Rapper Juicy J learned how to DJ on a Fischer Price turntable with a metal wire for a needle

“It’s crazy, right?”

Though money isn’t an issue nowadays, growing up in Memphis, Three 6 Mafia’s Juicy J couldn’t even afford to buy a needle or turntable to hone his skills on.

But that didn’t stop him:

“You know, when I first started DJing, when I first started learning how to scratch and mix, I used to use … I used to have a bread wrapper. You ever seen like a bread wrapper, you know, like on the Wonder Bread? You’d get the [twist tie] and it’s in metal. That was for my needle, because I didn’t have no money to get a needle, so I took a bread wrapper and made a needle out of it…” explains Juicy J in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

“I had a Fisher Price turntable somebody gave me and I just kind of made a needle out of the metal part. I… bended it and bended it until… I broke a piece off and I made a little small needle out of it… I had a couple of old records, and that’s how I learned how to scratch.”

When Juicy J finally landed a regular DJ gig in the city, he also brought a cassette player with him to make sure his tracks got played during his sets.

“I was DJing at this club every Sunday night. The club was called Excalibur. I played the song one time, I came back the next week and I was – you know, back in the day they had crates of records. I walked into the club, and loaded my crates of records up, getting ready to DJ.”

“I didn’t have no records. I ain’t had no record deal at the time. … Every time I would DJ, I’d always bring a cassette player with me, ’cause I would play some of my original music. I might play one of my songs I created, and just putting it in the mix with the other stuff.”

Respect to Juicy J and his hustle.