DJ Vlad
DJ Vlad | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vladimir Lyubovny June 28, 1973[1] Kiev, Ukraine |
| Occupation(s) | DJ, director, journalist, interviewer |
Vladimir Lyubovny (Russian: Владимир Любовный; born June 28, 1973), commonly known as DJ Vlad, is an American DJ, director, journalist and interviewer. He is the CEO of video and news website VladTV.com. His YouTube channel, djvlad, features his interviews of multiple music artists and entertainers and currently has over two million subscribers. He has also produced and directed films.
Life and career
A computer science graduate of UC Berkeley, Lyubovny began his career as a computer programmer. He eventually started his own dot-com staffing company, GigaStaff.[2] In 2000, Vlad shut down GigaStaff and turned his attention to music. He moved to New York City and helped create the Rap Phenomenon mixtapes along with DJ Dirty Harry. The Rap Phenomenon mixtapes won awards from Rolling Stone, MTV and XXL magazine.
Lyubovny then turned his attention towards film. He directed on the American Gangster television series, as well as the documentary film Ghostride the Whip.[3] DJ Vlad also produced and hosted Russell Simmons' and Stan Lathan's Hip-Hop on Demand - a nationally syndicated, on-demand hip hop lifestyle channel on Comcast.
In 2008, Lyubovny started VladTV.com, a hip hop video news site.[2] Shortly after launching the channel, Lyubovny was allegedly assaulted by rapper Rick Ross' entourage after he covered a story on the rapper's former career as a corrections officer. Lyubovny filed a $4 million lawsuit. On April 15, 2010, a New York Federal Jury awarded Lyubovny $300,000 in his civil suit, finding Ross liable for setting Lyubovny up for the attack at the Ozone Awards in Houston, Texas, in 2008.[4]
In April 2009, the Star & Buc Wild show joined the VladTV family to do a daily feature.[5] In May 2010, Lyubovny appeared on Adult Swim's cartoon The Boondocks.[6]
References
- ^ "DJ Vlad: I'll Start To Worry When They Stop Talking About Me". hiphoplt.com. March 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Benoit, Kevin. "DJ Vlad - 60-Hour A Week Work Ethic Pays Off". Parlé Magazine.
- ^ "Ghostride the Whip". Debate. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Gendar, Alison (April 16, 2010). "Jury orders gangsta rapper Rick Ross to pay $300k to DJ Vlad for entourage attack". NY Daily News.
- ^ Hinckley, David (April 28, 2009). "Star and Buc Wild get online with Vlad". NY Daily News.
- ^ "DJ Vlad Talks "Boondocks" Season 3 Cameo". Complex. April 9, 2010.