Filthy words

It wasn’t until I typed this interview that I realized DJ Filth (born Kenny Smith) is insane. Totally off his rocker. He’s like a case study for attention deficit disorder.

He started out the interview like this: “You know what really grinds my gears?” and he kept talking until a part of my soul died. But, as the deejay and producer for Sacramento’s Tribe of Levi, Filth is a voice that should be heard.

Stay tuned for DJ Filth’s side project with the dynamic producer Styles 1001.

On better times:

“In the ’80s, Sacramento was a good spot to go. I remember when Shock G. used to show up at Harlow’s. He’d be on one playing the piano. He was getting pussy, staying relevant. And he would show up in Murs’ video years later. I mean, you’re only as big as your last hit.”

On media coverage:

“Here’s where my gripe is: When people say, ‘Oh, man, Sac doesn’t like hip-hop,’ I’ll be glad to say why motherfuckers should love it. I mean, how many times has there been something about hip-hop in the SN&R? The cover of Alive & Kicking [with the CUF on the cover] was like the last A&K hip-hop front-page [story]. And if people came out more and watched hip-hop, they’d wouldn’t be like, ‘Oh, it’s not Deftones. It’s not Cake.’ People segregate because no one wants to work together. No one says, ‘Hey, man, you want to do a show?’”

On the Sammies:

“I was talking with various artists in the game, and my vote for best artist of the year is Downtown James Brown, for so many reasons. Name one motherfucker that’s doing their hustle where you can go into an establishment and see him on the wall. And he has flair. What hip-hop is missing in Sacramento is Downtown James Brown.”

On the hustle:

“Remember the days when you came to a hip-hop show and people were just forcing you to buy their mix tape? It was like, ‘Yo, I just came from Wisconsin, dude.’ Back then, there was a chance you could get a CD with 13 tracks, but with 14 dope songs because of the hidden track. Now everybody’s putting out an EP, like, ‘My shit will be out in the summer of 2014.’”

On fan base:

There’s a 50-50 chance of people meeting you, enjoying you and following you later on, but [artists] have egos sometimes. It’s like, now you’re doing a show at the Java Café and you can’t speak to people anymore? That turns people away. It’s like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to Lipstick.’”

On speaking in fortune-cookie/haiku language:

“Utilize resources. … Don’t paint yourself in a corner. … You can move a lot faster when everyone’s going in the same direction. … One hand washes the other.”

On asking a valid question:

“Why is it that whenever you’re in a conversation with someone while you’re talking, the other person isn’t listening—they’re just waiting to talk?”

On ass kissing:

“Get on the light rail on Thursday and everyone’s got an SN&R. Even when they ain’t holding one, they’re [looking at someone else’s].”

On art:

“I’ll have a lock of your hair and some of your private memoirs. Put that in the Smithsonian.”

On, uh …

“Second Saturday should be every Saturday, like Black History Month.”

On hypocrisy:

“And I say all this because I’m the laziest dude in the game. But just because I’m not doing it don’t mean I can’t tell people, ‘Hey, do it like this.’”