I remember when my football coach first told me, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” As a freshman trying to do things right, I was puzzled. Cheat? But as I repeatedly heard him say this and saw how he applied it, it hit me. Do what it takes to win. A win is rarely beautiful in nature. If you are in this industry you know that wins are made at a studio session at 2 in the morning, evening dinner meetings, and planned promotional runs. Wins are never made on stage.

Let’s fast forward to these artists and artist showcases. Cheat, straight up. If there is a $500 cash prize, and it’s crowd approval, cheat. Don’t leave it up to the refs (the judges that have already decided, at a dinner meeting, who the winner will be). Bring your crowd! Bring your momma, yo baby momma, yo baby’s momma  momma! Man bring anyone that will give you 5 seconds. You can’t blame a horrible artist that brings 20 people with him, and wins $500. While you a “Hot” artist and only come with the man that drove you. Wake up, cheat!

Artists and DJs, cheat, do your homework on these DJs. What club will they be at next? What event do they have planned? Find this information out, and just so happen to have your material in the booth. Greet him at the door, or make sure as he pulls up, your posters, flyers, and other promo material are undeniably in his view. Do this 3-4 times a week. (Oh that sounds like real ground work being put in, but that’s another article when you ready to get off online and get back to the streets.) A DJ, well, a real DJ, will ask who is this guy, what is he doing, what does his music sound like? Hooked.

Now Artist and the Fans. Your next fan knows nothing about what happened last night. I suggest you bring your camera man to any event, we all know its bout them angles. Chop up the video to show how great your turn up was. Get B roll footage of sexy ladies having a good time. Make it look like the whole club was vibing to your song. People will be attracted to your movement if they think it’s already moving (read that again! And again!). Cheat, a  win is a win!

At the end of the day, you can decide to not do these things and still be doing open mics next year, or you can cheat to win, and start getting 5 racks a show. No one will know how you got there, they will just know the whole city rocking with you.

 DJ 3000

#ViewsFromDaBooth is a biweekly article from the south’s newest record breaker, DJ 3000. DJ 3000 is creator of mixtape series Off Da Brick, Finesse Game Strong, Private Party Kush, and DJ or Die Tryin’. He currently DJs at various night clubs in the Atlanta area. Follow him on Instagram @3000_da_DJ.