Jayceeoh Won 'Master of the Mix' and We Went to High School Together

Jayceeoh’s career took a big leap forward last year when he won the VH1’s Master of the Mix. But reality show victory was just the most recent success in a long career that tells the story of the ever-changing DJ hustle.

Jayceeoh spent the early 2000’s on his real hip-hop shit in Boston, battling and touring the world behind various rap luminaries. He was DJing for Wiz Khalifa when he had two tattoos. After sensing the limitations of that lane, he widened his scope beyond hip-hop and became a reputable club DJ, eventually relocated from New York to LA. He’s started producing more music of his own. Fool’s Gold released “Damn” (his collab with DJ Scene) and he’ll have a Bloody Beetboots remix on their next Ultra release.

But all that aside, Jayceeoh and I are both hip-hop DJ’s from Pittsburgh and we went to high school together. Although he’s way more successful than I am, we’ve run in similar circles for years and have dealt with some of the same problems trying to eat as professional DJ. Our conversation is a frank and (I hope) interesting reflection on those career choices.

Noisey: How did winning Master of the Mix change your career?
Jayceeoh: I think the biggest change is that it opened up doors that were semi-cracked before. A lot of people fucked with me and gave me respect, but I wouldn’t get all the necessary bookings and the right rates because I wasn’t represented by this or that agency. What the show really did was prove to the whole country and the world that I’m one of the top DJ’s out there. All the clubs that were on the fence about wanting to book me, instead of me calling them they’re calling me and we’re charging them double.

I’ve gotten really good management at Interlock, I recently signed with William Morris on the booking side so I can focus completely on being creative and I don’t have to stress any of the business shit, chasing down shady promoters or doing wack gigs. All that is taken care of for me so I can focus on being as dope as possible.

Do you think Master of the Mix did a good job of thinking outside the box about how DJing is more than just your ability to rock a party and scratch a little bit?
I feel like they covered a lot of bases. It would be almost impossible to cover every aspect of DJing; there’s so many levels of DJing and they also only had ten episodes. At the same time it’s TV so they had to dumb it down so Joe Schmoe who knows nothing about the back end of DJing and has never seen a real DJ in his life … they just want to be entertained. But it’s hard to please the real DJ’s and the mainstream people who don’t know anything about anything.

And anyways when you play party you’re never going to please everyone. DJ culture is so critical of itself, not everyone is going to love a show like that. But some people were really inspired by it. I still get hit by young kids like “the show inspired me to try this and that.”

Would you have won a Master of the Mix challenge where you have to track down a shady promoter to get your money?
I would have definitely won that challenge. I spent the greater part of my career doing exactly that.

Do you ever miss battling?
Nah. Hell no, haha. I would love to be involved in battles on the judging/showcase side, but as far as competing, there’s nothing more for me to prove.

Why did you decide to move back to Los Angeles?
The beauty of LA is … well, obviously the weather, but you can do things on your own pace out here. In New York, the second you step out the door you’re swept into the current. There’s all these distractions. In LA you can focus. New York is much more stressful and hectic. You don’t have as much room to have a clear mind and be in a creative space. New York is a crazy grind and I’m glad I did it, but once I reached a point where I was traveling, I would rather come to a relaxed environment, you know?

How much bigger is your apartment in LA than your last apartment in New York was?
Well … I have a house in LA and I had no windows in Brooklyn. I mean, obviously I came up on money from the show and I’m making more money now than when I was in Brooklyn, but even before that the place here I was paying $1000 for was three times the size of my place in Brooklyn which had no windows.

The idea of “more space in LA” is bigger than just literally the size of your apartment though.
It does make a difference. If you’re working in LA and you want to take a break and get a sandwich, you get in your fucking car, go to whatever restaurant you want and go get that sandwich. If you want to go to Guitar Center, you don’t have to take seven trains and deal with all these funky-ass people coughing on you just to get some new Serato records.

How do gigs in LA compare to gigs in New York?
The bottle service crowds are bottle service crowds everywhere. Everyone’s a douchebag and has an opinion on what you should play, but as long as you keep it moving and know the right record it’s all good. In terms of “cool” parties, I feel like there’s a few less out here because there’s less venues. New York has a million small venues, but the parties out here that are dope feel higher profile. like, The Do-Over … when it’s here, it’s really fucking dope. New York is such an ill city and so much great shit is going on and the general music knowledge of party-goers is higher in New York, but there’s pockets in LA where people are really up on their shit and people get down.

Who do you look up to DJ-wise?
Someone who I’ve always kind of paced myself after in terms of my progression is A-Trak. he comes from the battle world and transitioned successfully to the EDM scenario. But in terms of performance and music being made, Diplo is one of my top inspirations. He’s able to produce a hip-hop record, a weird reggae record, do an EDM track and then do some twerk shit. That’s kind of my style when I play but also as a producer, people want to tell me I should focus on one type of music but when I DJ I play all these different types of music and I know how to make that music dope. why can’t I produce all these different genres too?

Do you see longevity in DJing or do you think a DJ has to produce to have a legitimate career?
For me, production is 100% necessary. It depends where you’re trying to take it and where people want to go. If I just chilled with my DJ gigs right now, I could do good for a long time and stack a lot of money. But if I focus on production and step that up, my money can grow astronomically and the gigs will be so much better. I’m at a point where playing clubs is easy and fun sometimes but it eats away at my soul when I have to play the same old top 40 shit. If I want to pay festivals and hard-ticket venues where I can play music I produced and music that I think is dope, and people will come to see me, I have to be producing.

Right; production is the best way to make room for yourself as an artist.
Nobody’s booking a guy who’s just a DJ to play festival. That doesn’t happen anymore, you know?

What stupid shit did you buy with your $250,000?
I didn’t really buy anything stupid! the only thing I really did was move to a doper crib. I’ve just been saving and focusing on making new money tho.

You didn’t go out and buy the whole Louie store though.
Nah you know I’m Jewish!

Are you still working with Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller?
Yeah, I’d like to work with them more as more production comes along and get some placements with them on major projects. It’s a tough nut to crack even though I know all of them pretty well. But that’s still the homies and I see them all the time, whenever they’re in town we’re chillin and smokin and it’s all love.

You can't spell "Skinny Friedman" without "EDM." He's on Twitter - @skinny412