URB: Do you stick to hip-hop or branch out during your sets?
88-KEYS: I play everything. As long as the crowd is with me, I’ll play alternative rock music. I’ll play some electronica. I try to ease people in to different genres by not going straight from like a reggae song into an electronica song, unless there’s a reggae artist that did something that sounds like electronica, then I’ll try and ease into it that way. But if all else fails, I’ll just throw it on when I feel like it, ‘cause I’m like, Fuck ya’ll! I’m having fun! [Laughs] I found out the DJ faux-pas, I don’t read the crowd, I don’t gauge the crowd, I don’t play for the crowd. Basically, I’m just playing songs for myself because these are songs that I always wanted to hear at maximum volume at the club, coming out of club speakers. I play songs for myself and just hope that people are open enough to enjoy it, instead of those girls who are sipping on their drinks like, Oh, we wanna hear some Ne-Yo! I’ll play Ne-Yo if I happen to like some of his singles. But I’m not playing the Ne-Yo songs that I don’t feel just because you know it.
URB: What do you prefer: spinning records or performing your own material?
88-KEYS: Um, that’s a good question. I don’t think I have a preference because I have so much fun doing both. If I had to pick and choose, maybe spinning records, only because I’ve heard my stuff so many times, so yeah.
URB: When you hit the road, are you able to make new music, or does that get put on hold for that time period?
88-KEYS: Well, actually when I hop back on tour with the Great Hangover Tour, Asher has a studio on his bus. I still haven’t seen it yet, but I hear it’s fully capable of recording and all that stuff. So I told him I’m gonna bring Raw Dog out with me, which is my MPC-3000 that I’ve had since I was like 16 years old, so yeah, we might hear an Asher Roth/88-Keys song. Me producing or me producing and hopping on it, we’ll see. We shall see.
URB: So what are you currently working on? Any plans on bringing back Adam for a sequel?
88-KEYS: Uh, yeah, Adam is definitely dead and buried. There will be no more. Other than the singles that I plan on releasing for this album, the next album will be completely different. I actually just got, a couple of weeks ago I was working out in Santa Monica, I got an idea for another album concept. It’s still just at its embryonic stages right now, but I just gotta figure out how to approach this subject matter and how I’m gonna do it, but it might be a whopper.
URB: Alright, I’ll let you keep that cat in the bag for now–I won’t squeeze that info out of you. Your old influences are really clear, you know Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, but are there any new people that are influencing the music that you’re making these days?
88-KEYS: Oh, absolutely. Kid Cudi, his use of melodies and stuff like that. Asher, he’s really lyrical. He’s dope. The Morning Benders which is this alternative rock band, they’re like my favorite band. They’re really musical. Ra Ra Riot, another band that I love. Yeah outside of me being influenced by the old records that I’m buying, especially lately I feel like I’ve caught the Holy Spirit with my new ears and the records and samples I’m finding. Other than that, it’s just a few people who inspire to do what I’m gonna do next, and inspire my level of creativity. Kanye. Consequence. Just real dope artists.
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