THE LIFE OF DJ SKEE

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

“Growing up in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the 1980s and ‘90s, I was just one of many people from my community that was in awe of Prince’s raw musical talent. That’s why getting the opportunity to go on the road with him as a young dude was one of the best experiences of my life. 

But it wasn’t just Prince’s musical talent that impressed and stuck with me, it was also his entrepreneurial spirit and how sharp he was when it came to the business of his music. 

Prince was the first guy to go out against his label when it wasn’t popular, it was always important for him to own his masters, and he was the first big artist to think about bundling merch and other products to help boost his album sales. He had an entire vertically integrated system: he owned his recording studio, he could put on shows at his recording complex at Paisley Park, and he distributed his music himself through Paisley Park Records.

Another important lesson I learned from Prince was how much importance entrepreneurs should put on empowering their own communities. Prince would go out of his way to work with black-owned banks in the Minneapolis area, and even though he had houses all over the country, you could find him at home at Paisley Park in Minnesota more often than not.

I think that’s one of the reasons he brought me on as a young guy who grew up in Minnesota, he was always trying to help others in his community, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to be around him and soak up some knowledge. 

One thing people coming up have to learn, though, is that you have to earn your way in. What value are you going to offer the people you’re trying to work with? I got into the game by selling Xboxes, PlayStation 2’s, and sneakers to artists and famous people that they couldn’t get because that stuff was sold out elsewhere. 

Because I was bringing value to the table they started wanting me, this young nobody hustler, around them without me even having to ask, and through those experiences I learned a lot. You have to add value to any productive partnership you’re going to have in the business world but to do that you have to work and you have to grind.

If you want to become an entrepreneur you have to have a certain level of courage, you have to be able to jump out and take that leap of faith. It’s one thing to think about doing it, but to actually quit, leave your job, and risk everything you have for your business is a whole other proposition. It takes balls, man.

You also have to realize that whatever plan you started with isn’t going to work perfectly. You always have to adapt and react quickly, you have to get out there and test things out because nothing’s going to be perfect especially on the first shot. Just launch, just move, just go. 

The ones that succeed in the end will also be the ones that don’t let one ‘no’ stop them. If you stop after one ‘no,’ you’re not going to get through tomorrow. You have to stay in the game longer than anyone else because all it takes is one magic moment, one big client, one big company to come around and your fortunes can change at the drop of a hat. It’s like a marathon, it’s survival of the fittest.

It’s also important to surround yourself with people that you want to be like, because that’s who you’re going to naturally gravitate to. Like, I want to be the brokest, dumbest, and least successful person in the room. I want to hang around people that are going to push me and that I’ve seen be great so I’ve got those examples to work off of. 

One of those guys for me was Mark Cuban. Ever since we met and he offered me a show on his network, he’s just been so hands on with me, like he is with most entrepreneurs he works with. Mark has taught me a lot about business and even with his stature in the public eye, he’s still one of the most accessible people out there, and he’s got a heart of gold. That’s why he’s an inspiration and a role model to me and so many others out there.

Through my hard work and all of the important relationships I’ve been able to build with people like Mark, I’m at a point in my career where I’ve accomplished more than I ever could have dreamed. Now, it’s about empowering that next generation for me, the same way guys like Prince and Mark put me on and gave me a chance as a young, hustling entrepreneur. 

I’m not the smartest, I’m not the coolest, and there’s people that are better than me at a lot of these things, so if I can get to where I’m at, everyone out there should believe it’s possible for them, too. There are so many kids out there that don’t believe they can do it because there’s no role model or no example for them to look up to, so I hope I can be one of those positive examples that a kid can look at and say, ‘hey, DJ Skee did it, maybe I can too.’”