0 0 9 12B - The Michigan Daily - WNel4hazine - Thursday, March 3, 2003 The writing's on the wall: the dual life of DJ Graffiti By Joseph Ubnm Daily Arts Writer DJ Graffiti will be fine. How about the rest of you? What follows may impress or intimi- date, and once you learn more about DJ Graffiti - a talented and respected pro- fessional disc jockey who is the chief executive of Rapture Enterprises LLC, whose University B.B.A. recognizes the accomplishment of "Martin Lenon Smith," and whose Michigan law degree will say the same thing when he receives it in May - you may feel as though you aren't doing enough with your life. Graffiti? He definitely is. Admittedly prone to procrastination, Graf forces time efficiency upon himself each week through a rigorous and often unrelenting schedule that includes an almost-nightly performance docket and close to 20 hours of class time requiring a commen- surate number of additional hours for homework and preparation. Graffiti fills his modest amount of remaining free time sleeping or promoting Rapture events like the parties it throws in con- junction with Tribe Entertainment - hip-hop nights each Wednesday at Touchdown Cafe, monthly Sunday nights at the Necto, and special events at the Blind Pig. His life makes a whirl- wind seem calm. "I pretty much only work at home because I figure I lose a lot of time (traveling to and from my apartment) otherwise," says Smith, acknowledging the time crunch. "I'm a procrastinator, so maybe it isn't such a good idea because there are things (at home) that can distract me, but my time is at a pre- mium, so I mostly just go to law school, go to class, and then leave." That strict regiment has its draw- backs. "My first year in law school," says Graffiti, "I was still DJ-ing a lot as a rollover from undergrad and a lot of people would say to me 'You're (a stu- dent) here? Did you just start?' because they would never see me (on campus)." Graffiti's isolating schedule should not be seen as a byproduct of mal- adroit social capacity or misanthropic sentiment, however. He simply has a defined idea of what he wants to accomplish before his time passes. "I agree with what Nas said, man. Sleep is the cousin of death." Since high school, Smith has had a keen sense of independence and a moti- vating curiosity that have kept him far from the grave. "I have always had my own business, and with my crew (of rhyming friends), I was the one who bought the studio equipment; I was the one always saying we needed to get a contract," he remembers, clearly amused by the parallels between his behavior then and now. Currently, Smith plans to use his business skills, legal training, and musi- cal experience to build an agile enter- tainment company that will facilitate the construction and proliferation of a self-sufficient hip-hop community. Who's better qualified to help shape hip-hop than a lawyer and entrepreneur raised in the culture? While that vision has not inspired all of Smith's seeming- ly-coherent pre-professional endeavors - "I know it seems like everything I've done has been a stepping stone toward the next thing, but that wasn't really the case. I only knew that I wanted to be a lawyer and that I liked music" - the goal will realized more easily given both Smith's academic accomplish- ments and the myriad of projects in which he's already involved. Bluntly, the man has so many enter- prises cooking that he needs a second range. In addition to his weekly battery of spinning obligations and his Rapture promotions, DJ Graffiti respectively, serves as the manager and editor of two industry websites - www.sqratchat- tackcom and www.break-bread.com - appears on WCBN regularly, and has produced successful mixtapes, like the Bling Free series. Buttressing his innate business sense with a passion for learn- ing - he reads "How to" books and has taught himself skills like web design - Graffiti is truly a vitruvian DJ. "I consider myself to be one of the more versatile DJs around. For instance, (On Wednesday's) I'm scheduled to do more mainstream stuff because that crowd wants hit, hit, hit, hit. So, I mix a lot and don't scratch as much because people don't want to hear me cut all night. But, I like to show my skills, so I might cut more if I were doing an under- ground show. Or, on a Wednesday, I might do an instant remix. Like, the Eminem song 'Superman' has the same beats per minute as Outkast's 'The Whole World,' so I might throw on that beat with Em's acapella over it." Whether he's spinning, cutting, mixing, producing, promoting, or studying, Smith seems a paragon of dedication. Complementing and contrasting with his professionalism is Smith's charisma. As mentioned, he's not naturally reclu- sive and at times, he seems wanting of more free time to be Martin Smith. Smith is open to all people, and while never garrulous, he has a litany of thoughtful opinions ranging from war in Iraq to classic hip-hop albums that make him an engaging conversation partner. One need only consider the gaggle of the well-wishers at seemingly every show - Wednesdays, Sundays, always - when searching for evidence of his approachability and social dexterity. And routinely, those friends and enthusi- astic acquaintances have become Graffi- ti devotees following previous exposure to the benevolent DJ and his consistent turntable mastery. Impressed? Intimidated? Graffiti will be fine. How about the rest of you?