DJ Mustard, born Dijon McFarlane, is ready to get right to work after signing to Jay Z’s Roc Nation. The partnership seems to be a harmonious match as his management was already in bed with Hov’s label. “They already managed me before I signed to them, so it was like a win-win situation for me and my partnership with my management,” he says. “Why not go with Roc Nation?”

Currently taking his time to craft a sequel to Ketchup–he says it’ll be better than the last–and basking in the success of street anthems like Tyga’s “Rack City,” Jeezy’s “R.I.P.” and “YG’s “My Nigga,” the L.A.-bred beatmaker is proud to see his city back on the map. “L.A. was dry for a long time, so for us to pick the ball back up and start running like we running, shit, I can’t complain.”

We caught up with the producer to hear why it’s important to be a hip-hop DJ rather than taking his talents to the EDM scene and his thoughts on the New York music scene. –Alley Olivier

How do you think your career will change now that you’re signed?
DJ Mustard: It can only get better. And with Roc Nation behind me, they’re pushing me more for better.

It’s been reported that you didn’t speak to Jay before signing. Why?
DJ Mustard: I spoke to him through mutual friends. It’s not like I didn’t speak to him at all. And on top of that, he wanted to sign me.

What does being a hip-hop DJ mean to you?
DJ Mustard: It means a lot to me. A lot of our DJs have gone to the EDM side, and they’ll go to the EDM side instead of just being like ‘I’m going to really focus on being a hip-hop DJ.’ So I think that’s what I’m going to bring to the table.

You think a hip-hop DJ can’t draw the same crowd as David Guetta?
DJ Mustard: Most of them haven’t put their mind to it to do it. A lot of people are so quick to jump gun and just go do EDM, do what David Guetta is doing. Not to discredit David Guetta because he’s amazing, but if you do hip-hop, you should try to focus on doing hip-hop and making hip-hop as big as EDM and dance music.

Why do you think DJs are quicker to jump ship?
DJ Mustard: It’s a lot of money in that shit that’s why. If you had a chance to deejay at Aura Fest for $100 grand you would do it too. I’m not going to say I wouldn’t do it; I’m just saying my thing is to focus on hip-hop right now. As much as I want to do everything else, I just want to make hip-hop bigger just like EDM.

When are we going to get the full record that Drake previewed with you and YG?
DJ Mustard: I’m not even sure yet. I’m not sure if it’s all the way done yet. I just know it’s definitely one of YG’s singles and it’s an incredible record.

Being from the West Coast, what are your thoughts on TDE’s come-up and the resurgence of Cali music with Dom, Kid Ink, etc?
DJ Mustard: That shit is amazing. It’s just making LA a better place really. It’s not so much people being scared to come to L.A. no more. Now, we can go to the clubs, we can pop bottles and have a good time, so now it’s just cool like that.

So I’m sure you’ve heard the comments Trinidad Jame$ had to say about New York’s current position in music. Would you say that NY is in its own dry spell?
DJ Mustard: New York got they own swag; nobody can take that from them. You shouldn’t really say that they sound like Down South, because if that’s the case then everybody sound like Down South. Everybody did that shit. “My Nigga” is a Down South song but that don’t discredit YG from doing what he doing in L.A. The rest of his album sound like all L.A. shit.

There’s just not a lot of producers in New York that are focused on making songs instead of being underground. I think that’s what he meant by that. I don’t think he meant no harm, but you have to watch what you say sometimes. You don’t want to be walking down the street in New York and somebody hits you. That’s not cool.

As a DJ, what do you find that people want to hear?
DJ Mustard: People miss just really having a good time. People miss that 90, 91 bpm. They remember Ying Yang Twins, remember fuckin’ “Tell Me When To Go.” That was a Bay song but Lil Jon produced it. Even another Fatman Scoop, Timbaland and Magoo–nobody do that shit no more and that’s what’s missing. We can play an hour of Down South music, but after that hour you still have another 2 hours in the club so why not turn the bpm up so girls can shake they ass too? You can’t shake your ass to that Down South music.

What can we expect from you musically in the coming months?
DJ Mustard: I’m working on Ketchup 2 right now. I really want to take my time with this one. I released the first one in a month, so I’m really just taking my time on this one to give people some real crazy shit. Ketchup on steroids this time.

Any people you can name that you’re working with?
DJ Mustard: I’m working with everybody. Expect everybody. Expect the unexpected.