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The Houston native sits down with Billboard and Intuit TurboTax to discuss his early beginnings as a DJ, his evolving relationship with earning, and how he manages yearly income and revenue — especially during tax season — while continuing to grow and diversify his catalog.
Chase B: I’m Chase B and this is Then and Now presented by Intuit TurboTax. DJing really specifically entered my world, definitely in college when I was at Howard. I started at the radio station WFDC, and I started as an MC. I just picked up on so many things being next to the DJ and I would practice for like 10-11 hours a day. And that’s when I really just kind of fell in love with the whole the whole culture of the sneakers, the fashion, the music, you know, just all was so important to me. When I was in New York, my first like, kind of, like, consistent. I won’t even call it a check, because you might as well do it for free at that point. I’d be like to open a DJ for these huge acts, like, you know, like, Chief Keefs of the world, all that type of stuff thing. I remember, like, all right, I’m starting get at least a little bit of income. And, you know, it was rough for a while. And then, when I started getting, like, those first, like, club gigs, is when things started pick up. I had a friend that was looking and he come one day, like, “The DJ had to cancel, like, can you come and basically, like, pick up his shift?” So I basically picked up his shift, so I did that and I was like, “Oh, I just made $300 to do this. And I think I’m on to something.” You know, and then he come back the next day and was like, “The DJ canceled again.” That’s when things were getting consistent. And I was like, “Oh, this is my actual career now.”
