What’s going on man introduce yourself to the people
What’s up everyone! I’m Ty Howard, a 26-year-old Chicago Native. I’m the Managing Editor at Fake Shore Drive and resident DJ for Shade 45’s #TheDriveSXM.
How was life growing up?
Life growing up was pretty cool. As a young kid growing up, I didn’t have the best taste in music, but that would change as I got into middle school. When I was in the 8th grade, my social studies teacher used to always play The College Dropout in class, and it was a wrap from there. I got into Bump J shortly after that. I began to completely fall in love with hip-hop and realized I wanted to work within the industry. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I loved music, how it made people feel and had to do something with it.
When did you begin to find your creative talents?
I knew I had always wanted to work within the music industry. Right away I knew I didn’t want to be in the front, I wanted to work more behind the scenes. In 2008-2009, I stumbled across what Ruby Hornet and FSD was doing and quickly begun to throw myself into the blogging game as well. I had my own website at the time, “Ill City” where I would blog the local music scene as well. That’s ultimately how I ended up working with FSD.
At what age did you begin to start getting involved with djing?
I started DJing September of last year, officially. It was something I knew I could do, so I just started to go for it and I’ve been at it since.
What has been your favorite show you’ve been able to DJ over the year?
Well, I can’t break it down to just one, so here are three. Haha. I loved the shows FSD did with Playboi Carti and Soulja Boy. Both of those were crazy. Shout out to Red Bull Sound Select. My other favorite show was a party I got to DJ in Boston recently. The event was called PVRPLE, a very dope monthly event they have out in Boston. It’s a southern rap party, which was pretty much heaven for me. Had so much fun out there.
When did you first meet Andrew?
I first met Andrew back in 2010. I had reached out to him in November of that year asking him if he needed help with Fake Shore Drive at the time. He told me that he saw what I was doing with Ill City at the time and liked what I was doing. I remember he then told me, “You start tomorrow.” I started banging out posts right away, and a couple days later got to write one of my biggest posts ever. I had put together a mixtape featuring all of the samples from Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album before it even came out using just the liner notes. Six years later and I’m still here. It’s been an amazing experience for me. It’s been amazing to not only see the Chicago hip-hop scene grow, but to see FSD grow along with it.
As FSD approaches its 10-year anniversary, how big of an impact has FSD been able to have on Chicago?
I will say this; you can’t have the scene in its current state without FSD. When we first started FSD, nobody was sticking to posting just Chicago music like we were. FSD is very important to Chicago. We have always been the hub for fans and artists to see what’s going on throughout the city and the Midwest.
How did you guys get your show at Shade 45?
We got the position last September. Andrew and I always thought it would be cool to have our own radio show, and figured it would be cool to do at Shade 45. We felt like the Midwest had been slept on with music, and it needed a radio platform to showcase the talent. We run on Sundays from 11pm-1am CST.
As a DJ do you feel like it’s your job to break new artists?
Yes, 100%, that’s actually one of the reasons why I wanted to become a DJ. With the platform Shade 45 has provided us, I enjoy breaking new artists on there. I always try to break new records and artists when I’m spinning somewhere too. People don’t do that enough these days.
Who are your top 5 favorite artists in the Midwest right now?
In no order, Martin $ky, Drayco McCoy, Mathaius Young, Ye Ali, and Amir Obe.
If you could choose two artists to put an album out together, who would they be?
If I could put together an album from any two artists, I think I would pick Pimp C and Andre 3000. I’m not really sure how that would sound, but that would be interesting to hear for sure. A Pimp C and Juicy J or Pimp C and Project Pat album would be crazy too. I just wish Pimp was still here.
Written By: Nicholas Rud
Chicago Creatives 