Music

Tim Westwood interview

We had the honour of meeting legendary Radio 1 DJ and big dawg of the international hip-hop scene, Tim Westwood, to discuss ladies, hoodies, drugs, salsa and exfoliation. Check it...

VM: Mr Westwood, The Big Dawg, it's a pleasure to meet you!

Tim Westwood: Nice to meet you, how you doin' man?

VM: Good. So we're here at Justice Entertainment, Westwood HQ - is this where you spend most of your time?

Tim Westwood: This is where I live, to be honest. Obviously there's not a bed in here, but this is where I live.

VM: What kind of stuff goes on?

Tim Westwood: Well this here is my office, then the next room along is the radio studio - we do that as an independent production company and we also produce the reggae show with Chris Goldfinger - and then in the other room is the main administration block, that's where we handle the parties we put on and the DJ bookings. And then we've got a room for the TV stuff, and then we have the Street Team room, which is where all the promotion takes place.

VM: "Street Team", eh? Is this just a band of street urchins you've recruited?

Tim Westwood: Nah, the thing with the Street Team is - and this is one of the reasons we do it - that it's the entry point for young people who want to get in the game. That's where I've found people who work here full-time. If they shine, they've got the right attitude, they can learn about the business.

VM: OK. So what's all this "Ladies free" business at your club nights about? Isn't that sexist?

Tim Westwood: Yeah it is, and it's actually illegal, but I don't really care about that because at the end of the day, if you got ladies in the party - you got a hot party.

VM: So do blokes pay double?

Tim Westwood: Nah, our prices are cheap, I've probably been charging the same prices for ten years now. What it is, with the "Ladies free" s***, if it's "Ladies free" the ladies come, and if the ladies come the guys come - so your party's packed.

VM: Ah, so it's bait.

Tim Westwood: Yeah, and not only that, man, it's like showing some love. I've done parties that are so thugged out, man, because it's hip-hop, and it's just gonna be 100% male. And you gotta have the women there - a lot of women love the reggae and the hardcore hip-hop, so "Ladies free" is definitely a secret of success. With us charging like £7, and free for ladies, that's like £3.50 a head, so we do these parties as a "give back" party, to do it for the street. I actually lose money on these parties when I could have been making money at other clubs that night, but I give up those nights just to give back to the street man, cos that's my base, man, it's so important for me.

VM: Do you have a "no hoodies" policy on the door?

Tim Westwood: Nah man, I think that's just straight f***ing bull****, man. I hate clubs which say "no sneakers, no jeans, no hoodies". Like, on the real man, my sneakers cost 70, 80 pounds, my jeans can cost 50, 60, 70 pounds, whereas if you're saying "shoes and trousers", you can go to Mr Byrite with 10 or 15 quid and get kitted out. That doesn't mean anything. My crowd is just a young crowd who wanna celebrate hip-hop, meet girls and party. Those gangsters are more likely to wear crocodile shoes and f***ing Pradas and whatever, man. Those are the people who can end up shooting up your party. Hoodies and all that bull**** mean nothing. It's just another way of fighting down the youth. I mean, look at yourself, man! (points at hoodie)

VM: Exactly, and I'm a posh media executive!

Tim Westwood: It's only intimidating if you're not used to that audience, man.

VM: So let's talk about your new DVD - there's girl-on-girl action, drugs, bad language, 18 rated business... what's going on?!

Tim Westwood: It's a hot DVD man, it's what the street wants. Some real behind the scenes s***, man. This is like, y'know, people know what I do from the parties, the radio, the TV, the clubs and the website, but this is like what goes on behind the scenes, those little party jump-offs, those little after-party situations. There's artists just on some real talk, cos someone like DMX talking grimy like that you can't have it on the radio or the TV, because of the language. It's just showing the realness. In a lot of ways, cats who just know me as a radio DJ or just as a TV presenter with Pimp My Ride UK or the Channel U show which we used to f*** with, this is the realness which you can't show. It's a street DVD which would normally just be on sale in like the barbers' shops or the independent record stores or the street places, but now is on sale in the high street.

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29-01-2007