DJ Kool Emdee Bio
Based in Houston, Texas, DJ Kool Emdee has 33 years of professional experience as a disc jockey. His experience includes years of performance on stage as an actor and show DJ, a producer, visual artist, musician, activist, speaker, and writer/poet. He is also accredited as being an award winning musician and DJ [2nd Place - ATCH Records DJ Battle (1989) & Slick Rick Promotions DJ Awards - Top DJ 2003], radio show host, producer, and engineer, and producer & host of "The Comfort Zone", an educational poetry set that ran for more than 5 years. You may have seen him in many cities across the U.S., the Caribbean, Middle East, and Africa. Future goals hope to land him in the U.K., Europe, and Japan.
DJ Kool Emdee has always had a love for music, coming from a "musical family" of mostly vocalists and a few musicians. His first instrument was the drum at age 5, and a few years later, he also learned to play French horn, trumpet, & trombone as well, which later evolved into the start of him becoming a DJ because of his father owning clubs and lounges when he was a child and him watching the DJ's his father hired, as well as hearing some of his favorite radio DJ's spin. Not long after, his mother started buying records in various genres and that was the spark that ignited the flame.
His first official paid gig was at age 9, when he was asked to bring his stereo system and records for a birthday party. "The pay was $25" (laughing). Later he started hearing about DJ's like Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore and the evolution of Hip-Hop. After deciding that's what he wanted to do, he studied the formats most disc jockeys used for their radio programs, and teamed up with a guy named Michael Williams who taught the basics of using a mixer. About a year or two later he met with another guy named DJ Chi-Dawg of Chicago, who intoduced Emdee to his crew called "The Cassanova Crew" which consisted of DJ's & MC's from Chicago and New York City. With the help of DJ Chi-Dawg (who deserves most of the credit), DJ Lonnie Mack, and The Prince EZ-Cee (aka DJ Peter Parker), Emdee learned the basics of scratching, "blending", and how to take rocking parties to another level. And the rest is history.
DJ Kool Emdee has toured with and shared stages with the likes of Busta Rhymes, KRS-ONE, Mad Lion, Lost Boyz, Cutty Ranks, Born Jamericans, Papa Reu, Lady Red, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, MC Zin, S.M.U.G.G.L.A.Z., Bobbie Fine, YZ, Special Ed, Precise & Tha Lumba Yard, Stephen Marley, Redman, RealNess/Elliott Ness, E.K. Skwad, David Sha, Michelle Thibeaux, The Niyat, Mic Skillz, Zeale 32, M-1 of Dead Prez, Volume 10, K-Rino, The 144 Elite, Opio of Souls of Mischief/Heiroglyphics, and many more.
U.S. Cities DJ'ed: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Killeen, Denver, New Orleans, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Pensacola, Montgomery (AL), NYC, Chicago, Champagne (IL) [University of Illinois], Baton Rouge, Austin, San Antonio, & Philadelphia.
Countries DJ'ed: Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jamaica, & Barbados.