DJ King Built An Empire in Queen's City One Layer at a Time.
Charlotte's DJ King built his empire from the ground up and became royalty.
People see a successful person and immediately assume that their opulence and fame resulted from their connections, money, or hustle. Still, they fail to see the behind-the-scenes work that goes unnoticed. For DJ King, who has become a fixture in Charlotte's rap scene, his cache and talent came from him putting in years of work as an underground DJ.
Years before artists like MoneyBagg Yo and Rich Homie Quan sought him out, he was just a man trying to find a way to pay his bills. Now elevated and accomplished, his company Royalty Entertainment is a name and brand that will soon be on everyone’s mind.
Origins
Born and raised in Charlotte, music, particularly DJing, was a part of his family tree. His older brother, DJ Pyro, worked as a DJ which offered him a first-person point of view of the craft and removed the air of difficulty that may have turned him away from it.
But it would take years before King would even think to venture out on his own. As a young kid, his focus was more on spending time with his friends and juggling a variety of sports from wrestling and tennis to karate.
“I would always help my brother set up sound and stuff and I saw it for myself, but I didn’t think about it. I didn’t start DJing until college. I got introduced to DJ Special K on 102 Jamz and he showed me the basics.”
King also played saxophone and trumpet in his school’s concert band and on Sunday’s drums at his church. King’s parents wanted him to follow the path in front of him, which amounted to going to college and getting a good job, but initially, it looked as if that would be a challenge.
“At that time I had no plans for life after high school. We were so focused on the now we didn’t think about life past eighteen. My dad’s only choices for me were school and the military.”
College
King described a fortuitous event that allowed him to go to college. He first heard about Livingstone College, an HBCU in Salisbury, NC from a friend on the football team and after receiving an invite to the school’s Bridge program, he buckled down and finished the six-week course.
“Livingstone picked me and we made the best out of it. I don’t regret it.”
King credits his time at Livingstone with not only providing him with a degree but also giving him the music education he needed to be a DJ. He played in the university’s band to help alleviate the costs and chose music as his major before later switching to Business.
Freshman year King was introduced to a pivotal DJ, DJ Special K, through his roommate. The two became friends and over time, K offered King a platform to hone his skills and learn the ins and outs of DJing in the local area. The range of students from the Midwest, West Coast, and East Coast gave him the exposure he needed and helped him develop a palette that would allow him to appreciate all the sounds of the Diaspora.
DJing the after party for his school’s Homecoming served as his coming out event. Nervous at first, King fondly recalls it now and looks at it as the confirmation he needed to pursue his passion seriously. To add to his social experience, King later pledged Alpha Phi Alpha, following the footsteps of his brothers who were both in the organization.
Post College/ Real World
After college, DJ King began working in the local area between Salisbury and Charlotte, taking any and every job he could to earn income and make sure people knew his work. He worked in the Healthcare field and DJed by night at local nightclub Stats Charlotte. At the time King also juggled an internship with Streetz 103.3 in Charlotte, NC.
Dependable and skilled, his struggle to build a brand took time but ensured that he would become a regular among the city’s movers and shakers, especially the DJs at WLJZ 107.1. King credits both experiences including Stats with giving him the confidence he needed to be the best DJ.
“People only see the success and think it comes overnight. But when I graduated, I worked a 9-5 and when I worked I can remember doing shows and not getting paid. There was a time I didn’t even have money to get out of a parking deck I was in.”
While in college, King interned at Streetz 103.3 in Charlotte, grabbing food for the jockeys and washing dishes, all the while honing his craft. The next major person to help him was Mario the Mic Man, a Charlotte DJ whose 9:00 mix show generated significant traffic.
Eager for his spot, he propositioned them and asked for a chance to prove his skills which led to a permanent position with the station and show. Mario, Matthew “Chewy” Torres, Johnny KD, and DJ Special K became crucial links in his journey towards climbing the social ladder in the city.
Over time, the tastemakers there at the station and the city saw his skill and began entrusting him with larger chances to open for acts that visited the city.
His breakthrough moment came when he least expected it in August of 2023 when Memphis rap star, MoneyBagg Yo, came to the city. In need of a house DJ at the last moment, his friend called him in the spur of the moment and gave him twenty minutes to be there.
“That was my first time doing something of that magnitude and though I was nervous, I DJ as if I was back at Stats Charlotte. But at the end of it, I felt like Jadakiss in the Verzuz.”
On a whirlwind ever since, King’s gone on to do more important events including the heralded CIAA Basketball Weekend afterparties. Alongside his business partner, Mark Sanders Jr, he’s managed to build a brand, Royalty Entertainment, centred around catering good vibes.
These days his social media shows him with a bevvy of musical friends and talent including Tee Grizzley, Rich Homie Quan, and Jacquees, but in his eyes, he’s just now reaping the rewards of his unfailing commitment to his dream. Despite that, he remains as helpful and positive as he was years earlier when he first picked up a turntable.
