#137: DJ Semtex LIVE in London

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we join the legendary DJ Semtex LIVE in London, England in front of a sold-out crowd at the Hoxton Sq. Bar & Kitchen. For the first time, Semtex - world-renowned DJ, radio personality, and author - speaks in depth on the drive, focus and determination that came from growing up in working-class Manchester, losing an arm at a formative age, and dealing with doubters, haters and non-believers long before he even graduated University. Semtex discusses how he got into hip-hop, how he became the most in-demand DJ in London, and the doors that his obsession with vinyl records opened up around the world. We talked about how he went from running street teams for Sony Music to establishing Def Jam UK to championing artists like Kanye, Lauryn Hill, DJ Khaled and Dizzee Rascal early, and what that meant to both his career and theirs. All that, plus meeting Jay-Z and Dame Dash at Roc-A-Fella's first office, the backstory to his huge Drake interviews, working with Destiny's Child, attending and videotaping a tiny Kanye after-party/cipher, becoming a trusted interviewer, his thoughts on radio, DJs, and downloading sites, and the super-real reason he got rid of his entire vinyl collection.