DJ Vlad
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Lyubovny, better known as DJ Vlad, is a disc-jockey and currently the Executive Vice President at Loud.com, part of the SRC/Universal family. He is also CEO of VladTV.com - a video website that many refer to as 'The TMZ of Hip-Hop'.
A Computer Science
graduate of UC Berkeley
, Vlad began his career as a computer programmer
. He eventually started his own dot-com
staffing company, GigaStaff.
In 2000, Vlad closed down Gigastaff and turned his attention to music. He moved to New York and helped create one of the best known mixtapes of all time - Rap Phenomenon along with DJ Dirty HARRY. The Rap Phenomenon mixtapes won Awards from Rolling Stone
, MTV and XXL magazine
.
Vlad then turned his attention towards Film. He directed on the American Gangster
TV Series, as well as the internationally distributed documentary film
'Ghostride the Whip'. DJ Vlad also produced and hosted Russell Simmons' & Stan Lathan's 'Hip-Hop on Demand' - a nationally syndicated, on-demand Hip-Hop
lifestyle channel on Comcast.
In 2008, DJ Vlad started VladTV.com, a hip hop
video news site.
Shortly after launching the channel, DJ Vlad was allegedly assaulted by rapper Rick Ross
' Entourage after VladTV covered a story on the rapper's former career as a corrections officer
. Vlad filed a $4 million lawsuit that is currently in NY Federal Court. On April 15th, 2010, a New York Federal Jury awarded DJ Vlad $300,000 in his civil suit.
In April 2009, the massively popular Star & Buc Wild show joined the VladTV family to do a daily feature.
In May 2010, DJ Vlad appeared on the Boondocks
cartoon.
A Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
graduate of UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, Vlad began his career as a computer programmer
Programmer
A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...
. He eventually started his own dot-com
.com
The domain name com is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations...
staffing company, GigaStaff.
In 2000, Vlad closed down Gigastaff and turned his attention to music. He moved to New York and helped create one of the best known mixtapes of all time - Rap Phenomenon along with DJ Dirty HARRY. The Rap Phenomenon mixtapes won Awards from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, MTV and XXL magazine
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
.
Vlad then turned his attention towards Film. He directed on the American Gangster
American Gangster
American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Steve Zaillian. The film is based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning...
TV Series, as well as the internationally distributed documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
'Ghostride the Whip'. DJ Vlad also produced and hosted Russell Simmons' & Stan Lathan's 'Hip-Hop on Demand' - a nationally syndicated, on-demand Hip-Hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
lifestyle channel on Comcast.
In 2008, DJ Vlad started VladTV.com, a hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
video news site.
Shortly after launching the channel, DJ Vlad was allegedly assaulted by rapper Rick Ross
Rick Ross (rapper)
William Leonard Roberts II , better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection...
' Entourage after VladTV covered a story on the rapper's former career as a corrections officer
Prison officer
A prison officer , also referred to as a corrections officer , correctional officer , or detention officer , is a person charged with the responsibility of the supervision, safety and security of prisoners in a prison, jail, or similar form of secure...
. Vlad filed a $4 million lawsuit that is currently in NY Federal Court. On April 15th, 2010, a New York Federal Jury awarded DJ Vlad $300,000 in his civil suit.
In April 2009, the massively popular Star & Buc Wild show joined the VladTV family to do a daily feature.
In May 2010, DJ Vlad appeared on the Boondocks
The Boondocks
The Boondocks was a daily syndicated comic strip written and originally drawn by Aaron McGruder that ran from 1996 to 2006. Created by McGruder in 1996 for The Diamondback, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, College Park, the strip moved from the college pages and was printed in...
cartoon.