LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving may get Cleveland’s blood flowing with excitement on game day, but DJ Steph Floss is the heartbeat of #THELAND.
A Cleveland native, Floss is a daytime DJ at Cleveland’s Z 107.9 FM and gets the night scene bumping at nightclubs all across his city. But what sets him apart from many of his DJ counterparts is that he holds one of the most coveted jobs in sports: he’s the Cleveland Cavaliers’ in-house DJ.
For the last seven years, Floss has gotten Quicken Loans Arena bumping with tunes blasting on the ones and twos. As cool as that is, the formative years of his DJ craft is what’s so intriguing. Floss first fell in love with the art after watching Ernest R. Dickerson’s 1992 film Juice with his older brother. The film that starred Omar Epps, Khalil Kain and the late Tupac Shakur was the gateway to his love affair. “I fell in love with DJ GQ who was Omar Epps’ character,” DJ Steph Floss told The Source by phone.
“As a result of that, I realized that this is exactly what I want to do. I love music, I have no problem being in front of people and taking charge of crowds. I thought it would be dope if I could be a DJ.”
To quote living legend, Jay-Z: the allure of the game kept calling his name. Steph Floss has not looked back. Although Floss wanted to DJ as a kid, he didn’t own his own set of turntables and other DJing equipment until he got to college. Turntables were very expensive and according to the DJ, his mother did not want to hear loud scratching and spinning all day in her house.
Fast forward to his college career at Ohio State. Floss received a full academic scholarship and grants. He accrued no balance on his college bill and in turn, he’d receive a refund check at the beginning of every semester. Voilà, the equipment that he wanted as a kid, he got in his second childhood…college!
Check Out Steph Floss In Action
Balancing the books and the fun stuff, Floss fully immersed himself into what he loved most and he built a rep. The marketing major made the Ohio State party scene legendary and just like the theme song on the TV show Cheers kind of goes: “everybody knew his name.” Floss may have earned a four year degree at Ohio State, but his movement on the campus was in fact an independent case study. That case study directly affected his brand growth in the coming years in a good way: “When I started DJing I had to pull wool over people’s eyes,” he said.
Last decade DJ Clue’s mixtapes were everywhere. You couldn’t walk on a city block or walk past a barbershop, chicken shack or corner store without hearing the then-New York Hot 97 DJ yelling his recognizable “DJ Clue, Desert Storm” on air. Clue’s mixtapes were responsible for folks like Fabolous and Joe Budden gaining a buzz. Floss paid attention and emulated. “I realized that if I put out a mixtape then I would solidify myself as a DJ to the people,” he said.
Being from the Midwest, he was a big fish in a small pond which had it’s advantages. He put together a mixtape called DJ Steph Floss Live From The 216. The mixtape featured local acts who freestyle rapped on popular beats. Floss then pushed them all over campus and the response led to him being asked to DJ everybody’s party. That then led to him hosting Ohio State’s Welcome Back Cookout every year while he was in school.
Just like Omar Epps’ GQ character in Juice, Steph Floss was “local” and it worked.
Fast forward to today, he’s still local and he’s buzzing. Buzzing may not even be the right word, homeboy is flying.
With the Cavaliers pegged as the top team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference and with the return of a certain #23 to the wine and gold, it’s rewarding for Floss to bring his brand of entertainment at such a grand stage and at the right time. The rich sounds of Floss’ music plays during player intros, halftime, while players bring up the ball and at other intricate times in-game. Even the little things make sense, like snippets of Drake’s ‘I’ll admit it, I’ll admit it’ from his 6 God track blast in the Quicken Loans Arena speakers following a monster dunk by Cavaliers forward and fellow Toronto native Tristan Thompson.
“This isn’t to toot my horn or pat myself on the back, but the Cavs have the best in-game entertainment in all of the NBA,” said Steph Floss.
Check Out The Source Magazine’s Brandon Robinson Talking LeBron James and Toronto Basketball on Canada’s CTV
Sitting at 32-21 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings, the Cavs had a rocky start. Since the Cavs acquired J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov, in a three team trade with the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks, the team has been clicking at the right time. With the NBA All Star Break days away, it’s quite as plausible as it was at the beginning of the season that the Cavs could legitimately make it to the NBA Finals and win the whole shebang. If that were to happen, it’s a fair question to ask:
What will be the first song that Steph Floss blasts after the Cavs win that coveted championship that Cleveland sports has been ailing for since the Cleveland Browns won an NFL Championship in 1964?
“It might not be out yet,” hinted Steph Floss. “Maybe we’ll have a special theme song. Maybe we already have one in the works. Who Knows?”
Now you know Steph Floss. Make sure to check out everything that he has going on by checking out www.djstephfloss.com/v1/