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FUNKMASTER FLEX DON’T JUST DO THIS FOR PLAY, HE LIVES THE CAR CULTURE. PEEP GAME ON THE HARDEST WORKING DJ AWAY FROM THE TURNTABLES.
STORY: SEAN A. MALCOLM, PHOTOS: JERMONE ALBERTINI, Styling: Simonez Wolf
It’s too damn quiet in Englishtown, New Jersey. The area is so tranquil in comparison to the car-jacking craze a few towns down in Newark, you’d wish someone would cut it by blasting The Ramones.
But for nine months (from March to November), the buzzing of motorbike engines and drag race cars cuts the monotony thanks to Englishtown’s famed Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. This is the setting for Aston Taylor’s (aka Funkmaster Flex) latest foray in the world of automobiles: muscle cars.
The Big Dawg Pitbull is ready to go: he’s landed yet another television show, All Muscle With Funkmaster Flex, whichjust premiered on ESPN. The show, which has Flex building classic muscle cars for athletes, is just one of many automotive television outlets. There’s Spike TV’s Ride With Funkmaster Flex, The Speed Channel’s Funkmaster Flex Super Series, and The History Of The Muscle Car, which drops next year on (you guessed it) the History Channel.
Reveling in all the fun, Flex, outfitted in a race suit, tests one of his notorious classic cars—a ‘76 Gran Torino (yeah, the Starsky ‘N Hutch car). Peeling off a few donuts, reminiscent of a Cash Money video, while his ‘65 Impala and his ‘67 and ‘69 Chevelles all get detailed, Flex is clearly disturbing the peace.
RIDES: Customizing cars is a full-time gig. What are your thoughts on people who claim your DJ game fell off because of your love of automobiles?
FLEX: I get it from a lot of people, but nobody can get on after me in the clubs. They can get on before me, but not after me. A lot of DJs can’t even accomplish what I accomplish and yet they complain. I dare a DJ to come on the radio at 7pm and go off at 12am. Let’s go head to head, pound for pound. Put up or shut up. I’m still the most effective DJ out here.
So there are no plans for giving up one love for the other?
Nah, I’m still too nice. They can’t test me out there. I look at these DJs, they can’t rub like I rub, rock a party, scream. I’ve been number one for 13 years on the radio, I have five gold albums, I’ve sold sneakers, packed clubs and car shows and arenas in other countries. I am America’s biggest DJ and car customizer.
But if you had to choose one, what would it be?
Car customizing…print that. That’s a lot of fun to me. It’s more fun than DJing. This year made it more fun than DJing.
Why this year?
Getting another television show, the endorsements…the people that I’ve met.
Mo’ money would make any man happier…
I don’t want to say the wrong thing about the music business, but I’ve met a lot of good people in the automobile business. I’ve made a lot of friends. You know what it is? And not that the music business is overly shady, there’s just certain car enthusiast rules that never get broken, and when they do get broken, everyone stops dealing with those people, you know what I mean? It’s like a collective effort.
They also say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…
I’ve met every nationality; I’ve met a lot of people that didn’t know what Flex is. It doesn’t matter to them. I said I’m a car enthusiast and they’re car enthusiasts. And I’ve spent hours talking to people I would never have met if they weren’t car people—and we probably wouldn’t have liked each other. I got two sets of car friends. Some of my car friends are 17-year-olds who like when I drive the trucks and the Benzes, and I got a whole other set of friends that are 45, 50 years old that I hang out with. But you gotta respect the new jacks. Have you ever seen a guy command two worlds?
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