If you’re not familiar with [DJ Megan Ryte](https://www.instagram.com/meganryte/?hl=en), prepare to fall in love. Hailing from New York, it’s hard to miss the acclaimed DJ, producer, and radio personality on New York’s legendary Hot 97, bringing good energy and vibrations anywhere and everywhere she goes. From DJing college parties at age 17 to touring the world for all the hottest artists, Megan is a go-getter who loves music down to the core, exuding both inner and outer beauty in all facets of her life.
Now, she steps into the limelight as her own label owner, executive, and A&R. Having gone through, experienced, and triumphed her own battles within the music industry, Megan is excited as ever to release her self-titled, highly-anticipated debut album, _DJ_ _Megan Ryte_. 3 years in the making, the project sees standout appearances from Remy Ma, Wyclef Jean, Rich The Kid, Casanova, Flipp Dinero and Young M.A.—released via her new label imprint Ryte Way Music, Inc. supported by Platoon.
_Flaunt_ caught up with Megan via Zoom to discuss her the new album, her journey in the music industry, releasing independently through Platoon, the definition of an A&R, how the Remy Ma interlude came about, being a strong Black female in the space, how the pandemic affected her, and more!
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**3 years later, self-titled project _DJ Megan Ryte_ out now. How are you feeling?**
I feel amazing that it's out. I was explaining this to someone: it didn't take 3 years to make, it's everything that comes with it. All the hiccups, the ups and downs, the pandemic hit and I tried to get it out before then. It's a lot that comes with it. To finally have it out, thank God. \[laughs\]
**Why’s now the perfect time?**
Honestly, I wanted it out at this point. When you have something for so long, it's like my baby. What kept happening is I kept adding to it, removing, then adding to it. I thought “this will be a never-ending process if I don't get it out.” It’ll keep happening so I want to make sure it’s out. It felt complete, I wanted it out. After we’re done with all this, I can work on whatever it is I want to do next. It feels great.
**Talk about dropping it independently on your own label imprint Ryte Way Music, Inc. supported by Platoon.**
It's definitely different than being on a major because there’s a lot of stuff you have to remember and do on your own, but it's a learning experience too. I like to be able to say “this is what I want my project to look like.” I don't want to create something, then have somebody who’s at a label—I'm a DJ first, I've been DJing for half of my life. To have a labelhead say “that’s not the one, we want this one,” I don't want to have those conversations. How do you know? I know, how do you know? You deal with all that. It feels good to be able to do something on your own terms, to say “okay now this is me. This is mine.”
**“Fly” is such a vibe. How’d the collab with Kranium, Casanova & Rich The Kid come about?**
That record was something before. I had that DJ brain: you get something and you want to go in. I’d done a record with Kranium on a different beat, I actually put A$AP Ferg on it. I started messing around with it and ended up taking Ferg off. I'm listening to it, I call Kranium like “I think you need to do it again.” He’s like “F you!” \[laughs\] I said “trust me, you need to do it again.” He goes “people don't tell me to do it again.” So he does it again and this is the version that you hear now on a slightly different beat. First of all, Kranium is so talented. He didn't even write his lyrics down. He goes in and does it off the top of his head and that's it. Fire.
Casanova’s always been someone that anything I ever needed, he’s done. He says “I gotchu.” He’s come out on a bunch of my shows. When I did Summer Jam and Hot For The Holidays, he’s always been there. Comes to the station, always there. He sounded amazing on a record like this. I heard him on “2AM,” the other Afrobeat record he has. We’re used to him on these hard-hitting rhymes. When he did “2AM,” he’s like “I can do everything!” It felt like a great fit. I was happy it worked out the way it did, especially with the weather. It’s getting nice. Obviously I'm really devastated that Casanova is not able to witness it, but I did talk to him the other day. He asked “how is it doing?” I'm like “it’s doing good! We did it.” His heart is great, his personality is everything.
**How important is that in the industry? Separating the bullshit from the real people?**
You get tired after a while. I’ve been in the industry half of my life and you get tired. The more real and authentic I can have around me, the better. I’d rather have people tell me, I want to know. Be upfront about it. It's great to build genuine relationships. Everybody changes, change is a part of life so as long as your change is from a positive,. Sometimes that happens where you work with artists, they get super big and you’re like “hey, remember me?” \[laughs\] That happens too but I'm blessed to be able to work with artists that we have mutual respect for, we get each other. There’s no funny business.
**You’re almost playing the A&R role, how does that feel?**
There’s an art to that, it’s a lot. Everyone says “I'm an A&R, I'm A&R in this. If you can't get nobody on the phone, if you can't get records done—because you found a song on someone’s SoundCloud then they pop, it's not the same thing. It's a definite art, you have to have those relationships. Not only do you need to have those relationships, you have to have the ear. You could know people, but what if they don't know how to put a song together? You have to have the respect too for people to trust you. Most of the artists that are together on records did not know each other before, or did not have songs together. They had to trust me like “I vibe with this, let’s do this.” You have to have that synchronicity.
**Favorite songs on the project & why?**
Remy Ma did a record for me, we sat in the studio together and talked. While we’re talking, she was writing as we‘re talking. To talk about things I've been through, things she’s been through, to see the finished product was super dope. She’s great because she’s been through a lot, been a woman in this game standing on her 2 feet. To get that perspective is great, definitely a special record for me.
Another one, there’s a record called “Money Counter.” One of those things that brings two people together from different worlds completely. Skillibeng’s on fire in Jamaica right now. I wanted to do a record with him ‘cause I’d been in Jamaica and kept hearing it. Everywhere I went, I heard his song called “Brik Pan Brik.” It doesn't matter where you were, you heard it. I had to find him. I found his people, DMd him. I said “I need a record with him, please. This is going to be great.” We did it. I wanted to put someone on with him ‘cause he’d never had an international collab at the time, that's when I hit up Young M.A. The fact that she said “nah let's do it,” it was amazing. The record came out dope. It was trending in Jamaica all weekend. There was a lot of trust to do that one, so I love that record.
**How easy is it for you to just call up your people?**
It's not easy! You see Khaled running around. \[laughs\] If Khaled’s calling somebody a hundred times, think about how many times I’ve called. It’s a lot but you have to remember not to take it personal. Artists have their own lives. They have their own projects, what they’re working on. I'm cool with following up: “hey, just checking in! Checking in, checking in. If you want me to stop checking in, we might as well get this done.”
**You mention Remy Ma, you also have interludes with Bun B and DJ Premier. What's your relationships with them?**
They did interludes to me, which is important because Bun is a mentor of mine. He’s very a good friend, I spent a lot of time in Houston before I got to New York, I lived in Houston so to have him be a part was awesome. I used to study Premier’s songs, how he’d make hooks from other songs. Those were the first records I tried to make when I was younger. When I first started DJing, I’d take acapellas from different songs and try to make my own hooks. Okay, this would be cool if this person was on it instead of this. I’d make my own versions and I learned a lot of that from Premier. To be able to have him even do an interlude and a drop for my album was super dope.
**What does it mean to be a strong black female in the space?**
It's crazy, I was talking about it on my show. Right when you’re waiting for that sigh of relief, we see all the news coming up of the 16-year-old who’s been shot 4 times. Someone sent me a tweet today: be careful with the language that you use. Justice is served, justice is served, it’s not really justice. You can call it accountability. One of the first times we’ve ever seen such accountability, but justice would be him being able to be here. It's tough, there aren't even words. If it's hard for us to see and to be around, to worry about someone getting pulled—if that's tough, imagine what it's like the families of the victims. We have to keep that in mind as we’re going through this. I'm reporting on a lot of this stuff too on my show, it's a lot to watch.
**When you were 17 in college at Hampton, did you think you’d be here now where you are today?**
I had all these dreams right: “I wanna do this, I wanna do this,” but it's hard to imagine what certain doors open up for you. I wanted to do all of these things. I had a friend at the time named Kacey. I remember getting on the bus and coming to New York, finding my way in the station. Funk Flex was on air and begging Mister Cee to put me on the radio. He ignored me, but I knew “I'm going to get here one day!” You have ideas and things you want to do, but you don't really realize how it’ll evolve. I'm so thankful for DJing because DJing opened so many doors for me. Even though the journey wasn't the easiest, I learned a lot along the way. It's what got me here.
**How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected you?**
It's been rough. I live in New York City in an apartment. Remember at the beginning too when you could not leave the house? Neighbors don’t want to hear all that noise. Everybody’s stuck at home, they don’t want to hear all that. It was a struggle trying to work from home. Even knowing what’s happening in the world and reporting on it, it takes a toll. You’re on instagram, you’re seeing stuff. You’re seeing videos of bodies and trucks, it took a toll. We’re all trying to adjust and figure out what our normal is. A lot of my friends started to reevaluate what they really want. Where do you want to be? What are the things you want to do? We’re all going through that, but change for the positive is good.
**Favorite song to drop in a set?**
Of course, Cardi’s my girl. She supports. I got really scared the other day watching her on instagram trying to cut a cucumber, how is this gonna end? \[laughs\] When you're not in a place where you can see the reactions... ‘cause that's what DJing is. You don't just go and set up a playlist, you don't do that. You read the crowd. We don't have a crowd to read right now so you’re not able to test records to see what's working for what people and what environments. When we get back to the clubs, you’re using your best guess. You play it like “okay, that one’s alright too.” You're gonna have to see, but I'm hoping my records do well. \[laughs\]
**What can we expect from “JUST A DJ,” the full-length film?**
It’s going to be a very honest portrayal of what it took to get here. The trailer focused a lot strictly on the album, but the entire doc will definitely show some things on the personal side as well. What’s it like to actually do something like this, I don't think people have ever gotten that perspective. You see the after. You see the album is here, but what do you go through as a person to get it there?
**Goals yourself as an artist at this point of your career?**
I want a dog, you’re making me want a dog. That's goal #1. I'm worried about traveling what am I gonna do with a dog? I want to keep doing what's in my heart and not making decisions off of fear. Because as humans, we do that. Why are we not doing something? When you think about it, a lot of the time it’s fear-based. I want to keep living my truth, going out and doing, trying to get what I want, that's where I see myself.
**Talk about having your own imprint, Ryte Way Music.**
That's where my music is under, distributed by Platoon. They’ve been super great, also there is a company called Zen, shout out to Karim at Zen. When nobody was supportive of my album, Zen was. I'm super thankful for Karim for even listening to my crazy ideas. That's what all ideas are at first, they’re crazy. Then they’re like “oh I get it!” But at first, they’re crazy.
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