A man of musical excellence along with many accomplishments, our very own Darryl “D.C.” Chambers had the chance to interview none other than the legendary DJ and HBCU alum, DJ Scream. Starting as a bedroom DJ at the age of twelve, the Decatur native and Tuskegee University Alumnus is widely known for hosting some of today’s top hit mixtapes and albums; Gucci Man’s “Gucci Sosa”, Rick Ross’s “Rich Forever”, Young Jeezy’s “1000 Grams Pt.1”, Future’s “Dirty Sprite”, Migos “YRN” and many more. He also is a host and one of the creators of the hit podcast show “Big Facts Podcast”, the number one podcast in the streets along with being the founder of “The Scream Foundation.”
The Scream Foundation is a 501c3, non-profit organization, established in 2020. Their mission is to focus on education, empowerment and to inspire youth in underserved communities. They strive to do this by providing youth with essential necessities, so they can direct that focus into achieving their goals. Their primary goal is to always support youth in underserved communities by hearing their concerns, acknowledging their disparities and making sure that they have a voice that is heard. When asked how he ended up at Tuskegee University, Scream goes on to say, “My music journey started in middle school, something that was always second nature to me was numbers and math. At the time I’m young boy. They say do you know engineers can make like $60,000 to $80,000 a year and I said oh yeah man! A engineer makes what and I have no money?!”, sparking his interest in higher education.
Adding that when he got to Tuskegee University, he actually loved the campus and the vibe. He eventually attended Tuskegee University, majoring in Engineering, but completing his college career with a Bachelors in Math. Throughout that time, Scream was also dealing with his mother having cancer and his father having high level diabetes which led to them ultimately passing while he was away in college.
He says that if it wasn’t for his support system at Tuskegee University versus him going to another institution, he would’ve just been another number but had the support he truly needed at his respective Black Institution. “They really sat with me and said whatever needs to be done given your circumstances to continue your education, don’t worry about your finances or anything. We’re here to support you as a Black man and his family. That’s one thing I always definitely pay homage to Tuskegee University for. Aside from my friends and peers, the University truly supported me.”, says Scream.
His DJ career started as young as twelve years old, stating that he had no expectations and was just having fun. From mixtapes, battle DJing to becoming a professional in DJ and music culture, it went from a full-time hustle in college turned career. This became his main source of income while other students utilized on and off-campus jobs. Saying that he was blessed to meet DJ Caesar early in his music career, who embraced him and introduced him to certain aspects of DJing. From DJing smaller parties around the city and state to dominating clubs, Frat parties and larger venues along with DJ Caesar, which marked the beginning of their huge impact on DJ and music culture.
Always being a fan of mixtapes, he wanted to do everything he could from touring, mixtapes and Djing different styles of music. Saying that close to his sophomore year in high school that he would make mixtapes from scratch. Creating the mixtapes early in the morning and selling them once he would get to school, showing that he already had the knack of musical entrepreneurship at a young age outside of what his parents taught him. Fast forward to his Junior year of college, at this point he’s now making CD’s and selling them on Tuskegee’s campus, nearly tripling the profits he made versus his sophomore year in high school.
Going to Atlanta, he networked with people such as DJ Drama who he had known previously along with Marcos Rippy, a past high school friend of Scream who had his label “Hoodrich Entertainment” founded in 2005. Stating that they both had what they needed to ultimately make a successful label and pour knowledge into one another. Becoming a part of the Hoodrich brand and integrating the mixtapes into the label, “From there on there really was no looking back”, says Scream.
You can follow DJ Scream on Instagram and learn more about “The Scream Foundation” and “Big Facts Podcast” with the links below.
https://instagram.com/djscream?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
http://bigfactspod.com/?fbclid=PAAaavj6sFNNC6okgk5bIMJRWcHml5rEb8lUizXqDVFMdwZ6dsnZBMwJY9kvI
