By RAYME  SAMUELS

Recently signing endorsement with clothing and beverage lines, having a mix tape sell out in Europe, and spinning at two of Miami’s biggest night venues, Shore Club and Fontainebleau, DJ K-razor is living the life many DJ’s only dream of.  We recently caught up with K-Razor to talk about his road to success.

You seem to be a natural on the decks. Where did your passion for deejaying come from?
When I was younger and growing up in Germany, hip-hop over there had ten times more of an influence (on people) than in the United States.  My dad was stationed in the military there, so I had the choice between rapping or deejaying, because I loved being the life of the party. I had rap videos and tapes sent over with music from 98.7 KISS FM in New York and deejays like DJ Red Alert, who was a big influence on me. Watching hip-hop world premiere music videos gave me the greatest feeling ever.

How did you end up in Miami?
When I was younger I would deejay for huge parties in school. As I got older, I got more into scratching. While sitting in my house for eight hours a day practicing, I realized that the only way that I could get my breakthrough was by getting it myself. I went to college at Full Sail in Orlando and started competing in DJ battles. A lot of the cats I met in college were from Fort Lauderdale and Miami. We formed a team called Fader Ballistix and won the World DMC in 2004. That’s when I realized I could turn this into a business. I got an offer to teach at Scratch Academy in New York City and then started working in 2006 on South Beach.

What do you like about working here?
I really like Miami now. Miami crowds are very open to other forms of music. In Orlando and even in other states, I couldn’t do that. I really had to stick to one genre. It took me a good solid year to learn the right formula for Miami including hip-hop, house and r&b. I love hip-hop and I also really like up tempo beats. The energy of the crowd here drives me crazy.

You’ve have a reputation for playing great sets. How do you get the crowd going?
In the beginning I like to trigger people’s memories with songs like “Candy Rain” to bring them back in time – just let them sit there and listen to good music. I learned to build up the night, to start off with songs that are memories so people can just drink and talk. Then I go up in BPM’s (Beats Per Minute) and get more modern as the night goes on. During “prime time” I like to play whatever hit songs are on the radio at the moment. When I’m working there’s no sitting down – people just have a good time the whole night.

What do you want people to know about you that they might not already know?
I don’t see myself above anybody. Whoever I meet, I try to be their friend. I always ask people what their favorite song is, and I’m always seeing what’s new and what’s hot. If somebody comes to see me they’ll hear like seven different genres. I just try to surprise everybody and bring fun to any environment.

DJ K-Razor spins at the Red Room at Shore Club at 10:30 p.m. Friday nights and at La Cote at Fontainebleau on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. Visit his website at www.djkrazor.com.