DJ Am Details

Miracles are born all over the world every second of ever day. Most of the time these individuals don't recognize their talent and go on to lead an average life. But every now and then, you get the ones that realize their talents and make very good use of it. This is one of those stories...

DJ A.M., born Adam Goldstein, was born in Philly in 1973. As a child he attended public school at Greenfield Elementary, but that was only after he had gotten kicked out of private school in first grade for throwing a rock at a car. In second grade was when he tasted his first dose of hip-hop. AM said, "I was a minority and that's really the only music there was. I loved to beat box. That saved my ass more then once from getting beat up. Some brothas would run up to jack me, and I would bust a beat box for them and next thing I knew, it was a freestyle session for an hour. My lips would be blue but my face not BLACK and blue." He didn't stay little for long, he earned his place among them after he showed off a beat a friend had taught him.

DJ A.M. has an older sister, who shared her love of Punk Rock with him. She would play The Clash and The Misfits, while he'd be jamming to LL Cool J and Boogie Down Productions. So by 1986 he had been introduced to something new once again, and he liked it.In Philadelphia DJ AM had two friends who had their own group, A.M. said, "DJ Mighty Mi and MC Eon who are now the Rawkus recording group "The High and the Mighty". That was when I FIRST saw someone DJ and thought... 'DAMN that is pretty fuckin cool.' I had no turntables but I DID have a boom box that recorded with a lil' mic." He started practicing his skills with Gumby, "I used to sit in the living room for hours and sample and LOOP different lines and beats by taping the lil MIC to the speaker on my moms TV. I loved to do that. The first mix I ever made was a Gumby porno. I took short clips of words from a few Gumby Episodes and tried to make it sound like a porno. My sister and her friends thought I was a sick disturbed child."

In 1987 he and his family moved all the way across the country to Los Angeles, where he said, "Kids here did NOT know about hip-hop at all," but they did have one station, KDAY 1580 AM that played hip-hop. DJ A.M. turned a lot of LA kids over to hip-hop by introducing them to hip-hop he had gotten hooked to in Philly.

1991 was the year a friend of his had turntables, and DJ A.M. started messing around with them, and he was hooked instantly. By 1994 he had his own, and that's when he began tearing it up.

You're probably wondering, 'Where did DJ A.M. get his start?'. 'I got my FIRST actual job DJ-ing an After Hours in LA for $40 a night. It was an illegal club that sold liquor and cocaine. I had a good time there. Well, there some promoter gave me a job at "The Dragonfly", a real night club in Hollywood, and the rest is history.'

DJ A.M. has said he considers himself out going. If he were stranded on a desert island with only five albums, his choices would be, "BDP-By All Means Necessary, System of a Down-System of Down, Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bob Marley - Legend, Gangstarr - Full Clip (Greatest Hits), and Michael Jackson-Thriller." When asked, 'When you're onstage, how do you feel? What goes on inside your head?' DJ A.M. said, "Shit, I hope I don't fuck up... If I do good and people scream, I get the most pleasing sensation that rolls up my spine and tingles my soul." He also said, in the film of his life he would chose Corey Haim to portray him, and when asked what four people dead or alive, he would invite to a dinner party, he said his father, Biggie, Serrj Tankain of System of a Down, and Laetitia Casta (for dessert).

That's how this DJ got started, and don't worry, he's not going away. He'll be here for a long time!