Radio
In the Mix with DJ Earl-E
DJ Earl-E found his calling in broadcasting at a young age. He started doing his own "radio shows" in his bedroom as an 8 year old kid, recording music off the radio with his hand held tape recorder, and providing commentary, sports segments, and weather reports along with his little brother and friends. In junior high school he got hooked after enrolling in a TV and Radio class where he wrote his own news broadcasts and did weekly segments as part of the morning announcements to the entire school.
Later while attending the University of Iowa, he was able to follow his dream by landing a show on KRUI 89.7FM. Utilizing the equipment and talents at the station he learned how to mix records and produce content that led to the founding of A State of Yo, the region's only live Hip-Hop Mixshow. He was able to publish playlists in the College Music Journal (CMJ) and worked with major labels who serviced their records to the station. One regular contact was Bobbito who was the College Music Rep. for Def Jam at that time. Labels like Elektra, Loud/RCA, Jive, Capitol, and others sent him the hottest new releases, and he was one of the first DJs in the Midwest to break records from new artists such as Mobb Deep, Cypress Hill, Black Moon, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Wu-Tang Clan, Arrested Development, Freestyle Fellowship, and many more. When his days as a student ended in 1995, he contributed in the creation of Iowa City Free Radio with a low powered FM transmitter operating as a pirate radio station from the house he lived in, until being shut down by the FCC for illegal broadcasting in 1998.
After making moves to San Diego, Seattle, and Minneapolis where he networked and produced his own demos and mixtapes, he landed in Los Angeles, CA. Reuniting with his roommates from college who hailed from the region, he recorded and produced albums with MC Prose and played in bands where he was able to perform on world famous stages like the Roxy, House of Blues, Whisky A Go-Go, and the Viper Room.
While the rock star life was fun, his interest continued to be in the field of broadcasting. Fortunately, the rise of the internet opened a new avenue that allowed for an alternative to terrestrial radio by streaming to the world via the web. In 2011, before the age of social media live streaming and the popularity of podcasts, he joined a group of like minded individuals as part of the KillRadio Collective, one of the oldest and longest running online streaming platforms (www.killradio.org), which was born out of Occupy Wall Street to disseminate information and provide a voice for the people in the movement. From their studios at Vermont and Beverly in Koreatown, he and the Inasoulbianz Crew (Yedr Rockski, MC Prose, Bin Grim) started a weekly live Hip-Hop Mixshow called Unseen Legion Radio, featuring music and interviews with artists and creatives from the Los Angeles Hip-Hop scene and beyond. Over ten years plus of broadcasting online, they became one of the most influential voices of the culture in L.A., bringing in world class graffiti artists, Grammy winning producers, legendary MC's, guest DJ's, authors, fashion designers and other voices from across the Hip-Hop lexicon. They syndicated the show to other platforms including Straight Official Radio, Fleet Boom Radio, and West Coast Fleet Radio, placing their archives on their website (www.unseenlegionradio.com), Radio 4 All, Mixcloud, and later as a podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. While the show had a strong and loyal fanbase, it eventually faded out of existence due to several factors including the changing landscape of streaming during and following the Covid pandemic as well as the team's various personal and professional commitments.
Determined to continue, Earl-E by branched out with his own one hour Mixshow called Amazin' Crates starting in 2022, which airs weekly on Mixshow Radio, West Coast Fleet Radio, and Fleet Boom Radio on the Fleet Radio Network (www.fleetradionetwork.com). He also owns and operates Lo Fly Radio (www.loflyradio.com) and West Coast Fleet Radio.
