For every great DJ, it all starts with a name. For DJ Raj Smoove, it started with his father, Roger — he was named after him.
“Growing up, everybody always called me ‘little Rog,’ and when I was coming up in hip hop, all the DJs had two names, like Mannie Fresh and Jazzy Jeff,” Raj said.
After hearing a remix of the Digital Underground track “Doowutchyalike,” where a breakdown included the DJ saying “Smooooove,” little Rog took it and ran. Thus, DJ Raj Smoove was born.
Raj, who would go on to be known as “The Greatest DJ in the World” thanks to superstar and New Orleans-native rapper, Lil Wayne, started out small. “I was in the eighth grade, in junior high, at Livingston Middle School, in the East,” Raj said. “That’s where I met most of my crew I came up with.”
Raj and his crew would spend time after school and on weekends hanging out, creating beats and rapping together. For the next few years, they performed wherever they could. While other teenagers were out mowing lawns for extra cash or playing sports — or getting into trouble — Raj was obsessively making music. He even managed to make some money with a few small local gigs. When he was 14, for example, a friend hired him to spin records at a birthday part in New Orleans East.
His big break happened through a chance connection. His father was dating Allison Miner, the legendary music promoter and manager of iconic New Orleans musicians and groups like the Wild Magnolias, Rebirth Brass Band, and Professor Longhair. She also managed the grandstand stage at Jazz Fest — that stage is now named in her honor. Miner heard the young DJ Raj Smoove and his crew perform, and she gave them a shot.
“She was like, ‘Hey, I’ll put y’all on my stage during Jazz Fest,” Raj said. “I’m 15 years old and I’m on stage at Jazz Fest. So that was our first big thing.”
Raj also said that performance was his first experience working in a managerial position. He handled all of the group’s advance work: making sure tickets were sold, signing contracts, coordinating rehearsals — making sure everyone of his crew of teenagers showed up on time — and just playing the general role of a music manager.
“It was weird you know, because I’m very young and I know nothing. I just know want to be like Tribe Called Quest,” Raj said with a laugh. “Like I’m trying to live my Jazzy Jeff dreams.” Today, Raj runs The Gentilly Agency, his music artist management company.
DJ Raj Smoove’s career and list of collaborations is unreal. In addition to Lil Wayne, he’s worked with hip-hop icons like Mannie Fresh, 5th Ward Weebie, and NBA Youngboy. His talent and natural knack for music isn’t limited to hip hop either. Raj has collaborated with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Tarriona “Tank” Ball of Tank and The Bangas, and PJ Morton. He’s been on multiple television and radio shows. Raj is true New Orleans music icon.
And he credits it all with someone willing to take a chance on him while he was a young artist. Raj said he was lucky to have a personal connection that gave him his big break, and because he loves his home city so much, he decided to stay in New Orleans, while many other artists would leave for bigger cities once they managed to break into the industry.
“The major record labels are mainly in LA and New York,” Raj said. “So if you wanted to find a publicist that really had like a nationwide rolodex, the contacts, you would have to go to New York or LA, or places like Nashville.”
Raj said he hopes to change that and put New Orleans back on the musical map. That’s why he’s a part of the “MIC’D UP” program, which aims to help keep music artists and the resources they need in the city — rather than taking their talents elsewhere.
“Instead of them being like, ‘Yo, I’m going to New York,’ maybe they’ll stay in New Orleans, and you know, possibly help everything to come up a little bit better. Because we need folks that are educated in these fields, who have a hunger and want to learn and want to engage in it.”
Launched by Greater New Orleans, Inc. as part of its New Orleans Music Economy initiative, the Music Industry Career Development University Partnership program, or MIC’D UP, seeks to develop programming for local college and university students that exposes them to the music industry in New Orleans. The first program that’s been launched is a year-long music industry fellowship in partnership with local artist management agencies.
“Mentorship and making connections are so important to building a flourishing career in the business of music, and the fellowship is structured in a way to facilitate those experiences,” said Osmar Padilla, director of workforce programs at Greater New Orleans, Inc. “Over time, we hope to add more programs as part of MIC’D UP.”
Padilla said there are two broad challenges that the program is trying to address: the perception that you need to go to another city to “make it” in the music industry and the lack of formal career development or mentorship pathways into the industry. “We have everything right here in New Orleans for both aspiring artists and those that want to work in the business of music,” Padilla said. “We need to change the narrative by highlighting all of the great work coming out of NOLA.”
As with many creative industries, it’s about who you know and who can vouch for you. DJ Raj Smoove used every connection he had to his advantage, but many up-and-coming artists in the city may not have any connections at all. “Music is one of the first things that comes to mind when anyone thinks of New Orleans,” said Tavia Osbey, co-founder of MidCitizen Entertainment, an artist management firm in the city. Osbey works with folks like Tank and The Bangas and Alfred Banks. “When you hear New Orleans musicians and creatives, you get chills, you feel at home, and you feel free. I think that’s why people have always gravitated to our sound.”
Osbey said she and her partners started their artist management company here because they care about building the city’s music industry and keeping its authenticity alive while helping artists see they can build successful careers at home. “It’s also important to me to help showcase the many styles of music in New Orleans,” Osbey said. “We’re not just a city that produces great jazz, but we also produce great gospel, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, and poetry. I never knew how much this city or its music meant to me until I started managing Tank’s career. I want all of New Orleans’ musical contributions to be recognized in the way that they should.”
For a city with such a deep, rich history of music — we are the birthplace of jazz, after all — you’d think there would be more support for young artists. But while there’s plenty of talent, there aren’t many pathways to help connect that talent to the support it so often needs to thrive. For Raj, Padilla, and Osbey, it’s more a matter of bringing folks together to create that support system.
“As simple as it sounds, getting all of the appropriate stakeholders into the proverbial room is critical,” Padilla said. “There are so many interesting and impactful things happening locally, that it’s important to have avenues for our music industry to come together to share and see how we can all partner. Working collectively, we can bring New Orleans to the next level and truly become the mecca of music.”
