Let’s hear it for the boys

MANILA, Philippines - Since 2007, DJs Tony Toni, Slick Rick and Sam YG have been starting trends and dishing out the questions through their nightly radio program Boys Night Out (BNO). Sometimes naughty but often nice, the three have one goal for the program: To give their listeners some positive vibes to end their day.

Now, we turn the tables on the boys as they take us back into their humble beginnings, share some of their most kept secrets and the one thing that keeps them happy, besides women — their Devant TV.

Longtime friends Slick and Tony knew each other since 2001. “I used to listen to Tony when I was in college, and he was still doing a morning show then. When I started out at Magic, we immediately hit it off and began hanging out. We had the same humor since he’s from Canada. I’d do the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. shift and he’d do the next one from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, but I’d wait for him almost everyday, and we’d hang out in the mall. Tony knew Sam YG, and when BNO needed a third guy, we knew Sam would be the perfect fit.”

What was their common interest that brought them together?

“The Spa!” Sam YG shouted. Perhaps the most comical of the three, the DJ-turned-celebrity host said they used to try all the newly-opened spa centers in the city. “There was a time when Tony actually became a ‘spaholic’ and every night after our show, he’d go straight to the spa, that explains why he is so calm and relaxed all the time, although we’d joke that he appears more tired than rejuvenated on some days,” he adds laughing.

When it comes to girls, however, they have different preferences. Tony says, “I think I have the lowest standards because Slick prefers the artista or model type while Sam would only go out with foreigners and celebrities!”

If they could go back in time, what would they want to revisit?

“I’d choose the time when I used to listen to Tony Toni during my elementary days (laughs). My mom used to bring me to school, and DJ Tony was already playing the songs of Snoop Dogg at 6 a.m. — unedited! That, I think, is what started it all for me — and now I am working with a true legend (teasing Tony). Imagine it’s like playing with Michael Jordan!” teases Sam YG.

Slick Rick, however, tends to be more nostalgic preferring to revisit the time when they started Boys Night Out; “The first few months when Sam joined us, the whole ‘gelling’ and bonding moments. Up to now we’ve kept some of those habits like the preparations we do for the next day, how we thought of the show’s different segments. It would be nice to go back and see how we reinvented ourselves.”

“Just like Slick, it’s more about going back and improving on what we used to do,” says DJ Tony. “It would be fun to go back to the time when we were doing the TV show. With all our experiences now, I think we could have done a lot more, especially when it came to creating something viral for the Internet. Or at least saved some of those behind the scene footage which we could have used today.”

Sam’s Top Three favorite songs are Can’t Hold Us by Macklemore; Nice & Slow by Usher; and Gravity by John Mayer. For Slick Rick, it’s Big Pimpin, Body Bumpin and To Live & Die in LA, while Tony Toni’s choices are quite diverse with Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg’s Nothing But a G thing; Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough and Frank Sinatra’s That’s All.

And for the three songs that best describe their personality; Sam chose Englishman in New York; Young Wild and Free for Tony and Changes for Slick Rick.

The three also love watching movies; “I always need to have munchies, and notice a lot of things more than just the story (writing, production, lighting, etc.). Also, I forget to breathe during exciting scenes,” admits Sam. Jerry Maguire best describes his life but his favorite movie is Love and other Drugs.

Tony confesses to finishing the popcorn even before the movie starts and sometimes falling asleep during his DVD marathons. He loves the movie Old School; “No matter how old we get we always wanna act like we are still in college.” He mentions Crazy Stupid Love or No Strings Attached as the movie of his life. Tony also shares that if he could be a movie character, he’d be Ryan Gosling’s character in Crazy Stupid Love; “because he can charm and get any girl he wants but in the end, he falls in love and is loyal — just like me.”

There are three rules when watching a movie with Slick Rick: “Be quiet. Eat popcorn. Don’t talk to me.” A fan of the Godfather, he wants to be James Bond; “because let’s admit it, who wouldn’t want to be a spy?” And for the movie that best suits his life: One More Chance.

If your life were a movie, what would its title be?

Sam says his would be; Nindian: The Adventures of an Indian Ninja. Tony’s would be How to be a Bachelor, while Slick says his life’s movie would most likely be named, Up.

Slick Rick’s other passion is playing video games, “There’s always a lot of good games coming out, and after a hard night of partying, I retreat to my headquarters — my pimped-out gaming room.” His room is equipped with booming speakers, the latest consoles and the comfiest couch built especially for the gamer, and at the middle of it all is the monolithic 50-inch Devant LedTech TV. “The visuals come alive and the game becomes more immersing and fun to play when you’ve got the right TV like Devant.”

Because of the fun nature of their show, people have this misconception that DJs Toni, Slick and Sam are just boys who refuse to grow up, but because of their passion for their craft, creativity and desire for innovation, they have created a buzz — much like Devant — putting them front and center of every conversation — keeping everyone talking and anticipating their next show.