With so much drama in the ATL, it's kind of hard being the man people call for sales. But some how, some way, DJ Drama continues to live up to his billing. Legal woes aside, the first official Gangsta Grillz album is done; and the streets are ready to ride.

Calling in Gangsta Grill vets like T.I., Young Jeezy, and Lil Wayne was a no brainer, but the opportunity to showcase Willie The Kid and get a chance to collaborate with Outkast made the project more special to DJ Drama. Already equipped with strong in-house production from Don Cannon and the Affiliates crew, DJ Drama simply applied his street mixtape success formula to the album. Everything almost seems easy to DJ Drama, as he effortlessly juggles an interview with BallerStatus.com, business calls, and both of those while driving around town in search of a photo shoot.

With his trademark confidence, as heard on any his mixtapes, Drama touches on various subjects. Of course he speaks on the Gangsta Grillz projects that help build the brand. In addition, he addresses word from the street of a name change and the hottest rapper. Finally, there is no doubt left to why HIS name is Drama.

BallerStatus.com: We can jump right into it and we can get a quick plug for your album...

DJ Drama: Gangsta Grillz, it's the best mixtape album ever! And if you want to know why, because I said so.

BallerStatus.com: Can you explain the process for us and how it's different from the typical artist?

DJ Drama: It's not really that different. I didn't change much from how I would approach any other mixtapes. It's like going from college ball to the league. The three-point line is pushed back a little more. You got to practice the shot more. I'm still able to make the shot, but I just got to practice more.

The formula we used was basically simple: [Don Cannon and I] came up with the beats. We picked who was going on what after listening to them. We pretty much just tried to cook up a good recipe for the album. The new thing I had to work at was something I never went through with mixtapes before which was clearances... clearances... and... clearances (laughs). But I'm glad I went through [the raiding of my studio] though; it made me a better businessman.

BallerStatus.com: What was it like picking beats for the album with everyone sending you music?

DJ Drama: It was a lot of long nights. I have my in-house of guys that helped with the process. We sat up and went through the Shawty Red and Don Cannon beats first and after that, it was just a matter of hitting up everyone I knew. It's like starting off with a blank canvas and we just worked until we had a project.

BallerStatus.com: Did you choose songs accordingly to the regional markets?

DJ Drama: I don't like to break it down into regions. I got the best of both worlds being in Atlanta while coming from Philly. If the sh-- go bang, the sh-- go bang no matter where you at. It's not an album about pleasing East Coast, down South, or West Coast. When classics are made, they're appreciated by everyone. It's about sequence and how the songs fell into to place. I don't want people to skip anything on the album.

BallerStatus.com: How did you go about choosing the artists you wanted to work with?

DJ Drama: I went to people I've worked with from different projects and mixtapes and let it go from there. Everyone that's on my album is someone I'm a fan of. Even though I'm at the level that I'm at, I'm still a fan of the game. Of course you start off thinking, what's a Gangsta Grillz album without Lil Wayne or Young Jeezy? Then, you realize that you have the chance to introduce new artists and potentially break them. And, I got to realize the dream of having Outkast of the album as well.

BallerStatus.com: Given the track record of all your mixtapes, BallerStatus wants to do a little who's who. I'll say a name of an artist and you tell me why you did a mixtape with them at the time it happened, starting with Pharell.

DJ Drama: I got a call one day from Pharell and his manager saying they wanted to do a mixtape. He had the In My Mind album on deck, but they wanted to hit the streets hard first. They said, "Who's better to see than you?" I was honored; obviously yes.

BallerStatus.com: Young Jeezy: the first Trap Or Die?

DJ Drama: That was the second time we worked together. We did the Streets Is Watching and that's a cult classic that help build Jeezy's core audience up. I knew what Trap Or Die was going to be before we did it. It was a coming out party for me and I was really sure to push my brand hard. Jeezy was focused and I was too. You couldn't go to any hood in the country without hearing that.

BallerStatus.com: What was it like doing Down With The King when T.I. first got out of jail?

DJ Drama: That was a big project. That was the first big project I collaborated with T.I.P. on. We hit the Birthday Bash right when he got of jail and went at Lil Flip. That was right on the verge of T.I.P.'s superstardom.

BallerStatus.com: Of course Lil Wayne and both of the Dedication albums...

DJ Drama: That was a big project. You look at the climate now and you see Lil Wayne on every mixtape in the world. I was one of the first DJs to do a Lil Wayne mixtape outside of him doing his own tapes. I was on the tour bus with T.I.P. on the Legends Tour. T.I. was on the phone with Wayne and I talked to him. I said, "Let's do this project." He said, "Cool, let's do it." I came up with the concept of the Dedication and said it was going out to the fallen soldiers in the game and the world. I picked out beats and sent it to him and he did some things that he had in mind as well. He was sending me the material back to work on, and I was like, "Oh my God!" You know, you do that with the stink face.

Dedication dropped right after Trap Or Die, and the whole time I was thinking, "How can I top Jeezy's project?" That did it for me in a big way. It's not many DJs who can say they have mixtapes like mine with different artists that people can run down the names of. So to drop Wayne's album after Jeezy's, I was on fire. It felt like getting a triple-double.

BallerStatus.com: Little Brother...

DJ Drama: Little Brother, that felt good. A lot people don't know my background in music. I came up watching The Roots do their thing. Before I was Gangsta Grillz, I was DJing for Black Star at the Lyricist Lounge. As a DJ, we represent music as a whole. It's funny because when they told me they wanted to do a Gangsta Grillz, I was like, "You want to do a Gangsta Grillz?!" The people outside of the Affiliates were telling me not to, like "Don't give them the brand that T.I. and Jeezy built." I looked at it like, "You know what, this is me man! I make this brand what I want to make it. Good music is good music and if Drama get involved, it's going to be big."

BallerStatus.com: In regards of how you affected the music. How are record companies treating you these days?

DJ Drama: I help the music industry sell records. I don't hurt it. They are talking about getting the cover on XXL for me. I got plagues on my wall thanking me for the records I help sell. It was a foreshadowing somewhat, but I'm good with everything else.

BallerStatus.com: Where does your case stand?

DJ Drama: It's still pending. We'll see where it goes.

BallerStatus.com: We all know bootlegging ain't go stop...

DJ Drama: I don't know nothing about no bootlegging.

BallerStatus.com: Let me rephrase; what were the authorities trying to prove when they raided your property?

DJ Drama: You got to ask them that. I know they went through the motions. The made a movie; they made a great movie out of it. They pulled the guns out and asked the for the drugs and the guns.

BallerStatus.com: How has this changed your business relationships with people?

DJ Drama: It didn't change anything one bit. It made people know my name more.

BallerStatus.com: During MTV's Hip-Hop panel, they mentioned that Lil Wayne lost points for how he handled the situation. What did Wayne do? What was something that he should've done?

DJ Drama: They did an interview with him right after my situation. He should've said, "Dram is my n****! He helped my career out."

BallerStatus.com: Do you still have a working relationship with him?

DJ Drama: Yeah, that's my homie. It's business man. It's the music business man. I guess Wayne ain't that guy. It wasn't the first crazy thing he's said out his mouth. But, that doesn't mean I don't respect him as an artist or we can't work together.

BallerStatus.com: There were some internet sites reporting that you would have to change your name because a Chicago DJ owned the rights to that name. Did you handle that?

DJ Drama: I don't know where he's at man. Please, if anybody sees big homie, tell him I just want to cut him a check. It's not a problem big homie 'cause now you not getting no money. I got the rights to the name and you can't go anywhere and say you "DJ DRAMA." I got to shout out the Chicago homies that rolled with me on that. I got a million phone calls from guys that wanted to help me find him. I was just trying to put a check in his hands; that's all.