We were lucky to catch up with Darrell Cole recently and have shared our conversation below.

Darrell, appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

One of the biggest, unexpected problems I have faced in my career, has absolutely been knowing and recognizing those who are there to support, and also knowing those were there to feed off of what I have accomplished. Though I’m not the most famous or most well-known, you would be surprised the people who have used me, taken advantage of my kindness and willingness to help others, learn and grow, . the hardships ive faced, dealing with unprofessional clients, promoters, and just people in this field in general. But the most unexpected of all has to be the day today, struggle of trying to do the right thing while also being a creative, unique, innovative all the while following the necessary trends, and making an impact with every crowd that I face. These are all things I had to learn and perfect on my own without much guidance being self taught. These are just part of the growing pains in the process of becoming great as a diss jockey and curator.

I simply overcame them by going through these things, and not trying to get past them, I ignored the status quo and I made my own way, creating my own style, develop my own sound perfect in my own processes and techniques. I learned from pure experience I learned from fear of not growing I learned from the lack of support and guidance. I embraced failure and I encouraged criticism. But most of all it wasnt even me ….. 1000% of it was my God guiding my steps and anointing me with the gift.

Darrell, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started humbly as a high school graduate in 2012 with no clear intention on making this a career just solely focused on enjoying a craft that I learned and had a desire to grow in. For the sake of the love of the art, it was not until a year into djing did I discover that there was a financial gain. I started off doing parties to earn money for equipment to grow, that growth lead to a Desire to learn more. As I gained more experience, I also learned that to keep making this all worth it I had to grow and level up not only as a dj butI as an entrepreneur . It actually wasn’t until all of my equipment was stolen and I was robbed while working my full-time job back in 2016 did I realize this . at that time I hit a low point in which made me debate on quitting. Or just moving on altogether, but something in me told to me give myself time to heal but also regroup, restart, revamp, and re-energize my passion . By the beginning of 2017, I had already upgraded all of my lost equipment, re-branded my name, and re-discovered my love and talent . It had been a while so I almost had to relearn what I learned before but this time around I was driven and determined to be twice if not three times the DJ I was before. By the end of 2017 I had signed my first deal with a company in which, I wish not to disclose or give any credit to moving forward. I learned a lot about how people can use your talent and also the lack of experience to use and benefit from, which taught me my next hard lesson and drove me to become fully independent. after working my way out of my deal and ultimately renewing my lease on my DJ life I broke ties and set out to reclaim all that was lost. From that point on, I promised myself to stay independent and to always trust, and know my own worth. I saved, worked iand earned my way, still with no true guidance nor funding other than my own income, I completely replaced all of my equipment, along with upgrading my two speakers, a DJ booth a new DJ controller, a new MacBook Pro and much more tools to use at my disposal.

I think I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve come so far, and I’ve only done right towards others, and every situation I possibly could, and with God in faith, I have only grown to become better as a DJ as a man as a person, and as an artist who honestly just loves the craft But does enjoy the income that comes along with it. Ultimately, I just thank God for blessing me with the ability to do something that I enjoy and love and have a true passion for all the while being compensated as well as meeting so many people who have changed my life , and all the while doing as much as I can to change the lives of others . And I think God for just keeping my good spirit alive after everything I’ve been through all the lonely nights and all the times I was overlooked .

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

honestly, a lot of people do not understand what is Dj‘s true job is nor do they understand what it takes to become a DJ or sustain a successful DJ career, one thing about my journey that stands out the most and I really hope people understand is that everything I know everything I have and own has come from literal work every day, nothing was given everything was earned and most importantly, as much as I have done I am still always open to learning growing and becoming better. If nothing else, I have been a student of the game from day one to my last breath I am always open to growing learning and just becoming better .

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of what I do is honestly the joy it brings to not only me, but the people who hear my dj sets .

Theres nothing like the joy that others experience from the music I play and the vibes I create. Of course we all love financial gain, but at the end of the day, there’s no feeling like making someone forget about everything they have going on at home, whatever may be bothering them in their lives, whatever struggles they may be facing or hardships that we may not know about, but instead for one moment, taking someone to a special place using Music. I am blessed to do what I do.

It is also rewarding to know that I can get paid doing something that brings happiness and does not take it , and there’s nothing like making connections with people through sounds vibrations. I believe it Is directly a blessing from God.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: westmade.clint
• Facebook: Darrell Clinton Cole Jr
• Twitter: DJClint_WMM
• Youtube: DJ Clint Kicks

Image Credits
Lauren Philpot