Chopstar Kimblee Turns On The Heat In The Studio & The Kitchen
Hailing from the middle of nowhere in west Texas, DJ Kimblee climbed up the industry ladder through hard work, dedication, and perseverance. From being in his high school drum line and cooking with his mom, he became a renowned cook in the studio and the kitchen.
The 25 year old initially started learning how to DJ while working as a cashier in a game room. He downloaded a mixing software and worked with his love for music. Little did he know, his talent and chopped mixes would lead him into securing a spot as an official ChopStar DJ and working with ChopNotSlop Radio, the world’s first chopped and screwed radio station dedicated to keeping DJ Screw Music alive.
Born Darek Gomez, Kimblee started DJ-ing at house parties in the Northside of Abilene after being invited to spin by one of his coworkers at the time. The parties drew so much attractions that he alongside a few of his homies started hosting monthly shows at The Zone in Abilene where they brought artists from across Texas and the nation to liven up their hometown. However, it wasn’t until he started turning up The Stairs Club in Abilene that he started getting recognition.
In 2015, Kimblee got his introduction to the world of concert booking after working with with the Louisiana duo, $uicideboy$. After coming across one of his chop and screw mixes on SoundCloud, the hiphop stars approached Kimblee on twitter and shortly after asked if he was able to book them a show.
“I never done a show before at this point,” Kimblee says. “They needed help getting booked in Houston and I just faked it until I made it.”
After hitting up a few of his contacts in h-town, he secured a venue. Shortly after, the company who booked the duo’s shows in Austin and San Antonio backed out of the deal in fear that the they would not be able to sell enough tickets. The New Orleans cousins went back to Kimblee, who worked his magic securing them shows in both cities and further solidifying his name in show booking.
“I booked those shows and DJ-ed them myself,” Kimblee says. “I had my homeboys run the doors and stuff. All of those shows ended up selling out.”
Ever since, Kimblee has worked with plenty more established artists. He has DJ-ed for Shoreline Mafia across Texas, booked and DJ-ed for Maxo Kream and 21 Savage, DJ-ed Splurge’s set at Rolling Loud LA, and ran Lil Yahcty’s set in Austin. He has worked with other major artists such as Chief Keef, Lil Boosie, Young Dolph, Yella Beezy, Young Thug, Trippie Redd, Lil Keed, and Rucci to name a few.
“Everything has been cool over the years but I’ve done a number of things and I don’t really have a lot to show for it,” Kimblee says. “The last year or two, I’ve been having more things to show for it as far as credibility and working with certain artists that I’m working with and stuff like that.”
After the pandemic hit, a vast number of DJs were impacted by the shutdown of venues and cancellation of concerts. Looking for a way to maintain his income, Kimblee started working with his other passion, food.
The southern star knew his way around the turntables just as well as he did in the kitchen. He grew up learning to cook at home, but pursued his passion into the restaurant industry and ended up working at high end kitchens for five years before dedicating himself to DJ-ing.
Kimblee started selling food once a week through twitter in his hometown, Abilene. He knew his way around spices and herbs like his beats and rhythm and after noticing the flood of orders and traction it has gained on social media, it became his secondary hustle. He worked his way towards setting shop in other parts of Texas offering a variation of cuisines. Once the game reached Austin, he leveled up and started offering THC options.
“Twitter changed my life,” Kimblee says.
Most recently, Kimblee has teamed up with Dallas’ rising star Kaash Paige as her official DJ. In the past, Kimblee has chatted up the opportunity with Paige’s then A&R for her debut studio album ‘Parked Car Convos” but it wasn’t till he responded to one of Paige’s tweets that the wheels started turning.
“Kaash tweeted that she needed a DJ outta the Dallas area, she just tweeted it,” Kimblee says. “She has a million and one people hitting her up, even DJs I looked up to were hitting her up, but I quoted a tweet with a video from the Bomb Factory show and posted an 8 second video of me turning the crowd up. The tweet got a lot of retweets and likes and she followed me on twitter.”
After waiting a few days, Kimblee sent her a direct message asking about how she needs a DJ in Dallas and so forth. The chat resulted in setting up a meet up. He invited her to his aunt’s house for a homemade infused meal and the southern hospitality worked its magic.
“The food is really what made it happen,” Kimblee says. “She is the sweetest person ever. Kaash is just a very nice genuine person, even more so than I thought going into this. Over the years I have had a lot of people make me all kinds of promises like people saying they’re going to manage me and do that for me and nothing ever really falls through. But with Kaash, it’s been nothing but love.”
Kimblee is releasing more ChopNotSlop remixes and is working alongside Paige to prepare for her upcoming tour. He is also planning to grow his cooking enterprise and launch his first food truck.
Currently, Kimblee working on a ChopNotSlop version of Drakeo The Ruler and JoogSzn latest mixtape ‘Thank You for Using GTL’ and is dropping a remix for “Pressure” by Rio Recognize and 21 savage.
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