Vladimir Lyubovny (russian: Владимир Любовный; born June 28, 1973), commonly known as DJ Vlad, is an American interviewer, journalist, and former disc jockey. He is the CEO of video and news website VladTV.com. His

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, djvlad, features his interviews of multiple music artists and entertainers and currently has over five million subscribers. He has also produced and directed films. He currently lives in Calabasas, California.

Early life

Lyubovny was born in

Kyiv, Ukraine Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

(then part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

) to a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

family and moved to the United States at the age of five, first living in Springfield,

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before his family settled down in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster ...

. Lyubovny became interested in hip hop in his youth when

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...

released their debut album.

Career

Lyubovny was initially making hip hop beats, but later quit when he realized he would not be successful at it. He began DJing after experimenting with a friend's equipment. In a 2010 interview with ''Parlé Magazine'', he stated: "I kinda reached this point where I was like 'I really wanna do music. Let me try and concentrate and do music as well'." He directed on the '' American Gangster'' television series, as well as the

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

''Ghostride the Whip''. Lyubovny later launched VladTV.com and initially uploaded

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

files of DJ

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

s. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and released the ''Rap Phenomenon'' mixtape series. He was also making hip hop DVDs, but was financially struggling as DVD sales began to decline. In 2008, Lyubovny turned his attention towards

, which had recently launched its Partner Program which allows content creators to earn money. Lyubovny then decided to drop all other endeavours and focus on YouTube full-time. In August 2008, Lyubovny was assaulted by rapper

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Diddy's Bad ...

's entourage after he covered a story on the rapper's former career as a

corrections officer A prison officer or corrections officer is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation of prisoners. They are responsible for the care, custody, and control of individuals who have been ...

. Lyubovny filed a $4 million lawsuit. On April 15, 2010, a New York Federal Jury awarded Lyubovny $300,000 in his civil suit, finding Ross liable for setting Lyubovny up for the attack at the 2008 Ozone Awards in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. In April 2009, the ''Star & Buc Wild'' show joined the VladTV family to do a daily feature. In May 2010, Lyubovny voiced himself for a cameo in ''

The Boondocks Boondocks are remote, usually brushy areas. Boondocks may also refer to: * The Boondocks (band), an Estonian rock band * ''The Boondocks'' (comic strip), a comic strip by Aaron McGruder ** ''The Boondocks'' (2005 TV series), the television ser ...

'' episode "Bitches to Rags". In December 2016, Lyubovny interviewed

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single " Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peak ...

, who explained events surrounding a home invasion and shooting in 2008. The interview went viral, with many questioning the validity of Soulja Boy's claims. Numerous people parodied Soulja Boy's interview online, including rapper

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American media personality and former rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper with his 2003 top 40 single " Pump It Up" and as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. In ...

, and comedians Mike Epps and DC Young Fly, in what was ironically dubbed the "Soulja Boy Challenge".

Personal life

In September 2022 Lyubovny revealed he suffers from

obsessive compulsive disorder Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Fixation (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Idée fixe (psychology), a pr ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vlad, Dj 1973 births Living people Ukrainian people of Jewish descent American hip hop musicians American hip hop DJs Jewish Ukrainian musicians Jewish American musicians Ukrainian Jews Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Soviet emigrants to the United States American YouTubers Ukrainian YouTubers Musicians from Kyiv UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni 21st-century American Jews