To fully appreciate the contents of this article please first watch the video below.
This video was filmed in 2005, while DJ Wicked was traveling with Grayskul and Atmosphere on his first national tour.
“Every show was sold out, there was 1000+ every night. It was dope but there was no hotels or anything. We were getting by on the absolute bare minimum, you know just grinding. But the shows were always sold out and that was the thing that kept the moral up.” He continued, “It helped me realize why I’m out here doing this.”
Since his first national tour, Wicked remains busy working with artists on a regional and national level such as Crooked I of Slaugherhouse, 2MEX, Grayskul and Boom Bap Project. He’s shared the stage with some of the most well respected DJ’s in the world, and has worked at private events for companies such as Adidas, Toyota/Scion, Skullcandy Headphones, and Nike. In 2009, he went on Dazed and Dirty Tour with Potluck and D12. He even had his own sneaker with Adidas. Right now, he’s on the road with the Strange Noize Tour featuring Saigon, Potluck and Krizz Kaliko.
“On this tour we have a bus, but it’s packed up in this mother fucker. There’s some big dudes on this tour,” he said with a laugh. “We sleep on the bus, we shower at truck stops. Which isn’t my favorite thing to do, but it’s nice having a paid driver. We’ll do the show, get back on the bus, drive about an hour out of town, stop at a truck stop and then get back on the bus around 3 AM and all go to sleep. The driver drives, and we wake up in a new city and do it all over again.”
DJ Wicked >
DJ Wicked, real name Kirk Kirkpatrick, originally joined the tour as Potluck’s DJ, but ended up working out a deal to DJ for all acts on the tour out of necessity. None of the other acts brought a DJ.
“It makes for some long nights on stage. Doors open at 6 or 7 and I’m literally up there until around midnight or so,” he said. “Being on the road can be tough man. Two months is a long time to just put everything on hold. Even though you are gone for two months you have all the same bills, the same rent, all that shits still happening while you are out here.”
One project that Wicked has put on hold while traveling for the next two months is the sequel to his most successful Mixtape to date, Got Milf?
“I put that one out about 5 years ago. It started out kind of like a joke, but everyone like it. The second one is just going to take off where the first one left off. I’ve sold more of that CD than all of my other ones combined, and people have been asking me when I’m going to do another one. So I’m going to try to knock that one out.”
Balancing priorities is a tough job for all DJs who are a popular demand. Between doing studio work for artists wanting his touch on a record, holding down his weekly Wicked Wednesday’s, other club appearance spot dates and maintaining a social life, finding time to get a solo project done can be a complicated task.
“A lot of these cats can record verses on the bus, but it’s not really the same for me. I can’t really be setting up turntable in here.” He said, “When I’m at home I do a lot of studio works for other cats. It seems like every time I want to work on some of my own shit someone will have some studio work, which is cool, and I make money on the side doing that, but I just need to make myself the priority right now.”
Wicked is one of the few DJ’s who excels at both the technical side of the art as well as the ability to rock the party. This has given him the edge over the competition in the northwest for the last decade. He’s legendary club night, Wicked Wednesdays, recently moved to Portland’s Up Front Night Club.
“We started it at Up Front about five months ago, and so far it’s been really good. We’ve been getting a good solid crowd in there every week. Even on rainy nights, or even when it was snowing it’s been good.” He continued, “Portland’s super hard on the weeknights because people have jobs or they have to get up for school. Everyone has responsibilities, but we’ve still be getting a lot of people out. I’m kind of anxious for summer to get here. The location of that spot is right on the Waterfront Park. So when the nice weather hits I think it’s really going to crack.”
A rotation of DJ’s will be filling in for him every Wednesday at Up Front until he returns home from tour at the end of April.
Visit his website at JustPlainterror.com, on facebook at www.facebook.com/deejaywicked or on twitter at www.twitter.com/djwicked .
Tour Dates are posted below.
Mar 10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel
Mar 11 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium
Mar 12 – Hartford, CT @ Websters Theater
Mar 17 – Crest Hill, IL @ Bada Brew
Mar 18 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Eagles Hall
Mar 19 – Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
Mar 20 – Omaha, NE @ The Slowdown
Mar 21 – Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
Mar 22 – Des Moines, IA @ Peoples
Mar 23 – Sauget, IL @ Pops
Mar 26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
Mar 28 – Tucson, AZ @ The Rialto
Mar 29 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
Mar 30 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater
Mar 31 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
Apr 1 – Magna, UT @ The Great Salt Air
Apr 3 – Casper, WY @ Downtown Grill
Apr 4 – Fort Collins, CO @ The Aggie Theater
Apr 5 – Billings, MT @ The Railyard
Apr 6 – Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Cocktail Lounge
Apr 7 – Missoula, MT @ Top Hat
Apr 8 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Boise
Apr 11 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Spokane
Apr 13 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Apr 14 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
Apr 15 – Eureka, CA @ Red fox Tavern
Apr 17 – Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
Apr 18 – Reno, NV @ The Knitting Factory
Apr 20 – Pomona, CA @ The Fox Theater
Apr 22 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
Apr 23 – Las Vegas, NV @ Freemont East District