VJ Vlad
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If you had to interview as part of your job hire process with someone that only wanted to bring up the bad stuff you had done in your past, would you do it? I don’t think so. So why do rap artists keep agreeing to be interviewed by DJ Vlad?
Vladimir Lyubovny is a Ukrainian DJ that hosts a YouTube channel where he interviews hip hop artists. DJ Vlad, as he’s known on his channel, has never DJ’d anything throughout his 30-year career. I repeat, Vlad has never hosted a single mixtape or produced a single record in his entire career, yet he has established himself as the premier interview outlet for all up and coming hip hop artists wishing to establish themselves on a major record label. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, Vlad is only interested in asking artists questions which may incriminate themselves, and New York rapper Casanova wishes he had avoided his latest DJ Vlad interview.
Casanova was arrested earlier this month along with a dozen other gang members due to their alleged involvement in “racketeering, murder, narcotics, firearms and other fraud offenses.” The only evidence that implicated Casanova’s involvement with the gang activity was a 2017 interview with DJ Vlad, who insisted on asking specific questions regarding Casanova’s past of drugs and violence. Casanova’s insistence on “keeping it real” may lead to his downfall but I wonder why he was put in this position in the first place.
As evidenced by his interviews with artists such as Twista, Peewee Longway and Lil Baby, it’s very clear that DJ Vlad asks very pointed questions that are intended to get further information about each artist’s criminal background and involvement. I’m still confused as to why and how his YouTube channel rose to prominence as he has zero history of actually being a skilled DJ or respected member of the hip hop community. I’m not even going to entertain the various conspiracy theories regarding Vlad being a part of the “Hip Hop Police” as that’s clearly hearsay. I’m only going to focus on why Casanova’s manager and label would send him to do a Vlad interview in 2017. And why is Vlad still interviewing artists in 2020? What is the end goal?
In my previous decade of being a part of corporate America, I’ve learned that you simply cannot trust everyone to have your best interests at heart. There will always be competing interests at play, especially when you’re dealing with as much money is at stake with the music industry. You have to exercise the utmost discretion in terms of not only who you associate with, but any written or verbal communication that can be misconstrued or taken out of context. Casanova used none of this discretion, and as a result he’ll probably be going to jail for a very long time.
