You may have attended a
party, Club Aqua, Plush (when it was open), heard My Tenacity Radio or recently
been to Mavericks. If you have or even if you haven’t by now you probably heard
of DJ Shab better known as “Mr. Bring The City Out”. Shab is no stranger to Jacksonville’s night
scene and is on the rise to being one of Jacksonville’s very own hottest MC’s/
DJ’s. His journey started about eight years ago when he was eighteen he and his
friend Sheldon threw a party for his 18th birthday. The party was in
Orange Park at a hotel with over 300 in attendance. It was so successful that
Sheldon encouraged Shab that they should start throwing parties. So it began
and while they both worked at the tennis shoe store Athlete’s Foot they were
working and throwing parties at night and on the weekends when they weren’t
working.
After about two years Sheldon
wanted to cut out the expense of paying a DJ and thought they could just do it
themselves. The two of them put their money together and bought the cheapest
turn table board available and a laptop. They started practicing at the house
with Sheldon being the DJ and Shab being the MC. Shab admits through laughter
that at first he was afraid he sounded corny on the mic but eventually learned
that you just have to be yourself and the crowd will follow suit. Together they started hosting events and the
crowds grew with each event. Then they started hosting teen parties and until
this day Shab DJ’s teen parties because eventually teens become adults and they
always come back to support.
A few years back on Easter
Sunday there were three clubs open. Point Blank Ent had Aqua, Plush was open
and Shab & Sheldon had a club called Icon on Beach Blvd. Icon had no liquor
license so only wine was being served. On this night they shut the entire city
down and this was the turning point for them as they begin to make their mark.
Bigga Rankins put them on the 2 Chainz and Future show at Plush which was a
success. The last event at Plush before they officially closed was his birthday party and Young Thug
performed. At this time Young Thug was a new artist with his hit single “I’m a
Stoner”. Throughout all of this they were both still working at the shoe store.
Shab was eventually let go and he gained momentum and started building his
brand. Throwing parties became his sole source of income so he had to take it
serious. He came up with ways to turn his passion into profit so he began
hosting mixtapes, selling rideout mixtapes as well as having meet and greets
with artists.
Shab feels like his events
are successful because he makes his events memorable through promotions. A lot
of small businesses are missing promotions. He and his homeboy hit all sides of
town distributing flyers, hanging posters and grabbing the attention of his
supporters. Promoting is about relevancy as well and ensuring that the artists
that you bring are who the people want to see. Jacksonville is NOT a crab city.
He hates when he hears this. In business you have to prepare yourself for
disappointments because NOONE owes you anything!!! You have to make the people
want to support you by working hard. You also have to thank the people who do
support you. If people love what you are doing then they will support you and
you get support by being a blessing to others says Shab. Recently he fed the homeless
and was compelled to do something because the city has tremendously blessed
him. “You gotta pay your tithes and you gotta give back.”
On October 14, 2014 DJ
Sheldon passed away. He had only been fighting cancer for a short while.
Sheldon and Shab often played Madden and they took it very serious. Shab
recalls one day playing the game and Sheldon didn’t feel well so they stopped.
He went to the hospital and had tests ran and was diagnosed with cancer. When
Sheldon passed away Shab didn’t know what to do! He considered it over because
up until this point he was only an MC and didn’t know how to DJ. People wanted
to join his team as his selector but he didn’t feel right having anyone in
Sheldon’s place. Big Al from Boss Security gave him the advice to learn how to
DJ on his own and be a one man show. Sheldon is irreplaceable so after his passing Shab became “The Shab and
Sheldon Show”. He had to learn everything dealing with being a DJ. DJ Swag
taught him to beat match, mixing and mastering and Byrd Sanchez taught him as
well. When asked how he recovered in Sheldon’s absence he responded that he has
yet to recover but he knows that this is what Sheldon wanted so he has to keep
going.
If he could give anyone
advice he has three key points and they are to build your brand, stay
consistent and outwork everybody. If you combine all of these then you are sure
to be successful in your business. His ultimate goal is to be a world renowned
DJ/MC. He is inpsired by Bigga Rankins, DJ Khaled and DJ Drama. Shab also acknowledges that his manager Ron Da Don has played an integral role in his success. Family and his past also
inspires him because he grew up on Jacksonville’s Northside off of Fairfax and
saw a lot of people fall victim to the streets and he wanted to take a
different route. No matter how far he gets in life or how much money he makes
he will always be grounded in Duval and he doesn’t mind sharing his story to
help others. Stay tuned the best is yet to come.
