DJ 2wenty: We’re for the people. Nine times out of ten if the people want it, we do it.
Choice FM 92.1, is a radio station reaching Rocky Mount, Wilson, Oxford, Nashville, Zebulon, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham. Affiliated with the nationally syndicated Breakfast Club, they cover mainstream Hip Hop and R&B culture and music; locally, they lift up talent, events, opportunities, and businesses in rural communities of color throughout Eastern and Central North Carolina as well as the metro area. The station itself was originally called Soul 92 Jams, and offered one of the first spaces for black voices on radio in the area at its creation in 1974.
I sat down with DJ 2wenty and DJ Fatz, both of whom have been at the craft for decades, since the early eighties. DJ 2wenty eyed Soul 92 as the place for him well before he settled into his home at “The People’s Station”.
DJ 2wenty: I told the boss I’d be working here and he said they may not have enough room for me. I said, yeah, you do.
His time slots, role and experiences built from there and now, DJ 2wenty is at the studio six days a week, broadcasting and collaborating with other hosts, like DJ SoFabKim. DJ Fatz brings the Governor’s Mansion every weeknight, a three-hour set spanning current and classic black music. Both have shared stages and connected amongst the local and international DJ communities. As for live events, DJ Fatz and DJ 2wenty agree, the people “gotta come prepared to party.” So, when we talked about what DJs need to bring to the table:
DJ 2wenty: Music, know your equipment, and your sound. Because sound matters, it really matters.
DJ Fatz: I want people to hear what I’m doing and how I’m doing it, it’s like now people don’t really care about the sound, about the DJ being a real DJ – as far as transitioning a record into another record, the blending and scratching. We’re party-rocking DJs. We don’t wanna just stand behind what we use. I’m not bashing the technology change, cuz times have to change…
It’s like the disc jockey tradition blurs that line of the past and the potential. The atmosphere and experience a turntablist brings about can never be replicated. They scratch, flare, tear, and transform music deconstructing and rearranging to create new pieces, combining physical elements – vinyl, needle, motor, and their own hands – with unique style.
Durham in particular has a deep connection with the DJ tradition – before and including DJ Fatz, who’s originally from the Bull City.
DJ Fatz notes that for him, and for more and more folks DJing, it’s about combining the potential of current technology, with a deep knowledge of music and that equipment – digital, analog, or both.
If you didn’t know, turntabling is one of the pillars of hip hop culture, and these two live for the culture. Choice FM is keeping that creativity – and sharing it, interacting with the audience – at the forefront.
DJ 2wenty: I want to be the DJ that makes you dance, that has people singing along, lose their voice, take their shoes off cuz their feet hurt.
DJ Fatz and DJ 2wenty believe people are looking for just that, somewhere they can really release and dance – another innate element of hip hop. There’s this call for something more than a “social gathering”, as they put it. Nuanced, vibrant, innovative and deeply rooted black culture spans the rural and the metropolitan in this area. Rural communities of color are often overlooked, but the folks at Choice FM truly support the people throughout Eastern and Central NC.
Their abilities to broadcast over distance or bring an event to life, whether they be concerts, pool parties, or turntable battles, help keep the people connected, informed, and feeling free to move with the music.
DJ Fatz: We’ve been knowing each other now 20, 30 years. It was so amazing to come back and meet up with him and he’s in this type of setting. I’ve always been an African man, I want an urban radio station in this area. When choice came along it was like heaven on earth for me, because it allows us to be the DJs that we are. You got DJs at this station that respects the art and culture of DJing so when I come here to DJ, it feels like home.
Scroll to the top or head to Youtube to catch our full interview. You can also vibe with DJ 2wenty at The O in Wilson every Saturday and Tuesday, and DJ Fatz in Durham at Emerald City every Saturday.
You can reach DJ Fatz on Instagram, @djfatz72 or on Twitter, @djfatz_bcf.
