Bet on Blak: Gang Green's Official Brooklyn-born Deejay

An in-depth look at the man behind the music at Jets' games and practices

Author:
Amanda Shinn
Updated:
Aug 13, 2023 9:11 AM EDT
Original:
Aug 13, 2023

In this story:

DJ Jon Blak hasn't been afraid to bet on himself.

The New York Jets' official team disc jockey has high expectations and goals for himself as the official DJ of an NFL organization.

"I want to win every home game no matter what," said Blak, whose legal name is Jonathan Sinclair. "I want to go undefeated at home and be part of the success so whatever little piece of music gets the crowd going and gets the players going, that's what I'm with."

The Brooklyn native assumed his post with Gang Green back in 2017 and has been building an empire ever since. Sinclair has formulated his own powerhouse group of hand-picked deejays that includes DJ Big Boy, DJ Mal and DJ Andre Oswald, who all operate under the Cure8 Events umbrella. Any mix of them can be seen any given day spinning beats at training camp and team-affiliated events.

Sinclair got his start with the Jets by way of an interview in a DJ-competition style against five other candidates and kept advancing through each round until he was ultimately the top pick. The Jets were ahead of the curve by bringing a resident DJ into the stadium setting. Establishing himself in a formative role, Sinclair hit the ground running and even hired on one of the deejays he beat out for the head job.

"I'm humbled by everything," said Sinclair. "I am a DJ first. I will always be a DJ and I am never going to stop being a DJ but the craft and business can be fleeting. I don't know if I'm going to be here 20-30 years from now, but I would like to leave a legacy. I want to do good business and make crowds go wild. [I want to] make sure that when you're mentioning Jon Blak, mentioning DJ Poun, DJ Big Boy, DJ Mal and those alike associated with me, you know we are going to bring it."

Prior to taking up residency with the Jets, Sinclair followed the path of the deejay that he and his friends used to hire for frat parties when he attended Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison).

"He was from Jersey; his brother was a big producer and he kept progressing," said Sinclair. "Within a year, he went from our college parties to DJing the 40/40 club, owned by Jay-Z, so I was diligent and spent three years at the 40/40 club learning from him before I even touched the turntables. The 40/40 club then expanded from New York to Atlantic City and Vegas and that is when he solidified his residency there."

Two big-time residencies with the 40/40 and the Jets back-to-back means Sinclair's learn-first approach is paying off.

He has already had a number of memorable moments that will stick with Sinclair long after his career is complete.

"I'll never forget playing 40/40 with DJ Poun in Vegas," said Sinclair. "We were playing 'Blow the Whistle' and Vegas is a big area for Bay Area people and like everyone was going crazy. So much so, that Jay-Z was at the venue in his stadium seating signaling to us to bring the song back, bring it back. So, that was crazy, we kept just replaying it. Then a couple weeks later he hopped on it, he hopped on the instrumental with a freestyle live so that was cool."

His most-memorable moments, however, have come while working for the Jets. He experienced his first viral moment his first year working for the team when he played a Lil Uzi Vert song during a TV commercial break. The whole defense went bananas and the national broadcast returned and captured it.

"To me, that like ushered in hip hop being played in stadiums and the fact that I was getting a reaction from players, that was like 'okay I could do this,'" said Sinclair.

Fast forward to the pandemic; Sinclair was considered an essential part to the team during that period, so he had returned to the stadium with the teams when they were not opening the stadiums to fans. It wasn't the same vibe though.

"It was a hollow feeling playing for an empty stadium," said Sinclair. "I cried in 2021 at our first home game in the booth when fans returned. I was like 'I really missed the fans.'"

Sinclair, a long-time Jets' fan, also reminisced of times prior to his arrival when Rex Ryan was at the helm. In particular, there was a pivotal win over the Chargers in 2010 that solidified his love for the team.

He mentioned some of his favorite Jets of all-time to be Shonn Green, Chris Streveler, Quincy Williams, Michael Carter and even gave 1980s star receiver Al Toon a shoutout. Although a fan first, Sinclair knew when he was hired, it was all business. He prioritizes Jets over everything and won't even schedule weddings or other residency availability until the Jets schedule comes out each year.

Organizations league wide have been recognizing and investing in the role that produces and enhances the stadium vibe. His role is to perform not only training camp and pregame at Jet home games, but he is also responsible for all the music that gets played within the bowl at MetLife Stadium. Many times, he is syncing up with Jets promotional videos that run on the jumbotron. He also spins at any break in the game; stingers in between plays, timeouts, quarter breaks and halftime.

"Playing training camp is much different. It's all about the players and the crowd is secondary," said Sinclair. "My go-to genre is always going to be Hip Hop, but it all depends on the setting. I love stadium anthems and sing-alongs — don't tell nobody."

"You know the songs that hit. The hardest part is trying not to duplicate the sets every time," said Sinclair.

As he learned more about training camp, his repertoire has evolved over the years. He will play what the players really want to hear during their stretch and full team warmups, but then will pivot and play more for the fans during team periods.

"The younger guys will request newer songs, but when I go into my bag and pull out my music it will turn the coaches up so it's a balance playing for everybody," said Sinclair.

Gameday is more about the crowd though.

"I have a script for gameday, shout out to Jack Holmgren. Sometimes we have to throw the whole script out the window," said Sinclair who must be mindful of the flow of the game. "So, I tackle each element piece by piece. Live entertainment is a whole different animal. I can't play 'Welcome to the Jungle' when there is an injury, a flag is thrown or a play didn't go our way."

When the music and fans are loud, it makes it more difficult for the opponents to hear and think which can have great effect on the outcome of major plays. Fans sometimes don't realize just how much they can positively impact product on the field, especially with Sinclair's help.

"The most important time where the music plays a major role in-game is when defense is on the field, and especially third down," said Sinclair. "That is where you have home-field advantage, you want to disrupt the opposing offense, anything you can do. That's when I can rally the fans to make the biggest impact."

"We have the best fans in the world, we have the best fans," said Sinclair. "They travel, too. I have gotten to know the fans, shout out to the Gotham City Crew, shout out to Jetman and of course Fireman Ed."

Together, they all have the same goal — to help their favorite NFL team onto victory.