How mad would it actually be to do an 'Avatar' type animation film, but about something mundane like a Winn-Dixie cashier's day at work? That'd be something else, I think.
Every time I want to impress someone about samples and hip-hop, I play 'Portrait of Tracy.' It's one of the greatest bass players ever doing a whole composition with only the two harmonics of electric bass; then a three-second loop in it became every great R&B song in five-year intervals.
Money, for me, is just to create bigger and better things. A lot of guys in the deejaying world flaunt it, but I don't see any use in that. I don't need anything. I live in hotels. Most of my clothes I get for free. I like to invest in ideas. In people.
I put out this record on Ninja Tune called 'Florida' when I was about 22. And at the same time, I was DJ'ing and beginning to mix stuff up and promote shows in Philadelphia and New York and my own parties and make mixtapes, put out bootleg white labels.
I've been in jail a couple times. I've been caught shoplifting.
I grew up in Florida in different cities. I was born in Mississippi. My parents moved a lot, so I moved to Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, all through the South. But my family's roots were from central Florida, like Daytona Beach area, so we ended up moving there.
My first production job after M.I.A. was actually the xx, but they didn't like what I did, and at the end of the day, we used their demos.
All I know is don't ever get into a feud with Taylor Swift. She has, like, 50 million people that will die for her. You can't step into that arena.
In Philly, there are a lot of social programs. If you have a degree, you can go and apply. I was basically a social worker, but I became sort of a sub teacher in a special program, helping kids with reading or math. But we would also do plays, learn about music... We were doing lots of fun stuff, but that was such hard work.
It's funny - some producers ask me, 'Man, how do you work on a Bieber record? That would kill my career.' I can work on any record there is as long as they are good records and you're pushing things forward.
Man, I don't got any real fans. Just fair-weather ones and groupies.
Dance music is so interchangeable. There's not a lot of face to it. It's a bunch of Dutch DJs with the same haircut.
I was making crappy beats since I was, like, 17 or 18, using Florida rappers, where I'm from. Then I started DJ'ing because I just wanted to have a new job.
When I first started producing, all I had was this little crappy sampler called a S20, which had, like, a minute sample time. I was making crappy beats since I was, like, 17 or 18, using Florida rappers, where I'm from. Then I started DJ'ing because I just wanted to have a new job. I was a schoolteacher for a while, and it was the worst job.
Classic rock, psychedelic rock - I like to dig up old music and see what I can get influenced by.
I was playing hip-hop when everybody else was playing the giant rave music.
I've probably got the most eclectic social media there is because it literally goes from hanging out with my son at a park, to, like, Madonna's house, to a rave in Africa.
I was a schoolteacher for a while, and it was the worst job.
I was never good at scratching, but I was good at collecting old records. Florida was a great place for that, because it's where people go to die.
I think Usher is a bonafide superstar because he's very honest in his songs, and people can relate to that, especially in the feelings and textures of his voice. He is one of the best.
