We recently connected with Justin Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Justin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I practiced…A LOT. It took some time to really get DJing in itself down but once I got used to everything it helped me branch out into other parts of music. I probably could’ve accelerated the learning process if I didn’t have so many things going on at the time back in 2012/2013. But ultimately that ended up helping me pursue my craft even more. The most essential skill that I felt I had back then was discipline. Just having to reassure myself that this was something I really wanted to do. I loved every moment of learning and doing it. I motivated myself to get up and practice on the days I wasn’t feeling my best. I’m glad I did because even though my college work, job, family, and just life stress was something I had to deal with, coming back to the music kept me level headed through it all.
Justin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Well for those who don’t know me, my name’s Justin aka “DJ Sir CRKS”, the CRKS just stands for “Crooks”. I’m a DJ, producer, & engineer out of Houston and I’ve been in this for about 9 years now.
I started back in 2013 after attending Howard University (s/o Class of 2014), I used to hang with all my DJ friends at the time and help them bring in gear or just to come through to a party. I used just love the energy DJs were able to create and that kinda put the fire in me to dabble in DJing. I began with chopping & screwing songs since I am from Houston it was one thing I knew how to do and get a feel for right off the jump. That helped me tremendously when it came to spreading my online presence. I was quickly able to grab the attention of a lot of fan, musicians, and labels.
As a DJ, I usually provide sets for whoever comes to me asking for my services. I’m always open for anything someone throws at me. I produce my own music as well, and I have a B.S. in Audio Engineering/Production.
I think what sets me apart from the rest of the DJs here in Houston is that I always try to play different music, stuff people haven’t heard before. Whether it be a remix, mash-up or just something entirely new.
With that being said, I would say my proudest moment would be DJing a set on Drake’s OVO Sound Radio on Apple Music a few years back, Episode 68 to be exact. It was right after I graduated and it just felt like a blessing to get reached out and asked to DJ. It was Eric Dingus, OG Chase B, and myself. It was just felt like I was at the highest point in my career so far and I’m still so proud of that to this day. Much love to Kid Masterpiece and GoHomeRoger for plugging me in with OVO.
I always want anyone who’s interested in my services to know that I give everything my all. I always try to outdo myself after each client. I know I can always go harder or do something better. It’s a learning experience after every client. I switch it up for all of my sets so you won’t ever get the same songs at an event because I’m always digging for new content to share with people.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being able to share your passion of what you do and its influence it can have on someone. Being paid to do what I do is always a plus and I’m grateful for that. But the main reason that pushes me to continue to do it is the feelings and emotions music can pull out of people. And being able to have the chance to show music to the world is the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative. Seeing people come up to me and mentioning old songs or mixes I did when I first started still gives me goosebumps because I had an impact on someone else’s life so much that they remember it for years long enough to let me know. It’s just an amazing feeling overall.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The story of building my online presence was pretty normal to say the least for the time we were in. I started by just sharing my music through Hulkshare and posting links on my twitter. Then as time went on I moved to YouTube for a bit before all the copyright laws started. This was probably 2013-2015ish, when that happened. I just kept pushing my stuff out and spreading it to everyone I could. The biggest push of my social media presence was Soundcloud for sure. It was before the “Soundcloud Rapper” era, many would say the “golden years” of SoundCloud because if you know, you know. This was 2015-2017 and it was were I connected with a lot of other artists and creatives. This allowed me to collaborate and support with those who were in the same boat of trying to spread their presence in the social media world. It pushed me to were I am now, I’m still able to do what I love and have fun while doing it. Being able to share the vibes of music with everyone who can hear it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djsircrks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sircrooksalot
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/dj-sir-crks https://soundcloud.com/sir-crks-next-stash https://djsircrks.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Melothemogul yvetteglasco llcozycam