It has taken DJ GI Joe quite a few years to find himself where he is today. He has toured the world and
rocked for crowds of thousands of people on four continents. He has made his name known not only
as a DJ but as a bboy as well, doing his best to keep hip hop alive and thriving. It's obvious that hip hop
is a large force behind his life, but what many may not know is that his fascination with music almost
prevented him from being able to do what he loved before he even realized how much he loved it.
Born in Manhattan, DJ GI Joe grew up in Alphabet City at Albizu Campos Plaza on 12th St. and Avenue C.
One of DJ GI Joe's earliest memories there is trying to reach for a crate of his mother's records that was
sitting on a table nearby. Joe fell off the chair he was standing on and broke his arm. He was rushed to
a hospital. Because the break was so severe, doctors recommended his arm be amputated. However,
his grandmother was not about to let her grandson's arm get cut off, and ordered that he be taken to a
different hospital. Fortunately, they were able to repair his arm via surgery. To this day, a scar remains –
a chilling reminder of how different his life could have been.
Although it's still a mystery as to what records were in that crate, Joe was definitely exposed to Latin
American music of all genres at a very early age while growing up in a Puerto Rican home with his
grandparents. Rap was just starting to hit the scene in the 80's, so he listened to a lot of it on the radio,
but his love for rap and hip hop really grew when he started watching Def Comedy Jam, which featured
Kid Capri as a DJ. At the end of each episode, Kid Capri would DJ and a bunch of people would be
dancing to what he was playing. This proved to be a major inspiration for Joe, and he started to realize
that he wanted to dance and be a DJ himself.
The dancing part of his dream came first, because it proved to be more affordable. DJ equipment was
expensive, and money wasn't coming easily, so that would have to wait. And while Joe was adjusting his
goals and starting out his career as a bboy, his family was ready for some change as well. Around 1989,
his mother, who was pregnant with Joe's little sister, wanted to get away from the drugs and negativity
in Alphabet City and move the family to a better place. Joe's family relocated to Chelsea, Massachusetts,
which at the time was one of the poorest cities in the state. Chelsea wasn't much better than New York
City, just different. Over time, Joe lived not only in Chelsea but in other towns such as Salem and Lynn as
well. In Massachusetts, Joe started breaking. Eventually, he became known for his dancing locally. When
he would show up at The Point in Salem people knew him as "Joey the Breakdancer". Being a DJ was still
out of reach financially. That is, until a man named Tito came into the picture.
A friend of Joe's knew a guy named Tito, and ended up introducing them to each other one day. Even
though Joe didn't know Tito well, he decided to show up at Tito's crib randomly one afternoon. Tito
may not have known Joe from any other kid on the street, but welcomed him and let him try out his
turntables. That's when DJ'ing really started for Joe. Soon after, when he was about 15 years old, his
mother bought him his first set of turntables, some speakers, and some cassette players. The equipment
was pretty minimal, but he did all he could with it and slowly began to build up his skills. Before he knew
it he was the hood DJ of sorts in Salem, and was DJ'ing house parties for everyone around the way.
Over the years, Joe worked a lot of random jobs (that included Little Caesars and a four hour stint at
Wendy's) while DJ'ing on the side, and was saving up money to slowly upgrade his DJ equipment. Things
