How 88-Keys Went From Crate-Digging To Working With Mac Miller & Kanye West And Collecting Polo Gear

In this episode of "The Masters" -- created and hosted by UPROXX Style editor Eli Morgan Gesner -- we meet 88-Keys, a historic name in hip-hop and streetwear. Watch as 88-Keys explains the origins of his name and rise to fame, tells the story of his first meeting with Kanye West, and unpacks his famous decades-long obsession with Polo by Ralph Lauren.

This wide-ranging interview is essential viewing for anyone who wants to better understand the intersection of hip-hop, streetwear, and NYC in the late 90s. Check it out, comment, and subscribe!

Get the Audio Podcasts:

Apple -- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Spotify -- https://open.spotify.com/show/3oov3T8...

Episode Timing:

1:00 -- On the early days of hip-hop and not connecting with the music until Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul

2:48 -- How hearing "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" by Roy Ayers Ubiquity late one Sunday night on KISS FM sent 88-Keys on his first crate-digging expedition

5:38 -- On working for John Carrero at age 14 to clean records, and how that turned into 88-Keys becoming the ear

6:54 -- Stories of meeting Q-Tip and Pete Rock through his crate-digging side job and learning to make beats and selling them

9:02 -- How 88-Keys got his name from The Large Professor

10:19 -- 88-Keys on how he met Kanye West, how their relationship evolved into hanging out five times a week, and culminated in the "Viagra" video

13:22 -- On 88-Keys' Polo Ralph Lauren collection and obsession -- how it started, what it means, and how it inspires his music

16:50 -- On making the "That's Life" single with Mac Miller, the meaning of the song, and his relationship with Mac

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