We were lucky to catch up with TJ Supa recently and have shared our conversation below.
TJ, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
The beginning of my journey in music happened at 10 years. I was at my mothers boyfriends house running around playing with my brother Chris. I remember running around and seeing the TV which was set on MTV. The Run DMC video for the song “Rock Box” came on and it was like the world froze> I remember stopping everything and focusing on the TV. I consider that the beginning of my musical journey because I started writing after that and rapping with my brother and getting into musical endeavors. This led to me starting to rap at school and me later beginning to perform.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Ive been in the music industry for 20+ years so there are alot of different areas that I cover in entertainment, But I am likely prominently known for being a radio show host / owner of the Radio Supa Show. The show is a weekly, urban music based show in which we interview celebrities on a weekly basis. We have had the pleasure of interviewing many legends such as Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, MC Lyte, Cassidy, DJ Red Alert, Yo Yo, Rampage of Flipmode Squad, Christopher Williams, Fredro Starr of Onyx and so many more. The show has run for 13 years and currently airs on 95 radio stations around the nation, Canada & Switzerland.
Additionally, I also am creator and host of a web based, television show called the Rock The Mic Show. A music video based show which took inspiration from Yo MTV Raps & Video Music Box. This show syndicates to about 10 digital channels.
I also am responsible for moving traffic for independent and major artists from behind the scenes, Music Supervision on many indie films and artist management for and upcoming artist Melanin Monroe.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I remember moving out west from New York due to a series of family related things that occurred in my life. I previously worked in the major NY music industry for the beginning of my adult life at 19, so at this point, major industry was my understanding of life as an adult. I moved to Phoenix, a place with absolutely no music industry so, as you can imagine, I experienced a sort of culture shock. After getting into a few independent film project with my brother Chris (who worked heavily in film at the time) I remember getting to a point where I had completed a second soundtrack for a film he directed named “Cody Black” (available on Amazon Prime). I remember looking for some kind of deal that I could get worked out to get the project released. Keep in mind that I had moved to a place with no music industry. It just wasn’t happening lol. I remember being at my sisters house and she put this movie on named “The Secret”. In that film there was an individual who was looking for a way to increase his income, but was not finding success through regular means. He stated that he had this book that he had written and it was just sitting on his computer. He decided to put the book out and was successful in tripling his income. Seeing this story triggered me to begin to stop waiting for someone to show up and assist me with carrying out the creative ideas I had. I ultimately ended up finding a path to release that soundtrack myself. That mind set would ultimately lead to me later opening up a record label, a radio station, web television station and beginning many other industry endeavors.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I remember reading a parable in the Bible called the “Parable of the Talents”. In it, it describes a situation where a master gave certain talents to his servants. 1 talent to one, 2 talents another and 5 to the third. It was the servants position to increase the talents given to them and produce something positive.
Stating that, I feel like the servant who was given 5 talents and during my time here, Its important for me to create positive situations and try to touch and assist others in the world. I feel like the work I am doing in the industry is part of my mission on earth. Ive been blessed to receive the talent that I have and I am going to create and touch others with it.
I tell my team sometimes that we are not Radio pretty good, or Radio a little better than the other radio. But that we are Radio Supa, so we have to do things that are difficult to do and push to always display ourselves as a model in what we do.
Contact Info:
- Website: RadioSupa.com
- Instagram: @tjsupa
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tj.supa.56
- Twitter: @SupaHype
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJygEfrp0o5yq6ih_0SnZBQ
- Other: Highest salute to my team for working to bring this dream to life. Lisa Arenas, DJ DN3, Lena Marie, Kim Draughan, Professor Xavier, Rampage and the Heat 100 DJ Coalition.
Image Credits
Shots by Medaforacle OTH Magazine 2021.