Kareem Chadly sat in a dimly lit studio in San Francisco on a Sunday morning. A stream of sunlight showed through a small window in the rear of the room. Chadly sat with his back to the window, in rotating office chair– swiveling from soundboard to keyboard, and then back to the soundboard. Multitasking is something he has seemingly mastered.

He stopped momentarily to check his laptop: MediaTakeout.com was the page on his browser. And then he answered the phone: “Caller number One-Oh- Three… Caller One-Oh-Four… Caller One-Oh-Five… Call back!”  He was in the middle of giving away some last minute tickets to KMEL’s Summer Jam Concert 2013, which was set to start in less than twelve hours.

As a song came to an end, he reminded the audience about the concert. “Hope you’ve got your weave tight for tonight,” said Chadly, whose on-air title is “Radio Reem”… And then back to the soundboard to slide a knob, and then to the desktop computer for two clicks, back to the soundboard…

Chadly has been hosting shows on KMEL for 2 years, now. He says it wasn’t exactly a dream of his to be a radio personality on one of the most popular stations in a top five market in America.

He just wanted a job.

“What time are you giving away summer jam tickets?” said a woman’s voice over the studio monitors. And then it repeated: “What time… what.. Wha,” Chadly was editing recordings of callers, as he simultaneously played songs and answered my interview questions.

When asked where he worked in high school, Chadly laughed and responded: “Where didn’t I work?”  He began to recite his work history: “Sizzlers, Sea Breeze Deli over in Berkeley,” he said as he pointed in the general direction of the East Bay. “I worked in a Christmas Tree lot, and when it turned into a pumpkin patch, I worked there too!” he said with another laugh.

He even found time to work at two public pools and take classes on media production at a youth center by the name of “Youth Radio”.

Chadly is truly a Bay Area native. He spent the majority of his adolescent years with his mother in Albany. He lived in the Fillmore with his father for a short period. He graduated from La Cheim continuation school in Richmond.

After celebrating his 32^nd birthday on Friday June 5^th, Chadly said that he isn’t where he wants to be. But in the same breath, he acknowledges how far he has come.  When he’s not hosting parties in places like downtown Oakland and San Jose, or cracking jokes over the airwaves, Chadly spends his time raising his son– Elijah.

Elijah was born when Chadley was 20. Chadly, who specialized in working odd-jobs, found that shifts at places such as JC Penny’s and Safeway would no longer pay the bills. Chadly says it was a good friend, “you know one of those friends you’ve known for so long you call them your cousin,” who told him about the Air Force.

Chadly went to the recruitment office one day, took a tour of the Travis Air Force Base the next, and then landed in boot camp before he knew it. But Chadly says that the “cousin” who initially told him about the Air Force reneged.  “On a not so funny note,” Chadly said, as he got out of his swivel chair. Tall, lanky and wearing a sweat suit, Chadly pounded his right fist into his left palm and said, “Not too long after I left for boot camp, that same cousin got arrested.”

Chadly broke from telling his war stories, leaned toward the microphone and reminded his audience about Summer Jam, “2 Chainz will be there. Kendrick Lamar will be there. Will you be there? I’m looking for caller number 106!”

Chadly says that he went on to spend his time in the Air Force between Texas and New Mexico. He took firefighting classes and medical classes. He experienced the perks of being in the armed forces, such as monetary rewards; which provided him the opportunity to better support his son and wife, at the time.

He also experienced the downside that comes along with being in the armed forces, such as being away from his family and being subject to combat.  Chadly says he remembers the call that went through the base on September 11^th, 2001: “All active duty had to go to the gym to be deployed”. He continued, “I remember feeling so defeated. It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I can go to East Oakland and get shot at!”

Chadly, who had entered into armed forces for his family, was not only facing being deployed, but also facing a custody battle back in the Bay.  Chadly was soon dismissed from the Air Force with an Honorable Discharge.  He returned to being a civilian. He also returned to the odd-jobs.

After a short stint working in Virginia at a media production company, Chadly returned to the Bay; and to his son. Chadly says that the first job he got upon his return was driving a bread truck, “I used to get up at 3AM and bike to North Berkeley.”

It was during this time he fell in love with radio production.  “I was driving the bread truck down University in Berkeley, and I saw Youth Radio,” said Chadly.  “I had some extra loaves, so I stopped and dropped some off.”

He says he signed up to take classes and learn how to produce beats. He started a production label and worked with young artists such as 1-O.A.K. and IamSu. He landed a job as an instructor at Youth Radio, and then worked his way up to a marketing position.

“I’m caller 106?! Are you playing!?” exclaimed another young lady’s voice over the studio monitors. “I skipped recess as a kid, I don’t play no games, girl!” Radio Reem retorted.  He edited the call, and then went back to his story; saying that the production label eventually went under. But his passion for radio wasn’t going anywhere.

Chadly says that taking young people on tours of the KMEL studio for Youth Radio is what allowed him to meet managers at the station. He began with volunteering and working the street team, and then he worked his way up from there.

And now, on Sunday’s from 10am-1pm you can catch Radio Reem on the Bay Area’s top Hip-Hop Station, 106.1 KMEL. In a small studio in San Francisco, not too far from where his cousin is locked up in a half-way house due to a drug case.

Given all of his experiences, he believes that life is simply about choices. He says, “the list of things you are willing to do needs to be longer than the list of things you aren’t willing to do.”

And that’s how he defines work ethic.

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