DJ AG’s livestreams are for the community

If you’re into UK MC culture, then you’ll probably be acquainted with the sight of DJ AG on your phone screen. Since sacking off his sales job in 2023, the North Londoner has been livestreaming DJ sets from the busy streets of Wood Green, Brixton and King’s Cross, gathering 425,000 TikTok followers along the way.

AG, aka Ashley Gordon, is happy to share his fast-growing platform with pretty much anyone brave enough to jump on the mic. He’s livestreamed raw and rowdy sets with heavyweights such as JME and Skepta, Krept and Konan, Lethal Bizzle and British-Punjabi star Raf-Saperra, as well as legends like the Jamaican rapid ragga vocalist Big Daddy Freddy and MC Fizzy from the UKG group Genius Cru.

But AG, 39, is just as passionate about uplifting London’s lesser-known talents – from teenage singer-songwriter Athalia, who covered Bob Marley with an acoustic guitar, to the harmonica player Leon Maddy and countless hungry grime MCs. The big names bring more awareness to the platform, which benefits the up-and-comers. Case in point: just last week, the unknown rapper Msav hopped on the stream and got a wheel-up from Chip.

DJ AG’s mission is to re-energise the grassroots UK scene, providing opportunities for talented artists who might not have the connections or the funds to get a foot in the door in the chaotic music industry. Elijah – a renowned DJ, lecturer and label-head – respects and understands the mission. Never afraid to ask the difficult questions about the music biz, he’s got a knack for stimulating social media discourse with the yellow squares he posts on Insta, offering thought-provoking statements which fit snugly on the grid.

Elijah and AG have built up a rapport recently. Elijah’s recent statement that AG is the most important DJ in UK music started off as an Instagram comment, then became a Guardian headline before making it onto a physical yellow square that AG held up during a livestream.

Elijah sat down with AG at the Caribbean Delight restaurant in Tottenham (where the staff excitedly took a video with AG) to discuss building community, beefing with councils and getting care home residents up and dancing.

We’re in Tottenham. Is this your ends?

Yeah, I’m born and bred in Tottenham. Love it here. Very diverse place. You’ve got Tottenham Hotspur football ground, which I’m not really feeling because I’m a Gooner! So many talented people have come through here, I’m just happy to be a part of this journey.

What were your beginnings in music?

When I was about 13, I said to my mum, look, I’ve seen this thing in Index – which was a shop like Argos. It was a CD player which had a CD on the left, CD on the right, mixer in the middle. I’m like, yeah, this is sick, so she bought it for me. And then I started buying jungle and garage CDs. I remember putting the speaker by the window, and I’m in a block of flats, pumping the tunes. And then when I got to sixth form, a lot of people were MCing. I wanted to start writing some bars. My mainstay was maybe [the now defunct] Axe FM. Shout out to [founder] Pabz – rest in peace. So I kind of left the decks behind. Done a few mixtapes. We won’t say what my [rapper] name is, because we’re gonna just bury that. But I had a conversation with a guy called Scribbler – Aiden, big him up, yeah – and one day he said you know, what, man, you’re not good enough. So I was like argh. I had to hold that one. I was like, Fair enough. So I picked up the DJ stuff again.

In 2011 I started playing at house parties. Then from there, between doing my nine to five, I was just playing at pubs, clubs, not really making money, but just having a bit of fun. Then fast-forward to the TikTok thing. I was at an FTSE 250 company [before TikTok]. I worked my way up from call centre agent to sales manager, so I’d been there for like 11 to 12 years and the director was leaving. I thought, yeah, they’re gonna give me a chance to grow into that role. Didn’t happen. They got someone externally and that really rubbed me up the wrong way. I’ve got two kids, they’re like, ​“Why don’t you try TikTok?” I’m like, ​“What do you mean? That’s for kids, innit?” But I was like, you know what? Maybe they know more than me, so I just gave it a go, and the rest is history, man.

When did you start getting guests jumping on at the livestreams?

[My friend] Chris Cargill said to me, ​“You should get guests on.” I’m like, nah, man, like, I’m outside, I’m already dealing with the drunks, people that are on substance. People dashing eggs at me, dashing water at me, touching my decks. I’m like, I can’t deal with all of that and then deal with artists. So I kind of pooh-poohed it for a little while and then some randomer came up to me and was like, ​“Oh, do you mind if I MC?” So I’m like, alright, cool man. Then [after that] I think the biggest moment would have probably been Daddy Freddy in Brixton a few months ago. When that happened, that’s when I actually [thought] there’s something in here in terms of serving the people. This is someone that no one’s seen for ages. I was like, okay, how can I use the platform to help other people that just need a bit of exposure?

When you think of UK music, [a lot of] people don’t think of reggae and dancehall as much, but that’s been a central narrative in the AG story and the story of Brixton – artists like Daddy Freddy, Ragga Ruggie, Harry Toddler and a whole other bunch of Black voices that are using Jamaican accents, fully rooted. When the Daddy Freddy moment happened, did you consider that [your livestream would] magnetise more Jamaican and Caribbean artists, because they feel like it’s a space for them too?

Yeah. I’ve got family in South [London] and I know there’s the gentrification, but there’s still a strong Caribbean presence in Brixton. But if I’m honest with you, I didn’t really think more people would come. So to see bare people coming out, like ​“give me the mic – ​‘dugga-dugga-dugga, one drop, one drop’” – at first I’m like, what the hell are you lot talking about!? It was alien to me at the time, but it’s been fantastic.

It’s like you’re giving the platform to people who the industry doesn’t have a place for, or it doesn’t service them. With more popular artists coming on, are you thinking about how to still make space for those people?

It’s important there’s a balance. With the prominent artists, you’re trying to help them with their rollouts or whatever, or maybe they just wanna have a bit of fun, maybe they’re bored. But they understand that their role is also to help me grow and to put a spotlight on the emerging people. So I could put out, for example, Lethal Bizzle, and then the next video I put out Sally, or Inspeckta Veg, and that’s gonna get a bit of traction as a result.

I want to serve more people and make it as cost-effective as possible. I don’t charge anything and I want it to stay that way. To make one song, you’ve got to pay for studio time, you’ve got to pay for the master and the mixing down, you’ve got to pay for the beat, you’ve got to pay for artwork, you’ve got to pay for the distribution. And if you want a video, you’ve got to pay for that as well. So what’s that going to cost? £2,000 maybe? It’s a very expensive process. So take Inspeckta Veg, for example, he came [on my livestream] and didn’t pay for nothing. He’s gone viral. So what does he need a music video for?

I did the post about you being the most important DJ in the UK. Do you feel some sort of pressure with that and seeing how people responded to it?

No, because I’m humble, my thought process was, like, it’s nice that someone thinks that obviously, [but] from a technical standpoint, I’m not like a DJ EZ. My thing is all about: how do I get the best out of the person that’s next to me? I’d rather have 10 dodgy mixes, but know that I’ve got the best out of that person.

I thought that I was gonna get cooked when I posted that, because people were thinking about mixing, which I didn’t think was that important. You’ve got a distribution platform, you’re using TikTok and Instagram, then you’re giving people the clips so they can share them. But then you’re also showing what the streets actually look like today. People have a vision of Brixton that’s gentrified now. [But on your livestream] does that look gentrified to you?

No!

What are some of the obstacles in the music industry? And why is it so bad now?

I’m kind of still new in it. But from what I can see, you need to know someone to get somewhere, or you need to have money. So I’m not gonna say any names, but obviously, I look at certain online platforms, and I respect them, and I understand we all have to make money, we will have to eat. But I think in a time of crisis, how can you find the balance between making money but also supporting the talent coming through? And there aren’t enough platforms to support that. When I was coming through MCing, it was still difficult to get onto Rinse FM or whatever. It was still hard, man, but at least you had Axe FM, you maybe had Mode FM, which you could maybe get onto instead.

And then there’s the next layer of the algo as well. Today someone can maybe get on Rinse, but they can’t still get in front of an audience. If you’re a musician, now you’ve got to learn video, you’ve got to learn social media. But for the people who’ve just got raw talent, bars and energy – I think you give those people hope. I watched a video yesterday of you visiting a care home [in Seven Sisters]. Have you been doing that for a long time?

That’s been in the making for a few months. It stems from my gran, because she had dementia before she passed, but I realised that music was a big thing, so I’ll do my little research. [I decided] you know what, I want to go to a care home. I wanted to document it, not to be a show-off – anything like that’s not my vibe, man, but just to promote kindness, to promote the forgotten people, because they are forgotten, and really show what a care home looks like. I wanted to show the power of music, and music is extremely powerful. I think in that video you could see for yourself; sometimes people haven’t had company for donkeys [years] or however long. But to see the joy – rah, I’ve got some people up dancing, singing! Everything I do is centred around community… Because the society right now is dark, man.

What do you think our communities could be doing more of?

For me, Stormzy is a great example of how things should be. My man’s built a hub in his ends. You can go and record, you go and play games, go and get support. Youth clubs have gone. That has to be fixed, man – that’s the ASAP bit for me. Starting from the youth and trying to say, look, it’s about togetherness. Once we get that togetherness back, it will stop a lot of BS that we’re seeing.

You’ve been livestreaming from the streets. What’s the response from the councils been like?

It’s a mixed response. So take Haringey Council, for example, because I started off doing it in Wood Green. The letter I got from the council was disgusting bro, if I’m being honest. It spoke about [me] speaking to young people, especially women, about ​“illegally street trading”. The letter included things like ​“We’re gonna find you X, Y and Z if you don’t [comply].” I had to phone them like, ​“Listen, what are you sending me this for? If I go legal, because that’s what it might need to be innit – like, can you explain this thing about you saying that I’m doing whatever with kids?” That’s actually disgusting. And I’ve got that in writing, bro. So that happened.

We managed to kind of resolve it. I was like, I’m squashing it. So they were like, ​“Llook, what we want you to do is just be a bit safer, so move from the middle of the road and just go to the side of the road.” I’m like cool, safety Is important. I’ll compromise with you. I’ll work with any council, just so I can continue to do what I need to do. And they sent me another letter a few months later, saying I have noise complaints, and what they want me to do is stream, but stream with the headphones on. I’m like, are you actually dumb!? I said, bro, you know what? I’m not even gonna bother with this. I’m cool, man, I can go anywhere. So there are some councils that need to have a little bit of a think. There’s the good and the bad.

And then the police?

Police are cool, because, look, it’s the council that enforces the rules. It’s not really the police as such that I have an issue [with]. For those that don’t know, I have been arrested once for playing music, which is, coming to think of it, that’s wild. Go and catch the real criminals out there! I got arrested in Shoreditch, was given an ASBO, I can’t go there for a year or whatever. So it’s definitely been a rollercoaster. Thankfully I don’t have [any] issues in King’s Cross right now.

I was at King’s Cross on Friday and the police were standing over there with protesters and stuff…

And they were cool. They even talked to me. They said, ​“Look, we’ve got no issue with you being here. I just make sure that you leave at a decent time and [you’re not] violating any residents that are around.”

I think the participants, people who come to perform and watch, they want to protect you too. So it’s a community thing of like, ​“Alright, my man’s going through all this hassle, let’s behave.” And then when people act up, there’s like a whole bunch of people that will be like, ​“Come on, ​‘low it’.” And I think this is how most of humanity is, but it’s just you don’t see it often reflected in our thing, in a lot of our media, it’s you versus them, dog-eat-dog kind of thing. But when you do something positive, people notice and they will gravitate [toward you] and protect you.

My decks haven’t been robbed yet, my phone hasn’t been taken. And it’s expensive equipment at the end of the day. So for [the audience] to be so open and so positive and respectful for the most part, I’m very grateful.

Final question: what the hell are you gonna do when it gets super cold?

I’ve been doing this for like, what, a year and a half now? I’ve done a winter and it was painful. So hopefully we’re gonna get some nice sponsors who are like, ​“Yo, listen AG, we’ll keep you warm!”