Baltimore DJ Tittsworth (and yes, that's his real last name) has made a name for himself around the globe selling out shows from Europe to Japan, and holding his own performing with the likes of Diplo and fellow Baltimore DJ Blaqstar. We discussed what it's like in front of a foreign audience, Chicago hot dogs, and his upcoming CD 12 steps.
So when did you start DJing?
Probably about 11 or 12 years ago.
How did you get your start?
Originally I started collecting records, before I even knew what to do with them. I loved music, but, I didn't know how to do something hands on with it. Then I saw someone DJing, they had a dial and a cassette player. [laughs]
So when did it become clear you were going to become successful, was there an "aha" moment?
It's never 100 % clear, but, you do the best you can. A couple of years ago I stopped working 101 jobs. I had 3 residencies, a full-time help desk position, and a relatively active touring schedule. I wanted to pay off debts and my car, so when I jumped, I didn't have to jump back. Maybe that's why it took a bit longer... The first five years of doing this I was sneaking into the mailroom to mail demo's every week. I had my hands in so many things before I found out what was me.
You're extremely well traveled, what's it like to play in front of foreign audiences, who may not know the meaning of the lyrics for some of the music you spin?
It's interesting because I play a lot of club music. Foreign audiences might not always get certain pop culture references; however, certain sounds are universal. Playing lots of different music in different places, and seeing people's reactions helps with that, you see people's reactions to different sounds and go off of that.
Where is your favorite place in the world to DJ?
London is fun, LA is fun, Hong Kong-fun, New York- fun, but what's interesting is the way the blog culture has changed things. Cities you don't think will have progressive crowds rival the usual suspects. Sweden was one of those cities. I'd get requests for songs that hadn't even been released yet!
There's a wide variety of collabos on the album, how did you chose all the artists you worked with?
I wanted to write a bunch of different songs for varying crowds. you have many types of tracks on here-- funny, sexy, electronic, instrumental, aggressive. i wanted to try to be versatile and show the genre to be as well
Was it tough getting it all coordinated? I imagine there were a lot of busy schedules to deal with.
Absolutely. Most of this album was written on the road with a laptop and headphones. Getting the vocalists together involved a pretty good range. On one hand, the federation track hit my inbox like 10 hours after I first reached out to Warner brothers... 3 verses, chorus and all. On the other hand, it took half a year to get the Nina sky/pitbull thing together. This involved a crashed hard drive, 3 different studio sessions in NY and Miami (just for the vocals, not including beat, mixing, mastering, etc), a talent management change, and a whole lot of escalation... and prayer.
How did you actually get together with everyone (i.e. virtual over the web, live in-studio, or a little of both)?
I didn't! Some of the local guys I actually met face-to-face but I didn't see or directly interact with most of the vocalists in a physical way, which has its advantages (time, money, etc) and disadvantages (you better be pretty specific about what your expectations are)
So what kind of style of clothes do you wear, what brands are you into right now?
I like house 33, Triple 5 soul, old school shoes like Reebok classics and old school new balances. It's funny, I lost almost 100 pounds in the last 3 or 4 years, so I am really health conscious. In the nutty professor, did you see the part where Eddie Murphy goes, when you lose weight, all you wanna do is wear spandex? I am having that same reaction, my jeans just keep getting skinnier and tighter.
Check out Tittsworth.com for more info and links to his releases new and old, including the full-length album 12 Steps!
The first guest vocalists heard on the record is none other than Fool's Gold/Downtown Records' Kid Sister from Chicago and Pase Rock of Spank Rock fame. On WTF, a club record that kicks like a mule, Kid Sis and Pase drop clever, party-flavoured speed raps while Santi White of Santogold lays down the unforgettable chorus. From there, Tittsworth invites Detroit kind of ghetto-tech, DJ Assault, a legend of ridiculous proportions, to get behind the boards and mic, resulting in a collaboration that is not only a party monster, but one of the funniest raps you have heard since the humpty dance.
Taking a slight left turn, Almond Joy mellows things out a bit but still keeps it club with a sweet and sexy R&B number written and performed by NYC veteran songwriter Michelle Bell, who has penned hits for Mary J Blige, Jennifer Lopez and others. 12 Steps continues to entertain and keep it club with the unabashedly titled "Drunk As F*ck" featuring west coast hyphy group The Federation. Here He Comes, with it R&B/pop flavor, featuring Jamaican songstresses Nina Sky as well as a Hot 16 from Cuban-American and Miami-based Pitbull, who's fast, aggressive emceeing has always lent itself well to Baltimore club music, and here is no exception. Taking it back to B-more, Tittsworth then revisits the monster club classic by DJ Class, Tear The Club Up, but updating it for 2008.
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