Wicked

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DJ Name: Wicked (just “Wicked”, not “DJ Wicked”)
Full Name: Shaun D.
Crew: Sidewok Radio Crew
Birthdate: 5/20/1974
Birthplace: Long Island, NY
Currently Residing: The Bay Area (Milpitas, CA)
Rookie Year: 1994
Music Selection Preference: REAL Hiphop (Old Skool-Nu Skool-Underground)
Other Music Appreciation: Classic Funk, P-Funk, Soul, R&B, Reggae, Dancehall, Soft Rock, Jazz, 80’s, Classic Rock, Alternative Rock, www.WeFunkRadio.com
Quote: “when you sell out to appeal to the masses, you have to go back and enroll in some classes” – Guru (“Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” – 1991)

Complete Biography:

I grew up in a home where both my parents were into music. My mom loved 70’s Funk & Soul and my dad loved Classic Rock. He always had that playing every morning before work, in the car and on weekends (and still to this day too). My first exposure to anything Hiphop related was through TV. I was always fortunate to have a dad who just loved TV so of course we had cable. I watched Mtv all the time, but it was mostly Rock music with some R&B and Dance. In 1983 I saw the video for “Rockit” by Herbie Hancock and loved all that scratching in the song, but it didn’t really hit me as this being some form of Hiphop cuz I had never even heard of Hiphop or Rap.

My first exposure to Hiphop and the elements begins in the Summer of ’84 when I was 10 years old and living in East San Jose. One of my friends on my block had just gotten the movie “Beat Street” so a few of us had gone over to his house to watch it. Hearing the music and seeing the breakdancing and graffiti in the movie just got to me.. I fell in love! The song that got to me most was “Beat Street Breakdown” by Grandmaster Melle Mel. From there I remember going to the Flea Market and buying the Soundtrack on tape so I could play that song over and over. My friends and I would always get card board and throw it on the front lawn at one of our houses so we could all TRY to breakdance while listening to that tape on a Boombox! We’d do this everyday and for most of the day. From there I started getting exposed to other artists in Hiphop like the Fat Boys, Run-DMC, Newcleus, Kurtis Blow, The Treacherous Three, Whodini, U.T.F.O., etc. because one of my friends had an older brother who had a lot of different tapes he would get from the Flea Market. I don’t remember hearing much Hiphop on the radio stations back then so most of our focus was always playing them tapes. Fast forward a couple of years to the Summer of ’86 when my family and I moved to Milpitas. I stayed inside most of the days watching Mtv because I had no friends yet. When the school year hit, I remember going to some school dance in the Fall and one of the older neighborhood kids was the DJ. He played stuff like The 2-Live Crew, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Eric B. & Rakim, Biz Markie, etc. and that just gave me all sorts of new stuff to get into. A couple of the friends I had made liked this Rap stuff too, so just like I did with my friends when I lived in San Jose, we’d go to the Flea Market and get tapes. By that time I had already long given up on breakdancing because I was just not good (haha!). Being fortunate to have cable TV, I was able to watch Mtv and see a few of these songs I liked as a video and that was amazing to me. In the Summer of ’87, I got my first ever job which was being a Newspaper subscription salesmen going door to door (haha!). With the money I made, I started buying all sorts of tapes. Somehow I came across the “8 Cassettes for a Penny” Columbia House ad in a magazine and got my parents to help me, and from there, my Hiphop collection started to grow! When YO! Mtv Raps first debuted in late Summer of ’88, that just exposed me to a whole bunch of other Hiphop I did not know about. From there I started making lists and lists of all this dope Hiphop music I liked. My parents took notice of all the Tapes and for Christmas that year went out and got me a nice stereo with CD and Duel Cassette. From there, it was on!!

I bought my first piece of vinyl from Star Records in San Jose back in 1989.. it was the “Express Yourself” 12” single by N.W.A. I never thought I’d become a DJ or anything like that and only bought that 12” single cuz the version that was in the video was different from the version on the album. I bought my first CD’s in July of ’90 and from there, all I bought was CD’s and stuff on vinyl I could not find on CD. All the money I made from my jobs and allowance from my parents went to my love of Hiphop. Everyday I’d rush home after High School to be able to catch YO! Mtv Raps cuz that was my main source of keepin’ up with what was new in Hiphop. In the late Summer of ’91, I was listening to the radio on a Friday night and was changing stations and happened to come across 106.1 KMEL and heard Hiphop music! It turned out to be The King Tech Wake Up Show and from there, I was locked!! Every Friday at 10pm I’d be sure to have the radio on so I could hear all the dope Hiphop that they’d play. I’d hear even more shit I was not exposed to and I loved it! My collection of CD’s and vinyl started to grow and grow.

My first ever experience on the tables was at my homeboy Alain’s house back in ’91. He was part of a crew called “C-Quence Play” here in Milpitas and me, him and other friends would all kick it in his garage spinning. I was pretty shy and mostly only messed with the tables when no one was around. I got my first Technics 1200 table in the Summer of ’94 and from there started making mixtapes with one 1200 and one CD player (which did have pitch control). I’d make all sorts of tapes and give copies to friends. I got my 2nd 1200 for Christmas in ’97 from an ex-girlfriend and finally was able to start spinning the way a real DJ would. By that time I had over 2,000 records and was making a lot more mixtapes. I continued to go record shopping in SF and Berkeley EVERY Friday or Saturday spending an average of $100 a week to keep up with all the new releases along with diggin’ for all the vinyl I had not gotten in the 80’s and through the mid 90’s. In 2001 I finally started making mix CD’s cuz I got me a nice TDK CD Recorder for my birthday, again, from an ex-girlfriend. On a Tuesday in June of ’03, I just happened to get laid off from my job and that was the same night my great friend DJ B-Side and others held down a weekly gig at Q Café in Palo Alto called “Tasty Tuesdays”. When I talked to him and let him know about the lay off, he bugged me to finally come out of my bedroom and spin! I was pretty nervous to do that, but said “fuck it” and picked some records and rolled with him. From there, the rest is history and I finally started spinning out in various Clubs, Bars and Lounges. Now I spin all over and love it but if it were not for my extreme love of Hiphop music, I would never have become a DJ.

As for how I got the name “Wicked”, well that goes back to my street racing days. I was part of a crew called Wicked Racing (and Speed Image) so naturally I wanted an e-mail address with the word “Wicked” in it. I came up with “WiCkEd22” in ’97 cuz my favorite number had always been “22”. So from there I also always used the same name “WiCkEd22” when I would sign up for various Message Boards and what not. I have to credit my man DJ 3rd Rail outta Chicago for basically being the first one to always refer to me as “Wicked”. The name basically just stuck, and after a few years, I just went with it.

Here in 2005, with thanks again to my main man DJ B-Side, I was introduced to the one and only David Liem, alias Boba Dave, the creator of Sidewok.com! B-Side told me that we would be able to broadcast a live show every Sunday night and since that’s always been my dream, I was down! We did our first show together on Tuesday night April 19 filling in for the regular DJ’s of the Beatkitchen, who were in NYC at the time. The show went great and from there, we started doing our weekly Sunday night show The Beat Suite. I’m very proud of the show me, B-Side and Realism* have and look forward to every Sunday so I can bring dope REAL Hiphop to people all over the world! Thanks to everyone who’s helped and supported me.. it’s very appreciated! Peace.