Can we get some love for the DJ? As thousands descend upon Washington, D.C. for the 2024 Broccoli City Festival, there will be no shortage of people eager to see Megan Thee Stallion and Victoria Monét take the stage, but this celebration of music, community and culture extends far beyond the musical performances. From a vendor spillage sponsored by Black + Forth to a special edition of Trapsoul Karaoke, this year’s Broccoli City Festival is a complete, immersive experience. In the midst of this Audi Field takeover, DJs Bo and K-Meta of Everything Nice will hit the stage for the second year in a row. Not to mention, the duo also has its hands in the Broccoli City Festival’s official kickoff party with Coco Butter and Issa Rae. Before the weekend got going, DJ K-Meta chopped it up with Culture Editor Ryan Shepard about everything from DJing off of iTunes and Windows Media Player to taking Everything Nice to New York for the first time.
I want to start at the beginning. Let’s go back to the days of a young DJ K-Meta. What was your upbringing like and what music, movies, TV shows and other pieces of pop culture were you exposed to?
I grew up in an Ethiopian household. Both of my parents are Ethiopian, so they were very much into school. They were very much into school and providing me with an education, but I was lucky enough to have African parents who weren’t forcing me to become a lawyer or a doctor. Honestly, my older sister is an artists, too, and she’s more popping than I am. She’s in New York working as a professor at Brown teaching art and she’s an artist as well. Actually, she does a lot of things. She laid the blueprint for me and let me know that I could do my own thing. Also, my parents always said, “You can do whatever you want as long as you try to be the best at it.” So, I still went to school and graduated from Morgan State University as a psychology major, but I never really touched that degree at all.
As far as the music I grew up with, my sister put me on to Hip-Hop. She was the first one who really showed me about different types of music and stuff. From there, I just always loved music. I just didn’t what at what capacity I could something with that love of music. You know what I’m saying? So, as I got older and everything, I started to fall in love with DJing at a college. Actually, this probably teetering off into something else.
Actually, that leads directly into my next question. I was going to ask, “At what point, did your love of music transforming into DJing?”
When you get to college, you start going to more parties and things like that. So, I would go and hear the DJs spin and I would think, “Oh, that’s really cool!” Then, I would start predicting the songs they would play and I gradually gravitated towards it. Then, I told all of my friends and family that I really wanted to learn how to DJ. After my family heard that I wanted to DJ, my cousin surprised me with money for turntables, so I used it to get all of the equipment I needed and I’ve jsut been going hard from that point.
With that in mind, I want to know this passion for music led to what it is today. When was the first time you started to realize that you could make a living off of your love for DJing?
I have an exact story for that question. Som I was at a house party and I think DJ Flow was there. He’ll be at Broccoli City, too. Anyway, we were at a house party and DJ Flow was playing music off of iTunes. While he was doing that, I remember getting on iTunes and Windows Media Player. Back then, you would open both apps or whatever, play two songs and try to blend them. I did that once and I just remember having this thrilling feeling. I was like, “Oh, that’s so cool.” In reality, I was just trying to match the tempo of the previous with the next song. At the time, I didn’t know any thing DJing. I just knew that the two songs had to be the same tempo. After the party, I remember talking to my friend and I said, “That was so fire. That was really fund.” He looked at me and said, “You know you could do that as a career, right? You could be a DJ.” I was like, “Yeah, you’re right. Shoot. Who knows?” Honestly, I heard what he was saying, but I didn’t think I was actually going to do that. But that feeling I had that night just never left. It just got to the point where I was obsessed and I couldn’t do anything else.
I became familiar with you not long after that. When I was going to American University, my friend from Howard took me to this spot called The Velvet Lounge that you performed at. What significance does The Velvet Lounge hold in your career?
That’s a good question. The Velvet Lounge was the starting point for a lot of DJs that came up in the same era that I did. It was a dive bar that we could go to and play whatever we want. It was definitely dirty and crusty in there, but we didn’t mind. It was just a vibe and we just grew to love it. The party, [DJ Bo and I] host — Everything Nice, debuted at The Velvet Lounge. I did it on the last Sunday of every month and it just grew from there. So, The Velvet Lounge was really a staple for a lot of locals in Washington, D.C. R.I.P.
You launched Everything Nice in 2016 and it evolved into what it is today. However, there was a period of time when you couldn’t take it to different venues in Washington, D.C. and beyond due to the spread of COVID-19. How did you and DJ Bo manage to keep it alive in 2020 and 2021 when the world was shut down?
DJ Bo is really good at online streaming. So, I would follow his lead with that and we ended up doing Everything Nice live streams. Sometimes, we would do live mixes. Other times, we would focus on putting together playlist. We ended up building a playlist that we would put out every month, so we could at least keep the brand going even though we weren’t able to host parties and events in person. It also highlighted what Everything Nice is really all about. It’s about the party, but it’s also about the love of music and the art of the DJ. One time, we could give you a playlist. Another time, we could give you a mix. Whatever it is, we we just wanted to be consistent. Once you’re able to do that, we can take it to the stage. But yeah, we we’re able to do that and then, get back to party because we missed hosting them. There’s nothing like a real party. You can’t replicate it.
You’ll have an opportunity to bring that party experience to Broccoli City this month. You and DJ Bo are on the lineup and you’re going to be at the official pre-party with Coco Butter and Issa Rae. What does it mean to you that Broccoli City brought you and DJ Bo back for another year?
It’s an honor and I don’t take it for granted at all. I’m not shocked, but I’m still in awe of the opportunity. More importantly, it’s not just us; it’s Everything Nice. It’s this brand that started at The Velvet Lounge and turned into something bigger. I’m definitely proud of what we’ve built and I’m happy to do it twice. I just hope it doesn’t rain. I just hope it goes as well as I picture it in my head. You know what I’m saying? Last year, it was really cool to be at Broccoli City, but it was also a learning experience. We were learning how to deal with bigger crowd. We were also DJing on the side stage a lot and that one is even harder in my opinion because people want to be at the main stage. They want to see the main acts. In order for you to keep people at the side stage, you have to be on point throughout the entire set. So, it was just a good, fun learning experience. At the end of the day, I felt proud of the job I did and my growth as a DJ. I hope this year goes even better.
You’ve grown a lot as a DJ in less than a decade. As it pertains to your work and the business of being a DJ, what advice do you wish you would have had early in you career?
To be honest, I still have things I need to work on. I guess I would say that I probably could have done a better of keeping track of my expenses for tax-related stuff. You just want to keep your payments, expenses and whatnot in order, so you can put it all together at the end of the year.
I started DJing back in 2010, so I’ve being doing this for a minute, but 2020 taught me to be always be prepared because you never know what could have happen. Also, people DJ at different levels for different reasons. Some people do it as a hobby. Others do it as a full-time career. Either way, try to understand what you’re in it for as you kind of dip your toe in it. It can start out as a hobby and then, move into a career or you can start out wanting it to be a full-time career and then make it a hobby. You just have to find yourself and lay out your goals.
Business wise, I’d say that it’s important not to be cheap when it comes to your craft. If there’s DJ equipment that you need, don’t try to get cheaper equipment if you have the means to get a better version of the same piece of equipment. Invest in the best equipment possible because it will help your mixes sound better and it will make your job easier. You’re going to have to get the new thing at some point. So, you might as well get it now. Also, quality equipment lasts over time.
I want to end where we started — your upbringing. You mentioned that your parents prioritized education, but did not push you or your sister to be doctors or engineers. They just encouraged you to be great at what you decided to pursue as a full-time career. Unfortunately, your mother, may she rest in peace, passed away before Everything Nice became what it is today. If she could see what you’ve been able to achieve, what do you think she’d say?
I think she’d be proud. Before she passed, I was doing a lot of clubs and nightlife events and it was cool, but it just wasn’t my kind of vibe. Like, I was getting booked and I was doing well, but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted. After every gig, I would just call my Mom and tell her how everything went. And one time, I called her to vent and I said, “I don’t know about doing these clubs. I don’t feel like an artist. I feel like I’m just playing music for people.” She asked, “Can you just do your own party? Like, why don’t you do your own party?” I was like, “Yeah, that would be a great thing to do.” She passed away in February 2016 and I started Everything Nice in April 2016. So, he definitely inspired me to do this. We went from The Velvet Lounge back then to doing New York for the first time this past weekend. We’re going to do Everything Nice in Los Angeles this fall and we want to build it into something bigger than just parties too. We want to do charity work too and who know what else? The sky is the limit for us, so I know she’s proud. I’m just trying to make her proud, man.
