THANK YOU to anyone who’s ever bought a tape from me or tuned in on the radio whether you loved it or hated it; thank you and I appreciate it.

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