St. Petersburg-raised DJ Winn is not slowing down anytime soon. He just released his brand new album (yes album, not mixtape) titled Slim Chance.
DJ Winn has been a major force in the Florida music scene for years. He found his passion for music at a young age, when he and his brother started bumping tapes in a boom box—and it only grew stronger once his family moved to St. Peter when he was about 10 years old.
Born in New York, Winn was heavily influenced by the DJs in Ft. Lauderdale legendary Jam Pony Express as well as the 2 Live Crew that was blasting out of boomboxes and car stereos all over the city. Winn soon started DJ-ing himself, doing house parties then moving into the local club circuit. He then found his niche in the mixtape game, releasing well over 250 mixtapes and street DVDs; those releases helped break records for numerous artists, including Plies, Yung Joc, YFN Lucci, Lil Baby and many others. Winn’s also gotten into radio, doing mix shows in various cities as well has toured all over the U.S. with Coast to Coast Mixtapes, helping him to build up his giant network of DJs and artists.
DJ Winn’s journey hasn’t been all roses, however.
After relocating to Florida, his mother (who was deaf) eventually had to let him and his siblings go into the foster care program. Her disability made it hard for her to take care of them. On his 18th birthday, he was given $600 and then kicked out in the streets on his own. He later lost his mother to violent crime and his brother to drugs. Through all that, Winn has remained positive, motivated, and humble. He channeled all of that into his music and it can be heard and felt on his new album Slim Chance.
Slim Chance consists of 12 original songs that he put together by picking out the producers and artists for each one. DJ Winn can also be heard giving positive and uplifting messages at the beginning of some of the songs. The album features Tampa legend Tom G, Hard Target, Burga, Gasface 1600, Project Youngin and more. Slim Chance is available now on all streaming platforms; listen to it on Spotify.
Tampa Bay venues and promoters need you to bug Marco Rubio about saving the live music scene.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Follow @cl_music on Twitter to get the most up-to-date music news, concert announcements and local tunes. Subscribe to our newsletter, and listen to us on WMNF 88.5-FM’s “Radio Reverb” program every Saturday from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Follow Creative Loafing Tampa Bay on Google News, too.
