Some people stop by obstacles,

My journeys continue, the devil is always gonna be around haunting,

You every single day he will be taunting you.

THAT is a line from the song Journey, by Jamaican artiste Bugle, that the cast of this fairly new yet innovative group of TEENs known as College Radio disc jockeys chose as their theme song.

According to their website collegeradioja.com:

“College Radio is the essence of what can be achieved when students apply their knowledge in a productive manner.”

Their website is an interactive online radio music feed put together by Nimoy Burrowes, aka DJ Chop Suey; Elmore Jamieson, aka DJ Jimmy Cue; Roger Allen, aka DJ Chemyst and Damani Deer, DJ News.

This group of young university students can be described as a breath of fresh air to an industry full of disc jockeys who only play popular music.

TEENage, the only paper where every TEEN matters,s will introduce you to this fresh-out-the-plastic group of disc jockeys.

TEENage: What is collegeradioja.com?

College Radio (CR): Collegeradioja.com was started to provide college students pursuing a career in media with some amount of experience or exposure, some form of practice while they were studying. We want to develop future radio personalities eventually.

TEENage: What is the name of the group deejays?

CR: We never really thought of it as a group. One of the fans suggested CR DJs and so we call it College Radio.

TEENage: Introduce us to the members of the group?

CR: DJ News is the dancer/disc jockey, while anybody else is playing you can be sure that you can find News in the crowd dancing. DJ Chemyst is the laid-back one, the cool guy. News and Chemyst are from the Univesity of Technology (UTech). DJ Chop Suey is the troublemaker. He’s also the fun person, and he’s always laughing and always happy he is always giving jokes. Jimmy Cue is the only one that talks when he is playing. Cue is down-to-earth, fun, he is also the public relations manager for College Radio. Cue designed the college radio logo.

TEENage: What is your listenership like?

CR: On average like three to 500 daily and we have a big Facebook® group.

TEENage: How did you start out?

CR: We started as two separate stations, Studio57 Records and College Radio. But we decided to merge the audience under the College Radio banner. We hope to continue broadcasting after we leave the University of the West Indies (UWI).

TEENage: Where have you played?

CR: We have played at the Pegasus, Four Seasons, Terra Nova All-Suites hotels. We have played at wedding receptions at the Pegasus. Campus meets between UWI, UTech, Wolmer’s Volleyball Festival, Fras Fridays at Rex Nettleford Hall, Cooyah Events at Devon House and Mona Visitors Lodge. Mostly UWI events.

TEENage: How hard is it to manage pursuing your university education with being disc jockeys?

CR: Well, it is not too hard cause a lot of people work and go school. It is just proper time management. It’s kind of a hobby and a job. It’s not demanding, most events are after-school hours?

TEENage: What kind of music do you play?

CR: All genres. Some favourites dancehall, alternative Hip-Hop, Pop, Soca and a little bit of Jazz.

TEENage: Do you think dancehall music has a negative impact on your peers?

CR: What we think is that music in general can influence anybody in any direction whether negative or positive. But it is dependent on how the listener interprets the song or the music. Hip-hop can be a violent culture just like the Dancehall culture, you can’t just single out Dancehall.

TEENage: There are many groups of disc jockeys out there. What’s different about collegeradioja.com disc jockeys?

CR: We are sophisticated, dynamic and entertaining just like our motto says. Not putting down other DJs that just play at street parties, but when you are in the UWI setting, the crowd is mixed with persons from all over the world. When you learn to suit all those people, it’s not just Jamaicans. That makes you suitable to be a CR DJ.

TEENage: Where do you see the group in 10 years?

CR: We see the group broadcasting on the AM/FM frequencies, being the most popular online radio station from the Caribbean or in the world. We must admit we are fans of Zip 103 FM.

TEENage: What would you like the group to be most remembered for?

CR: Well, changing the whole feel of Internet radio. Most of the Internet radios are not censored. We are probably one of the few online radios that are censored. We try to set the example for other online deejays.

If you want to get in contact with any of the DJs send an email to info@collegeradioja.com or visit the website www.collegeradioja.com, and also check out the Facebook® group. Also, be sure to tune in anytime to www.collegeradioja.com for a break from your humdrum music selections and arouse your senses with a different flavour of music.