| Q1 : How did you get your alias/rap name? |
| About 15 years ago Q-Tip (my
hero) brought the Large Professor over to my friend's house where I was making beats on the Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard. Large Pro' walked in freestyling to my beat & called me '88-Keys on the grand pian'. So I figured I'd use that name if I ever got into the business professionally... True story. Pretty ill huh? Yeah, I'm one lucky son-of-a... |
| Q2 : What year did you first get into hip hop? |
| 19... EIGHTY-EIGHT. Again, no lie. Big Daddy Kane - Long Live The Kane. |
| Q3 : Who have been the major influences on your career to date and
how? (musical or other) |
| Q-Tip because he's such a dope artist all the way around. He & A Tribe Called Quest opened me up musically & showed me that going left was alRIGHT. Get it: left/right? A clever play of words on my part wouldn't you say? I have tons of influences though. Everybody from James Brown to Hall & Oates to Mr. Porter & Kid Cudi; Paul McCartney to the late great Jay Dilla. Too many influences to list really. |
| Q4 : If you could perform or record with anyone dead or alive - who
would it be and why? |
| The late great Jay Dilla -r.i.p. because he was the total package. I'd also like to record with Michael MacDonald. I love his voice & once I saw the Steely Dan break down of their song "Peg" from the Aja album on video, I was convinced that Michael MacDonald is one of the best vocalists out there... Next to Bilal of course. |
| Q5 : What countries and cities have you most enjoyed performing in?
Any interesting stories to tell? |
| Haven't performed outside of the United States (yet) but NY has always been a great turn out & live for me so far. But I'm still on my first performance run right now so we'll see how these other remaining nine cities treat me. Tons of interesting stories. So far, the best one's been our tour bus generator repeatedly break down. *frowns* |
| Q6 : Across your career to date, what highlights will you hold onto
till you die? |
| Meeting Q-Tip for the first time, stumping Jay Dilla on a sample I chop'd up which he previously used, getting praise/kudos from Jaÿ-Z, performing my song "Stay Up! (Viagra)" with Kanye West, the entire process of me making my first upcoming debut lp The Death of Adam. |
| Q7 : Vinyl and analog have played such a massive part of the
development of hip hop, how do you feel about the shift to digital? |
| I don't really have an opinion on this because I pretty much stick to the stuff I've grown to using. I don't have Reason, Logic or ProTools or any software to make beats. Just my trusty MPC 3000 ("Raw Dog") which I've had for about 15 years now & my vinyl collection. |
| Q8 : What advice do you have for young, aspiring artists
(MCs/DJs/Producers)? |
| Master your equipment & don't give up IF you've been told you're on the right path or have some talent. |
| Q9 : What one thing in your career you would most want to be
remembered for? |
| Bringing fine quality music to the forefront of the entertainment industry. Spearheading it on my own terms like Kanye West. |
| Q10 : What other activities do you enjoy doing when you're not making
music, rehearsing or performing? |
| Hanging out with my wife Krista &
daughters: Chloë Yoshe & Luca Delaney, buying Polo Ralph Lauren clothing & watching South Park. |
| Q11 : Why hip hop? |
| Shit... Why not?
88-Keys - The Death of Adam
"Y'See What P*ssy Does To People?" |
