DJ Whoo Kid

Yves Mondesir, better known as DJ Whoo Kid, is one of the most well-known individuals in East Coast hip-hop in the post-millennial era. His career has included stints as a radio presenter, interviewer, programme director, and selector via terrestrial and satellite networks, and he was a force behind 50 Cent’s early-2000s mainstream invasion. Whoo Kid has also toured the world as a headliner and in support of high-profile MCs like 50 Cent and Waka Flocka Flame, as well as taking on the role of CEO of Shadyville Entertainment. Whoo Kid’s arrivals on recordings are often signalled by a ghostly “Whooo kiiid.”

Mondesir, a Brooklyn native who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, began his career as DJ Whoo Kid in the late 1990s. He hosted 50 Cent’s first proper mixtape, 50 Cent Is the Future, in 2001, kicking off a long relationship with the future multi-platinum rapper and his G-Unit gang. Whoo Kid alone supported almost two dozen G-Unit Radio albums, as well as solo albums by 50, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. Snoop Dogg became a fan of Whoo Kid and he hosted or co-hosted several of the Doggfather’s secondary releases throughout the late 2000s. Whoo Kid had also expanded his reach to satellite radio via Eminem’s Shade 45 channel’s Whoolywood Shuffle.

Whoo kid went on to collaborate with a number of U.K. grime musicians, including Wiley and Tinie Tempah, and formed a tight relationship with Waka Flocka Flame, releasing cassettes like I Can’t Rap, Vol. 1 in 2014 and Salute Me or Shoot Me 5 in 2015. He also DJed and performed alongside the latter as the Turn Up Godz, with tunes aimed at hard-partying EDM crowds. Whoo Kid hosted Smith and Hay’s tape The Whoodlum Ball, released in 2018.