'I quit successful job for risky new career – people threw eggs but I had last laugh'
'I quit successful job for risky new career – people threw eggs but I had last laugh'
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If you’ve walked through the streets of Brixton or taken a train from King’s Cross in London, chances are you may have come across DJ AG. The TikTok star – also known as Ashley Gordon – can often be heard before he is seen, playing music from his decks in the middle of the street.
This unconventional set up has landed Gordon more than half a million followers on TikTok and the honour of being named Time Out’s Londoner of the Year. He invites people off the street to perform with him and has even handed the microphone to stars like Idris Elba, Skepta, Jorja Smith and JME.
But things weren’t so easy when he first started. “I had eggs thrown at me, water thrown at me, I was heckled, it was tough. But I think that’s because people didn’t understand what I was doing, they thought it was a joke,” he told The Mirror at TikTok Live Fest.
This didn’t stop Gordon, however. He added: “I’m quite fearless and I think a lot of that comes from working in sales which is quite a tough environment and coming from Tottenham which is tough as well, so how bad could it be being outside.”. Fearless is a great way to describe the DJ, who left his corporate job at a FTSE 250 company to DJ full time on TikTok. He added: “I was doing really well, but I had become a bit disgruntled with my job.”.
It was Gordon’s children who suggested he try out TikTok in 2022, but the now-39-year-old said it was an app for kids and “they don’t want to listen to what I’ve got to say”. He continued: “But I tried it one day and realised there were people my age on TikTok and the rest is history”. He was particularly inspired by DJ SUAT, the roaming YouTube performer.
