DJ DS

On a cold Wednesday in the city of South Bend, in the year 1982, and the month of March, Derrick “DJ DS” was born to a gospel singing, neonatal nurse, Annette Moody, and budding musician, Jonathan Smith. As far back as Derrick can remember, the seeds of a music career were planted with keyboards and other musical equipment as Christmas and birthday gifts. Music was a constant gift from his mother and Nana, and young Derrick would sing and dance to the greats like The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, among others.
As a grammar student, Derrick began to sing in the choir at Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church. Often losing focus of the words being sung, instead, Derrick would imitate the movements of the band’s players instead. This prompted young Derrick to build drum sets at home out of everything from pots and pans to baskets and trash cans and a step ladder in an effort to make beats.
During the same time, Derrick developed an ear for the sounds his older brother Terrance was listening to like Run DMC, N.W.A, Digital Underground, and early 2pac. But it was a fateful trip to tiny Milan, Tennessee where his now late cousin Brandis played a cassette tape labeled only as Mystic Styles that would change everything young Derrick thought he knew about music. From that day on, rap music and this young man became one, building a bond that would take Derrick on a journey to becoming DJ DS.
With the help of his high school soccer teammates, DS gained considerable exposure to artists outside of his classic R&B lexicon; warm ups consisted of Metallica and Van Halen to bagpipes, and post-games jams brought in Jay-Z, Nas, Three 6 Mafia, Dr. Dre, DPG, A Tribe Called Quest, No Limit, and a host of R&B from Silk, SWV, Soul 4 Real, Dave Hollister and more. After graduation, fatherhood and the internet age would influence DS’s future. He got in on the mixtape game with his friends Nate and Joe; the trio began to build a following in South Bend by creating “special request” and themed mixtapes. DS specialized in those R&B “baby-maker” mixes. DS managed a shoe store by day and made tapes by night; it was working.
On November 5, 2005, Derrick moved to Louisville, Kentucky after a company transfer. He had nothing more than a hope and a dream to provide for his family. Not long after his arrival, things turned for the worse; he began to experience depression from being homesick among other life related factors. He knew he needed to build a music community for himself to thrive.
After a choice meeting with a computer programmer, through a mutual friend, DS was on a path toward music production. Claiming he constantly heard music in his head, DS would dabble in production to cope with his depression. Amassing a large collection of music to sample or reference for his production and create his mixtapes, DS was approached by another friend and co-worker requesting him to DJ his wedding. DS agreed to DJ the wedding but had one problem. He didn’t have the proper equipment.
In 2006, DS purchased a Numark NS7FX to start his DJing career while expecting nothing major to come from it. Once the equipment arrived he alerted his friend who stated that he “got married in the park the other day with one witness and a dog”. Instead of being upset, DS decided to learn how to use his new piece of equipment. Through a local MC, by the name of Mevel, DS had a collection of MCs he began to meet who decided it would be a good idea to start doing shows. At the third show, all of DS’s hard work would begin to pay off with a chance meeting with Smoke E Digglera of Playa and now Dru Hill fame. Smoke asked DS to deejay his Smoking Sundays events. There DS would meet another DJ by the name of Marcus, who introduced DS to the owner of the legendary Joe’s Palm Room. Joe’s was the playground for Louisville’s dapper and sophisticated Black community. DS called Joe’s home for many years before transitioning to school functions and venues such as 4 Play and Cole’s Place.
While at Joe’s Palm Room, DS had the honor of meeting and befriending DJ Kaos, Slick Rick’s DJ. Kaos gave DS his much needed vote of confidence to keep pushing forward to build on his current success while remaining humble. Heeding those words, DS became a member of a DJ coalition, as well as a member of the International DJ Cafe of Louisville which was founded by DJ Doc Smoov. DS would leave the DJ coalition to join a new coalition, the AWOL DJS and a local coalition The Lions Den DJs.
Though DS was still a fairly new DJ, he helped his fellow DJs with music or equipment. One hip hop laden evening in 2012, DS went to pick up his equipment from a fellow DJ and met a baritone voiced MC with immense skill on the mic who was gaining a nice following. That MC was RMLLW2LLZ. ‘2LLZ stated “I’m heading out of town for the weekend, but when I get back, I will hit you up.” That next week a funny number came across DS’ phone: “Yo, is this DS. It’s Romell. You want to rock with me?” DS agreed and from that moment on, the duo have rocked stages with David Banner, KRS-One, Big Boi of the legendary group Outkast, Arrested Development, Cali Hip Hop group The Hieroglyphics, Warren G, Slum Village, Raekwon, and Rakim. They have also opened for local soul songstress Carly Johnson. DS has rocked after parties for Johnny Gill, Kool Moe Dee with Dana Dane and Chubb Rock. In addition, DJ DS along with partner DJ Kim Sorise, spin for private events and weddings, as well as events at the Speed Museum, Churchill Downs, and the Louisville Waterfront.
The future continues to shine even brighter for DJ DS and ‘2LLZ, together the two have built an extensive catalog of performances, as well as started a local record label Kr8vn8vs Records that is constantly growing with Louisville-based talent. On June 10, 2019 DJ DS released his first instrumental project Vibes. Along with ‘2LLZ and label mate W.I.P. (Work in Progress) the trio produces a live, weekly radio show on WXOX 97.1 FM in the Louisville area and online at artxfm.com every Tuesday 10pm-12am.
Listeners and fans can continue to expect the unexpected from DJ DS in the years to come, in addition to touring, producing and DJing, DS continues to build on his talents in his home studio, The Monastery.
To Contact DJ DS for studio and gig bookings email: bookdjds@gmail.com.