We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dre Day Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dre Day thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
My idea for this entertainment business has kind of stemmed from all of the various talents that I’ve developed over the years, especially in the art industry. Starting out as a dancer leading a hip hop dance crew in Philly, the brotherhood mentality has always been there. I genuinely feel that “we all can eat” if we lift each other up. From dance, I turned to DJing and decided to collab with a few other DJs and we created “Scratch Addicts”. I also DJed for an entertainment company and learned the skills behind hosting successful events and DJing for weddings, birthdays, etc. This experience led me to start my own entertainment company, City Boyz Nation LLC. Within the umbrella of City Boyz is our clothing line, our music production team, our photography and videography team, and a team of artists that specialize in anything from songwriting and beat making, to fashion design and rappers/singers. My purpose for this company is that we are all amazing people with gifts to share, and I always continue to provide a place for that art to flourish and explore new boundaries. I put artists in rooms that would normally collaborate together, and that in itself is beautiful. That and the fact that we can continue to give new rising artists a platform to showcase their talents at our events… that means everything. Every city needs that.
Dre Day, 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?
As I was saying before, I grew up in Philadelphia and spent most of my years dancing. Discipline came naturally to me because I spent my younger years as an athlete. I seem to gravitate to the leadership role, mainly because I’m so passionate about what I do. I also have a passion for educating the youth. I was a hip hop dance instructor for 20+ years for people ranging from 5-60 years old. I also taught a music production class for 3 years at a high school summer program at Villanova University. My philosophy has always been, if you have knowledge you should share that knowledge.
City Boyz Nation LLC started in 2011, and since then we’ve expanded to Detroit, L.A., and Tucson/Phoenix. In 2020 life pointed me in the direction of relocating to Tucson to better expand the west coast region. When I saw that there wasn’t a whole lot of performing opportunities in Tucson, I felt that I should create one. But not just any showcase event, one that was fair to the artists and the commitment they were putting in as well. I’m proud of where we’ve come and the amazing following that we’ve developed. We really created our own lane when it comes to being able to do what we love and provide for our families, while still being an independent label. Never any bad blood when it comes to business, City Boyz are all about Peace, Love, and Respect for everyone
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Having to learn the hard way how to trust people and how to look out for the signs. I think everyone experiences that, but when it comes to this particular industry I know it can get ruthless. You have to really focus on your circle. That and always making sure your personal and business affairs are in order to be able to truly move forward.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
So, the backstory of how I went from dancing to DJing can be summed up in two words: knee injury. I had a signature move that didn’t go so great one night in a rehearsal, and a couple knee surgeries later I had to face the fact that I couldn’t dance competitively anymore. I had already gotten into music at this point, so I really dove into DJing after that. I have no regrets because I love this journey that I’m on. In 2020, that was also a big shift. I flew out to Tucson in March to DJ downtown for St. Paddy’s Day, and then COVID was announced and they cancelled the NCAA Tournament. All of a sudden flights home to Philly are cancelled. Long story short, I spent 6 months across the country from my family during a pandemic. But the outcome was me relocating to AZ, and I couldn’t be happier. God is good, all the time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.djdreday.com
- Instagram: @djdreday
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djdreday215?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Twitter: @djdreday
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKjwnQPW9llmWfZVNqT5HdQ
- Other: www.cityboyzlive.com www.cityboyzmusicgroup.com
Image Credits
Dre Day Flick