Who is DJ Montana Ali?
Where you from and when did you first fall in love with hip-hop?
I’m from the 864, shoutout to the hometown Greenville, SC. I actually feel like I fell in love with music late compared to everybody else lol. I didn’t really start getting in tune with music until probably my sophomore year in high school. Matter of fact, I started trying to rap and everything. That clearly didn’t work lol. But yeah, I started falling in love with hip-hop and music in high school. I think Gucci Mane was the first artist I actually considered my “favorite artist”, I remember I used to listen to him all day trying to learn his lyrics.
Who are your musical inspirations and influences?
When I first started out, I actually didn’t have any musical influences. It was something I just found on my own. But once I actually got into everything and started finding myself as a DJ, I’ll say DJ Khaled, DJ Drama, and DJ Scream. It’s the way Khaled came up and how he branded himself into a household name, and the same with DJ Drama. You know Drama had the mixtape game on lock and everybody in the industry wanted their mixtape hosted by Drama. When it comes to DJ Scream, I love what he built with the Hoodrich brand. It was like at one point, everything hot in the streets was stamped with that Hoodrich drop. He had a fire camp under him, Hoodrich DJs, and I know he had producers and some other stuff under the brand too.
What made you first pursue music and become a DJ?
I just wanted to see if I could do it lol. The homies used to throw house parties my freshman year in college, so I would play the music from an iPod. At that point I was like, I might as well see if I can DJ for real. So I bought a little $150 DJ controller and just started practicing. I can’t remember how I ended up getting that first call, but it was a party at my school and I ended up killing it that night. It was history after that, we put in the work and we here now.
What is your best and worst DJ memories?
My best memory was being on a national tour with one of the biggest artists and labels in the game. That’s when I can say I saw the bigger picture for real. I remember after my DJ set at the show, I would always go pick a random spot in the venue and watch the show. I was just soaking it all in, cause that was truly a high point that I had been working towards my whole career. So for me to really be living my dream, it was dope. I can’t think of a worst memory though. I just know I really went through a lot to get to this position. The worst part about it all is probably the sacrifices I had to make. And that’s from family, to friends, to financially.
How important is the DJ in hip-hop and what are your intentions for preserving the culture?
I feel like the DJ is the pulse of hip-hop. I don’t feel like DJs don’t get the credit and respect that we deserve, but we really are the beat of hip-hop. We have the power to influence hundreds and thousands of people at one time by what we play. I think that’s what makes DJs so important in hip-hop, our influence. And everybody knows hip-hop is where most new trends come from, everybody wants to imitate the culture and styles. I’m preserving the culture by continuing to be dope and push dope music. Showing people that real hip-hop and rap ain’t dead.
You have toured with Rick Ross and MMG. How does Ross get his team fully involved with his brand and how do you contribute to this?
It’s pretty much Ross giving the people around him opportunities to be successful and win. It’s him putting the right people in the right position. In one of his recent interviews, he was talking about how it wouldn’t even be possible for him to partner with 20+ brands without his team. MMG, that’s family. From day 1, everybody has shown love. I’m an ambassador and DJ for MMG, which I got that opportunity just by networking. I DM’d Ross manager one day on Instagram telling I’m I wanted to be a part of the team and I was ready to work. His manager, Geter K, hit back and pretty much was like show me what you got and we’ll see what’s up. So you know it was on-go at that point lol.
What does success mean to you?
Success is having freedom to me. Being financially stable, and being able to live as you please. I’m still working towards my millions but as far as being able to move how I want, I’m there. I quit my full-time corporate job in 2019, and that allowed me to fully find myself and tap into a different creative space.
As we approach 2022, it seems the pandemic era is slightly vague. How have you adjusted to the climate and what are your expectations for the new year?
Man the pandemic and Covid situation completely altered my world. I think like everybody, I had to adjust and learn how to stand out during a time where we were so limited. But that’s when I tapped back in with dropping mixtapes. During the pandemic in 2020, I did like 2 or 3 million mixtape streams. My projects were going crazy on Spinrilla and Audiomack, so that’s really how I was able to stay in the mix. I know a lot of DJs turned to live streaming, but I could never just tap in and create a wave with that.
What’s next for you?
We got so much lined up for 2022. My main focus is building the team and the OnDemand brand. We hosted our first event this past August and the turnout was better than we expected. So we’re full steam ahead with our events in 2022. But the big news that we’ve been holding in, and this the first place we’re dropping the news. We’re launching our management division under OnDemand Entertainment at the top of 2022. So we’ll be signing not only artists, but talent in general. That includes producers, DJs, videographers, etc. Next year is gonna be a big year for the OnDemand company and brand. I’ve already told the team, 2022 is our takeover year.
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @DJMontana_ali
Website: www.DJMontanaali.com
Booking: [email protected]
Merchandise: www.OnDemandMerch.shop
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