I'm Quddus and yes, that's my real name (not to mention an appropriate one since it means 'a man of peace'). I grew up in Canada and things started for me back in high school when I realized my hobby of playing chess just wasn't cutting it anymore. So I decided to pick up some turntables and start DJing. I made mixed tapes for milk money until I landed a slot on the campus radio station at the University of Ottawa--where I was also studying Philosophy--hosting my very own underground hip-hop show called 'Breakdown.' Realizing that spinning on CHJO 89.1 FM wasn't going to finance my first Hummer--or even a basic diet of Spam--I decided to accept some modeling gigs in Toronto, where I eventually came across an ad in a free newspaper about a new youth culture show called Vox that was looking for a host. My audition and resume highlighting my glorious career in shoe sales must have impressed them 'cause they hired me. After a season of writing and hosting that, I felt like taking it to another level so I put together a demo tape and sent it down to this little basic cable channel. MTV looked past my immigrant status and obsessive-compulsive disorder about soul music and brought me down to Key West for my first assignment. Two short months later I was chillin' in NYC hosting TRL and helping to bring soul music to a new level.
