88-KEYS (continued): Like oh, he’s talking about me, so I’m splitting. One shouldn’t break up with someone they’re about to have a family with on some high school shit. So you sit there and tough it out, and try to raise a family and stay as a family, if possible. My album deals with all of that stuff. Like you said, it deals with STDs, and I’m trying to bring back chivalry. You know, referring to women as “bitches” and “hoes” and just being blatantly disrespectful with the whole locker room talk, I’m trying to flip the script and be like, “these are our women.” You came from your mother. Would you appreciate it if someone called your mother all these words or treated your mother like that? The album, it puts all that stuff on blast, but as a juxtaposition. So like the song “M.I.L.F.” is about having a baby with someone you’re no longer in love with, and without giving too much away, that’s the death of Adam.
URB: I like that about the album, too. On the surface, it’s like a sitcom, but once you get into it, it’s more like a movie. Would you say that’s accurate?
88-KEYS: Yeah, definitely. I wanted to give this album longevity, and, at the same time, each song can stand alone on it’s own because the only time Adam, the character, is mentioned is on the last song. Other than that, he’s not mentioned anywhere, besides the segues in the album and stuff like that. And the single versions of all of my songs, they don’t have the segue part attached. So people can absorb it, and take it for what it is: a dope song with a message, without me being too preachy about it.
URB: Right. I saw the show in New York, and you ran threw a bunch of the older joints you produced like for Black Star and Mos Def. It seemed like that stuff, at least at that show, was kind of hit-or-miss. Some people would love it and vibe to it and learn that you were the guy that produced some of that stuff, and at the same time there were 16-year-olds who’d be like, Who’s Black Star?
88-KEYS: Yeah, exactly.
URB: Would you say that you’re trying to school this new generation of hip-hop fans that guys like Asher Roth and Kid Cudi are bringing into it?
88-KEYS: Um, yeah. I’d say so. Or at least let them know that there’s a whole other side of hip-hop that they missed out on and that I think they would enjoy. I guess I’m trying to bridge the gap, more so than being like, [in old man voice] Man, when I was your age we had real hip-hop acts, you know? Like Soulja Boy, as much as a person my age who grew up on hip-hop would like to say he’s not hip-hop, or the New Boyz aren’t hip-hop, they are hip-hop artists. They’re rapping. They’re rapping and they’re selling. The fans are out there supporting them. It all boils down to the support, so yeah, I’m just trying to bridge the gap and let them know that once upon a time there was this awesome group called A Tribe Called Quest, who, because of them, spawned a Kid Cudi and an 88-Keys and a Kanye West. We all admit that, wear the band on our shoulders and admit that proudly. So I’m just trying to bridge the gap and let them know there’s other stuff out there.
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