The scene is Brixton market, just across the road from Morley’s and in front of Iceland. The number 322 bus pulls to a stop and is promptly overtaken by a girl on a Lime bike hopping the curb. There’s a familiar South London thrum as shoppers bustle in all directions, and at the centre of it all is DJ AG Online, spinning grime instrumentals on his trusty Pioneer decks.

Beside him is an MC by the name of Inspekta Veg, who has seized the moment to rap about the terrors of processed food. “Birdseye mums, raising Birdseye daughters and Birdseye sons / You don’t eat fish without breadcrumbs,” he spits at the growing crowd. It’s one of the most authentic portrayals of London that one can come across, an outright Renaissance painting of beauty and chaos rolled into one – and at its core is a profoundly democratic platform for the city’s melting pot of talent.

“Inspekta Veg has been doing grime for years,” 39-year-old DJ AG tells me over video call. “I remember going back on his Instagram and seeing him do DVD stuff with [Boy Better Know co-founder] Jammer years ago. For whatever reason, he never really got that push, so, for him to turn up randomly and get three million views across the socials – that’s what we should be doing, right? No gatekeeping. No paying for anything. Just pull up and let’s see what we can do.”

It’s an admirable message from the man who has cemented himself, in London at least, as somewhat of a DJ for the people. Self-identifying as an ‘open format DJ’, AG has created what is essentially a portable pirate radio station, travelling to iconic locations around London and offering members of the public the chance to flex their skills on the microphone. It’s a heartwarming formula that has gained viral notoriety over the last couple of weeks, aided by spontaneous performances from the likes of Skepta, JME, Lethal Bizzle, Chip, Krept & Konan, and more, but is rooted in values that DJ AG has been raised on since childhood.

“I have a large family and everyone was always listening to music, community has always been at the centre of my life,” DJ AG recalls. “I was about 13 when my mum bought me a CD player. I used to save my pocket money every week by walking instead of catching the bus and would use that to buy CDs. We used to live on the fourth floor and I would open the window, put the speakers outside and just play music.” DJ AG then spent his teenage years as an MC himself before returning to DJ at clubs and parties in 2011, but it wasn’t until last year that he took his craft to the streets of London.

Then working at a FTSE 250 sales company and becoming increasingly disillusioned with corporate life, he began experimenting with the viral formula during his spare time. “I was doing TikTok and work side-by-side because I wanted to prove the concept,” DJ AG explains, “I would wake up and stream, then do my working hours. Lunchtime: stream, then do my working hours. Finish: get back on TikTok. I did that for three months until I could prove that it worked. Eventually, work got a whiff of what I was doing and they weren’t happy with it, so we made the decision to go our separate ways.” 

In the meantime, DJ AG had accrued enough followers to dive into the project full-time, but it hasn’t strictly been smooth sailing since then. “When I first started the walking DJ thing, I had people throw water at me, had kids throwing eggs at the equipment,” he recalls, “Those moments made me question whether people would understand what I was doing, but I’m not a quitter.”

“As a DJ, I’m never going to be the most technical and that doesn’t really interest me. It’s about showcasing talent and seeing what we can do to help people”

– DJ AG Online

Now, with a larger audience than ever, and co-signs from some of the UK’s biggest home-grown talents, DJ AG is poised to take his platform to the next level, but it is supporting the community around him that remains at the forefront of his mission. “As a DJ, I’m never going to be the most technical and that doesn’t really interest me,” he says. “It’s not about me, it’s more about the platform. I’m here to support and get the best out of you. There’ll be a time and a place for me to do a club event and show my mixing skills but, for me right now, it’s about showcasing talent and seeing what we can do to help people. Hopefully, some of the ANRs and labels will pick some of these people up and give them a push.”

Follow @djagonline on all socials to find out where he will be performing next.