THE THROWBACK KING | DJ Newmark

INTERVIEW KB TINDAL PHOTOGRAPH Edward Alexander Jr

I had the pleasure of sitting down with a legendary DJ who is considered the Throwback King of Hip Hop and R&B. His career as a DJ spans over three decades in six countries, 30 States and 90 cities. He's a tour DJ, music promoter, radio personality and an award-winning mix show DJ. He's rubbed shoulders with some of the best in the business. He's gained the respect from the who's-who of legendary artists and performers over the years. He has over 450 live concerts and show performances to his credit along with over 120,000 social media followers. Last year he released his dependent double album entitled Hot Tracks you can catch him on his show, The DJ Newark Experience on South Florida's number one radio station for classic Hip Hop and R&B, Yo 107.1 FM. And at 3 pm EST on the Flavor on Top of Flavor Mix Show on weekdays at 5:30 PM, and on weekdays at 6 PM As well. His Instagram page is followed by the legendary likes of LL Cool J, Jimmy Jam, Rakim, Jada Kiss, E-40 and most recently multiple World Series champion, Mr. October himself Mr. Reggie Jackson. If you don't know who I'm talking about right now you better tap into his live show and do your homework. Validated magazine is proud to chop it up with DJ Newmark.

Validated: I know you're a military baby and you grew up in multiple places. From traveling all the time how did that influence your love of Hip Hop seeing it in different places early on not like it is now but back then? How did that influence your love for Hip Hop and music in general?

DJ Newmark: Man, let me tell you being around servicemen that come from all walks of life, all different parts of the globe that bring their embodiment of Hip Hop of what it means to them in their hood, to be able to constantly go to these different duty stations and instantly be in the mix and get all of these different sounds and influences man, I consider myself one of the true disciples of Hip Hop. I hope I don't kill your thunder but one of the things I noticed with your past interviews is you always ask your guest, “what does Hip Hop mean to you?”

Validated: Yes.

DJ Newmark: For me KB you got me by a couple of years if I heard you correctly, I'm 53. Our generation literally was growing up with Hip Hop so by me being biracial before Hip Hop I struggled with an identity man. It was crazy being Black and Korean.  I didn't have Tiger Woods out there as my front man representing all of us mixed breeds.  I didn't have Foxy Brown out there representing. So I was kind of caught in this time period as a young man not understanding what my purpose was, not understanding who I was until Hip Hop. And one of the things that I certainly embraced that I think makes me a little unique compared to some of my DJ peers is that the majority of my DJing peers are from a particular area and so that particular sound is basically what they embrace the most because that is the music or the culture that raised them. Sometimes as a DJ you can form bias. You are from New York and then you hear some Texas stuff and you might be like “Nah son this is not  Hip Hop. That's not rocking” or vice versa. You could be out there in Cali and you hear some Miami Bass joint right and you're like nah. 

Well for me and while I've been able to play for a variety of crowds man is because I've been exposed to the diversity, the whole menu of what Hip Hop music is and everybody has their own swag. There's that movie Mortal Kombat. I don't know if you're familiar with that movie but there's a character named Shang Sung. What he does is, as he fights his opponents he takes their soul right before they die and that makes him stronger. I literally was that dude when it comes to Hip Hop. Every time I move somewhere not only am I bringing with me all of the different influences that I was exposed to previously, now I'm infecting or should I say introducing that mixture of sounds to that organic audience because they have their natural sound and now I'm getting more music because there's more servicemen coming from different areas. So that's what makes that whole thing such a dynamic topic for me and I think that's what separates me just a little bit from other traditional DJs.

Validated: When you were DJing in a lot of these places I know DJs hate this, but being servicemen I know being that they're from certain areas did you get a lot of requests? Did you get a lot of guys come up to you and say “Hey play this?” Because that's what they were used to hearing from their region. 

DJ Newmark: No doubt KB and that's how I became really proficient in being a party rocker. As DJs there are different forms. You have your turntablists, those people who really go fast back and forth and they do a lot of tricks, do stuff with their nose, their elbows, they're spinning. I don't want to diminish that because that's definitely a technique. But it's hard to dance to. It's really hard to dance when someone is doing that. So I happen to play for a variety and a diverse array of audience people because like you said people always hit me with requests and just when I start hitting the West Coast somebody from the East Coast like “Nah nah play this.” And then down south and all that. So I had to learn how to mix different styles of Hip Hop man at a real early age bro and I think that was the key man, to my longevity.

Validated: Nice. What's your earliest memory of Hip Hop?

DJ Newmark: It's funny the thing that I love about being a radio personality is I get to mirror a song and I get to connect to a listener emotionally, and it automatically timestamps a special event or a segment of their life. So my earliest memory of Hip Hop, honestly it would have been the Sugarhill Gang but as a DJ believe it or not it was Herby Hancock's “Rockit. That record right there is what actually propelled me to want to become a DJ. Hip Hop was Sugarhill Gang but the DJ was “Rockit” because that was the first song that internationally had scratching in it. Again not the first song to have scratching but to be internationally heard was “Rockit.”  I'm like “Yo what is that sound right there?” How do you make that? We used to try to emulate that with jackets and we would zip our zipper up and down to make that sound. I'm telling you that sound was so revolutionary, to me at least, that I got to give all props to Herby Hancock.

Validated: He won a grammy for "Rockit” too. 

DJ Newmark: Absolutely.

Validated: Yeah I know I remember when I was growing up I destroyed plenty of my mother's records trying to emulate scratching. 

DJ Newmark: I remember a time KB where I would actually take a record and a coin and literally scratch the record. I went through that phase too bro.

Validated: So I know you got your name from, is it from Numark turntables or the Numark mixer?

DJ Newmark: It was all of them. I had the mixer and the turntables. That was the only thing I could afford man. I had always told myself KB that if I do anything with this DJing stuff that I'm always no matter how high I get, the way I thought as a 12 year old, I'm always going to give homage to from whence I came, know what I'm saying, and that was the equipment that I beat up. I wish I could have had a Fisher-Price turntable. I'd have had that my name would have been DJ Fisher-Price.

Validated: Wherever it starts from, wherever the essence is at man. 

DJ Newmark: That's right. 

Validated: What country would you say you've liked performing in the best?

DJ Newmark: Man I would say Germany. The culture over there and quite honestly man if you look at a lot of these artists I call them “Legacy artists',” they do more overseas shows than they do here in the US because they're embraced a lot heavier over there than over here unfortunately.

Validated: Why do you think that is? Why do you think overseas is so much more in love with the culture the way that we used to be in love with it when it was new? They Herald it like that today. Why do you think that is?

DJ Newmark: Because it's not organic to them, for example why is a Mercedes so expensive over here and you go to Germany and it's not as expensive? Because they see them shits every day. They see Mercedes every day. Their taxis are Mercedes. So over here that's not an organic product so that's why it is valued a lot higher because it's something that we don't organically make. So Hip Hop is the same thing.

Validated: No doubt. Makes sense. Do you prefer being on the radio or do you prefer rocking the crowd live? I know you love them both. If you had to pick one, which one would you pick?

DJ Newmark: KB it's not even close my brother. I want to be in front of a live audience 100% of the time, man. I only got into broadcasting because of Covid. And while a lot of my peers were on different platforms going live and making money that way, I kind of went a different route and had an opportunity to be a broadcaster. And I'm like “Yeah okay,  I can get involved with this.” But it was a weird transition because as you mentioned in your intro not only am I a radio personality but I'm a mix show host. Monday through Friday I got a 30 minute segment and then on the weekends it's an hour of straight turntable, mixing, vibing. And it's hard to get to read when you’re looking at a wall. In the studio the turntables are set up against the wall. It took me a while to get over myself actually.  It took me a while to say all right, trust my own instinct, play this cut and when to take it out. When you’re live you get that feedback automatically. You put something on and they're like “Ohhh” like okay, I'm going let that rock a little bit. You put something on and they don't give you that reaction you're like, yep let me get on and transition up out of that. So it was a different man.

Validated: Right. Every artist, every comedian, every Sports person has a time in their career early on when they bombed. They got in front of a crowd and it just didn't work. What was that experience like for you? Have you had one of those? What was it like and then what did it teach you?

DJ Newmark: Without sounding conceited I can't honestly say I've ever had a bomb moment.

Validated: Okay.

DJ Newmark: I have had situations that were beyond my control however, like the power going out. So I'm just sitting up there on stage and obviously I am the only element that they could react to because you can't boo the wall socket.  So, I was catching a lot of negative vibes but I knew not to take that personally because it wasn't me. But it was more uncomfortable than a motherfucker, I promise you that.

Validated: I bet it was. When you have absolutely no control you can't do anything about it. You just gotta ride it out.

DJ Newmark: Yeah. The takeaway from that experience was just something that I can internalize because although it was a very uncomfortable experience, I learned more about myself and how to handle those kinds of stresses. Especially when I know that it's a reflection ultimately of DJ Newmark. No one's ever going to say, “Man DJ Newmark was rocking it and the stupid power went out.” It's not gonna be like that. 9 times out of 10 what it's gonna be is, “Man DJ NewMark was out there man and the power shut off on that motherfucker.” It's kind of one of those things man I just had to get over and learn. 

Validated: That's good though man that you've never had a bomb moment. Not a lot of DJs, not a lot of artists, not a lot of performers in general can actually say that man, so kudos to you on that! 

DJ Newmark: What I was gonna say is, I think the biggest reason why I never had that issue was because of our age. Hip Hop was in its infancy when I was out there first trying to play the music. So it wasn't so critical of an ear as a DJ about the mixing and the blending and all that. It was more so just hearing the music and not having the record skipped. And as Hip Hop started to grow and evolve so did my talent. So if I was one of these newer DJs that are just now coming into the culture and coming into the profession of being a DJ, I think there's been  five decades of expectation that this new DJ now has to have to uphold. So that bombing may be more relevant for a newcomer versus an OG like me and you.

Validated: Gotcha. What do you listen to when you are riding around in your car, man?

DJ Newmark: No cap me. I listen to myself man. I listen to my sets. No one's gonna be more critical about a performance than the performer. I'm always fine toothing my transitions. I'm always thinking that echo for example shouldn't have gone there. So I'm listening to myself but not as a fan, but as a top critic because I always want to make sure that I put out the best product possible. Whether it's through the radio waves or live when people have spent their hard earned money to see me in whatever capacity. 

Validated: Right. I'm the same way when it comes to my interviews. I'll go back and I'll listen. And as you see my intros are something that's very important to me. I feel like a person should be brought in the right way. They should be given the credit that they deserve so I can understand it. I'm my own worst critic when it comes to doing a good interview.

So who's the most down to earth artist that you've met in your travels like somebody that you thought wouldn't be the way that they are. Who would that person be?

DJ Newmark: Yeah man I've had a lot of surprises in 30 years in the music business. But my number one dude, someone that honestly, we had a mutual impact on the time that we worked together professionally, but then we had a lot of personal time, was Earl Simmons aka DMX. When I first met DMX it was right as his popularity and stardom was starting to come down okay. Everybody has their rise, and then I don't want to say fall but their relevance has peaked. So I was a Ruff Ryder. I was a Ruff Ryder not by way of music per se but I was part of their motorcycle division. And DMX and all of the Ruff Ryder executive leadership, Eve and all them, The LOX, they were pretty good. They were coming to each city that had a Ruff Ryder chapter and hanging out because we're all family Rough Ryder, Double R. So for my particular chapter, I was the DJ. I had been DJing all that time. So whenever we would throw a motorcycle event or whatever I'm that dude. So I'm in Louisville, Kentucky. I'm stationed at a place called Fort Knox. X came through and well actually let me backup a little bit. X was coming through and our state representative for Ruff Ryders had asked our chapter was there anybody that may be interested in going to pick him up from the airport which is like an hour ride. So I was like, Yo let me do it because we know similar people but although I've never met him I think I could have a better relationship and a better rapport with him. So when I went to the airport my first impression was that he was by himself like no entourage, no goons, no nothing man, no females he was solo-dolo. That right there wowed me. Because this man is a multi platinum recording artist and accomplished actor and he walked around the airport solo. Then when I was able to tell him, Yo , I'm here to pick you up, I dropped some names. And he was like “Okay good.” Then on the ride home he was not on that Hollywood stuff. Man we was Jonesing, talking about each other mama. I was talking about how black he is. He was talking about how slanted my eyes were when he called me China man. I'm telling you and I was like “Yo would you mind talking to my wife, because she's a big fan?” He was like yeah. So I called my wife while we was driving. I give him the phone and he was talking to her like he already knew her, it was a trick because I mean he just went straight in “Yo ma what's up,” and he just starts going in. 

The experience was so odd for my wife that to this day she still got doubts that that was DMX because of the nature of the climate of that phone conversation. So by far to answer your question KB, DMX, God rest the dead man that was literally my brother. 

Validated: That's what's up man. That's a great DMX story man. Definitely. Probably one of the best that I've heard absolutely. Up until this point in your career I'm sure you've had plenty but if you could pick one or two what would you say is one of your most memorable moments as a DJ?

DJ Newmark: How I got elevated from being a local DJ to the opportunity that put me in positions to meet a DMX to meet TLC to meet various artists and to go on the road. So how I kind of got put on was I was stationed at Fort Dix New Jersey which is about 2 hours south of New York. In 2007 or ‘08 somewhere around there, military bases have their version of Walmart. So they try to have as much stuff on the base. So they really try to keep everything convenient so you don't have to go out there into the community and go to Walmart and maybe get into trouble or whatever they try to put everything right there on the base. At Fort Dicks, Russell Simmons had just signed a contract to sell his Phat Farm clothing line. And you know that it's not often you get a signature brand on one of these installations.  So it was a big deal. I did not know that he was coming up there to do a press conference and they had this big roll out. I didn't know that that was going on. So I was the local DJ of the club on base where all the soldiers would go. After he got done it was a Saturday night and after he got done doing what he had to do he asked like “Where's the hangout? Where do these soldiers go? These soldiers are buying my clothing line. I want to kind of kick it with them.” So they told him where to go. I'm not knowing he's in the crowd. I'm doing my thing and one of his men came up to me at some point and he was like “Yo can I get your number. I'm representing Earl Simmons.” He said, “Mr. Earl Simmons and he's interested in maybe giving you an opportunity to DJ for an upcoming party.” And I'm like, first of all it's hard to, one of my pet peeves is while I got the headphones on and I'm trying to get my shit right and everything is timed, for somebody to come talk to me. I'll see you let me give you the hold up. I acknowledge you but I have to get to you when I'm ready. But anyway, man he was right here. So I gave him my number. I really didn't think much of it. About six or seven months later I got a phone call. By this time I'm doubting everything. I'm like Oh man this stuff ain't going to happen. This dude I don't know where he got this idea to try to play me or whatever. It was Earl Simmons and he was like  “Hey you interested in an opportunity?” “Sure.” “How much do you want?” I'm like “No I'm not going to charge you anything like I'm a soldier number one. So this DJing stuff is just like my passion and hobby. I'm okay  I'm a soldier and I got a contract. I ain't like a reservist like I do this every day like I'm a soldier. So he was so impressed with that. And I think too I fit some of the narrative of the initiative, the marketing initiative that he was trying to do. Now he's trying to say all right we got  Phat Farm on here and guess what we got. We got a DJ that represents that military community representing the us as well. So I wasn't like the official DJ, obviously, of like, the military line of Phat Farm. But I was definitely an ambassador at that time, clean shaven and you know how it is KB man. A lot of people in the music industry are not right, they smoking, drinking whatever. From a business aspect it's not very inviting especially to those people outside of the culture. So I think I fit the mold and the narrative of what he was trying to push by that partnership with the Armed Forces. 

Validated: You dropped your album Hot Tracks last year. “Grams and Ounces” is one of the joints that I likeed on there with Jack The Butcher. I know it was a long awaited project that you were trying to put out and everything. So did you produce the whole thing and what was the process like? 

DJ Newmark: Yeah this project was really something that is a compilation of I would say about 15 years of recordings. The thing about it is people have been telling me “Yo Newmark you a dope producer or whatever. You got all of this music man that you've made that's on the shelf and nobody in the world has heard it.” And that's kind of a disrespect to Hip Hop culture because what people were telling me is that you can contribute to the universe. You can contribute to the music and you can leave a legacy that could potentially affect people way after you are gone.  Music has that way of solidifying a legacy regardless of what record sells what your numbers are. Outside of that you have something that you made that's out there for the world. And there are some instances where a song ain't nothing until somebody dies and now all of a sudden their catalog blows up. I was thinking about the show business side of DJ Newmark as a brand, the likeness and perpetuity, everybody talks about that right? I was thinking to myself, “All right I didn't put not one dime in marketing behind that album. It has 19 cuts which is unheard of.  You don't hear about albums having 19 joints on it and it was the opportunities that I had working with artists from New York, artists from Cali, artists from Miami and Texas. And so these were basically soldiers to be honest with you. They're all underground and they had a passion and a love for Hip Hop and so I had all these different songs. I still got about 200 songs that are on the shelf but with the maturation of my production ear, I kind of picked the ones that I thought like,  that I'm not going to be too embarrassed about. But again I'm going to be my worst critic. “Grams and Ounces” man, Jack the Butcher had won several local talent shows as a rapper. What really made me want to work with him specifically is that he actually took rapping seriously. And what I mean by that is I would have an agreement with the artist and I would tell him “Look we're going to work on this. You ain't charging me for no bars. I'm not charging you for no work but as soon as this thing is over. I'm gonna give you your copy. If you go and run with that thing and it blows up I'm not coming after you for nothing. Just tell everybody who made it. If I take my copy and run with it it blows up you ain't coming after me with no money. I'm just going to make sure I give you your flowers as the artist.” He was one of the few that actually blew up in Texas and he included that particular song on his EP. And it did pretty well on Spotify and stuff. 

Validated: As a DJ man when it's all said and done, like you were talking about,  after you’re dead and gone and what kind of legacy do you want to leave. What is your ultimate goal as a DJ at the end of the day? 

DJ Newmark: Man KB that's a great question. No one's ever posed that to me. It's interesting too, it's funny man how the universe works man. It's crazy. It's bonkers. I've been thinking about my own mortality recently and I guess it's one of these types of thought processes as I look at myself in the mirror and I look at my kids and my oldest is 33 years old and I go “Damn,”  I think about like, I would want people to say that DJ Newmark was just a down to earth cool dude whose name is in the shadows because I'm not a household name. But when people find interest in really thinking about who I am, they come across a whole bunch of literature out there that like dang, and then they see the different endorsements when I'm having this individual like French Montana for example he has like 39 million Instagram followers and he's following like maybe 1,400. How did DJ Newmark get on that list to where he's being followed by a guy that got more followers than the president of the United States? It's crazy. I would want people to think of me as like that dude that was just really cool. I treated everybody with dignity and respect regardless of how they treated me because I know that people's opinion of me matters but it doesn't motivate me to move the way that I move. So that's what I would hope. And definitely  as a father and as a husband,  I have sons and I have one daughter. So ultimately I would want my boys to want to be like me in some capacity as they become fathers and grown men. And for my daughter I would want her to find a man that closely resembles me and my ethical boundaries and my integrity and a man of distinction. 

Validated: Man those are those are great qualities and great values to want to leave behind man. If we can't affect the people that we love in a positive way so that they can carry on tradition then what are we doing? What's next in the pipeline for you man? What are you working on? What can we be on the lookout for? 

DJ Newmark: Well first you asked me where I would say is my favorite place to perform. So I told you, Germany. But where do I feel that music is appreciated, Hip Hop to be specific is appreciated the most in Japan. They can't even understand the words and they are like reciting. They don't even know what they are saying and they're reciting everything syllable for syllable. I'm also talking with another promoter that I hope can get me on the Armed Forces circuit. There are a lot of entertainers that go and entertain the troops all over the world. And as a former soldier that's in entertainment I'm kind of trying to use that as leverage to make it appealing to put me on the bill and to tour around the world in that capacity. So that's what I'm working on man. 

And I'm kind of thinking about, being that I have a lot of connections, I'm thinking about the podcasting thing as well. I'm kind of thinking that. So I promise you KB, I want you to be one of the first people on my podcast should that take off because it's been an absolute joy conversing with you brother. I definitely want to give you an opportunity to get your flowers and get your shine as well. 

Validated: Thank you I really appreciate that and all you gotta do is make the call and I'm there man. Where can people find you online? We know they can find you at DJ Newmark But give out your social media and then tell everybody like if you got some merch out there or if you got any products that you're pushing or anything like that. Tell them where they can get that stuff at. 

DJ Newmark: All right well I'll just say like this to make it easy for everybody if you just simply Google DJ N-e-w-m-a-r-k. Now mind you the other brother out there that's a DJ and his name is Numark as well he's the DJ for Jurassic 5. Cool brother but his name is spelled more conventional like the equipment N-u-m-a-r-k. So please people out there you want to hit me up, the little half Oriental dude right here hit up @DJNewmark And I will just say this as well, I have a team of people who monitor my social media. But if you definitely want to make sure that you get in contact with me Instagram is the platform that I personally manage. And sometimes my team doesn't advise me whenever there's an interesting DM or comment. And so I kind of get upset at them. But if you want to interact with me personally, that's Instagram. 

Validated: Very good. And we touched base on it earlier but this is always the final question: What does Hip Hop mean to you?

DJ Newmark: Yeah man Hip Hop is the thing that gave Edward Alexander (which is my government name) a sense of identity as a biracial kid that had no identity. Some places where I went people made fun of my hair and my eyes. Some places where I went some people made fun of my complexion. I was too young to really discover sports. Where I was living we didn't have like all year round AAU Sports and stuff like some of these youth have an opportunity to do. I didn't have any love, no direction. And for some of y'all that are as old as me and KB y'all know before Hip Hop we were listening to soft rock. We were listening to shit like White Snake and “Pour Some Sugar”, that crazy shit. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson like that's what we were vibing to. 

Validated: Yeah into some Def Leppard and stuff like that too. 

DJ Newmark: Def Leppard, I'm telling you see what I'm saying like me and you we will admit that. A lot of people want to try to forget that part. Hip Hop KB gave me a passport. Like vibing with New York music made me feel as if I had been to the streets of New York. Running into people that's from BK. My wife is actually from Uptown. She's from Washington Heights. So like hearing all these different sounds from Miami from Texas from Cali and the amount of passion that these people that was bringing me the music had whatever their natural swag was made me feel like I had been to LA. Made me feel like I had been to Freaknik in Atlanta which I actually was a couple times. So it gave me a passport to the world and it opened up my senses on top of me literally moving around every 3 years of my life as well. So that's what Hip Hop did man. And that's why I still live Hip Hop because as long as I'm upright and the Lord gives me the power to move around on my own free will and accord man I'm always going to rep Hip Hop. I'll just tell you this as well KB, I find it disturbing whenever I hear this bias between the Hip Hop how it sounds today versus the Hip Hop of our time. I like to remind people to disclaimer, yes I don't go out and go out of my way to listen to today's Hip Hop. But the last thing I'm going to do is talk bad about it because that's what the disco era people did to Hip Hop to us. People thought that this would never last 50 years, let alone five years. So remembering how persecuted we felt and how we felt like we were rebels like you don't like this music and you don't like us spinning around on the floor like you mad at us with cardboard and stuff. We are going to do it right here on the street. I don't want to turn right around and be that generation that's not accepting the Hip Hop of today. So that's what Hip Hop means to me man. When I look in the mirror although  I do see this ugly face I also see Hip Hop across my grill.

Validated: That's absolutely right. I tell people all the time my kids know it, people that are close to me know it and they know I am a Hip Hop man no matter what I do I'm always going to represent this culture to the best of my ability. I'm never going to put somebody down for what they do. I may not appreciate it or like it in that sense but I'm not going to dog you for what you do because Hip Hop is about your own self form of expression man. I would never want to take that away from anybody because they didn't take it away from me. So I identify with that. Absolutely. DJ Newmark once again thank you very much my brother. 

DJ Newmark: Thank you. Thank you so much man for this opportunity again to share your platform and to talk to you personally. When we get off this thing, I'll make sure you get my direct digits in case you don't already and bro you ever come out here to Miami I might have to show you around bro. Yes sir, salute. 

Validated: All right salute.