What’s your stage name and where are you from?

My name is Rob, but my moniker is DJ Raw B aka Raw B. I currently live in the Southern California desert.

What’s the story behind your stage name?

Unfortunately, there’s not any cool story behind the name DJ Raw B. I came up with it at a very young age in the early nineties. DJ Rob just looked boring, so I messed around with the spelling. There are a few other people out there using the moniker but according to my age (lol) and research, I am the original.

Describe your musical journey in three sentences.

I begin playing the snare drum in elementary school. When I heard Hip-Hop music in the early eighties my mind was captured by the unique sounds and musicality, especially the sound of DJs scratching. I went on to become a DJ during college which led to co-hosting an award winning Hip-Hop radio show for 15 years (BeatSauce on KUSF alongside J-Boogie & Wisdom), DJing at clubs around the Bay Area (2001 Club DJ of the Year-SF Guardian), working and performing with various Hip-Hop groups (Double Life, Felonious, Sacred Hoop et. al), touring with major label band Brougham, appearing the in the movie Rat Race with the band Smash Mouth and ultimately getting into music production all while working in commercial radio and TV as a Producer.

Share an interesting experience you had while creating your latest track.

My latest album, The Fog of Raw, is a meeting of the minds between myself and a wide range of MCs/Vocalists who contributed to the project. I’m living like Ben Kenobi out here in the desert, so it was interesting to remotely collaborate with all of this great talent from around the country. Some I know on a personal level, while others I got to know through the back and forth while working on the tracks. I had never really made music with people who I never met face to face, so that was definitely an interesting experience.

What message do you want to convey through your music?

Grittiness can be beautiful. Lyrics that make you think are important, but sometimes you gotta just get dumb. And Hip-Hop music needs more DJs cutting it up on songs.

Tell us about a challenge you faced during production and how you overcame it.

I came up with the choruses for most of the songs on the new album which was challenging at times. I did my best to match the MC’s message and energy with scratches and hooks. It can be frustrating, but a little patience goes a long way. If you focus, your mind will come through for you 90% of the time.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?

Tough question because I’m still very insecure about a lot of the music I make. Self doubt can be overcome by just saying “F it” to yourself and not really caring what people think. But to answer your question…I’m down to collaborate with anyone who’s got talent and is not a dick.

Where do you see your music taking you in the next year?

Not sure. It will probably won’t take me anywhere as I’m an introverted recovering alcoholic who likes staying home. But…I’m always creating new beats and experimenting with new sounds…so you’ll definitely hear more music in the future.

What’s the next big step for you as an artist?

The biggest step would be making a living by creating music, but with platforms like Spotify ripping all of us off…I don’t see that happening. There’s far too many people trying to predict the future. I’m content creating, being a decent human and seeing where that takes me.

Where can we hear/watch your most recent work?

The Fog of War album is streaming on all of the usual digital outlets. I’m selling a batch of limited edition CDs on my website www.BornIllness.com