Feels like you’ve really brought a sense of purpose to every set since you realized the reach you have: pushing voter registration with Michelle Obama, dedicating a set to healthcare workers… is this a movement?
Absolutely. And that’s the goal…well, the goal is twofold. I want you to have fun but I also want you to be responsible. So for every Club Quarantine set where I’m rocking for myself and playing old school, yes I also want to do a couch [chat] with Michelle Obama or dedicate a date to healthcare workers. I want to make sure that I do my part to uplift people.
That seems very much in line with what the Obamas’ mission was all about. How do you feel about being in a chat room with competing candidates, or with people like Mark Zuckerberg, who’s been playing the other side of the fence?
I don’t typically think about whatever political agenda is going on, unless I initially go into [with a specific goal]. When I start a set I’m not thinking, alright I’m gonna switch it up and throw on some crazy Public Enemy record like “By The Time I Get To Arizona”—because it’s entertainment. People are already frustrated, I’m trying to uplift their spirits. But you can balance that… if i were doing just a set like that just alone, it probably wouldn’t feel good. But if I’m doing a set like that and Michelle Obama is in there, you kind of get the best of both worlds. Like you’re fascinated that she’s in there, but now you’re also being educated through music.
Edutainment, if you will. It’s almost like all the elements of what you’re doing now were there from a very young age. You worked with Public Enemy when you produced “Self-Destruction” back when you were a teenager. Does this feel like a full circle moment?
I wouldn’t say full circle, because I’ve always just been this way. I have this side that deals with love. But I grew up living on my own, since I was 17 years old. There was always a side of me that was paying attention to what was going on in the world but I also found the beauty in things, I found the love in things. Really I was initially trying to inspire my generation of hip-hoppers that may not have realized that there are other things that you can do.
I can’t help but wonder if some of the things that you went through pretty early in life—like losing your mentor [DJ Scott La Rock] at such a young age—cause you to approach things differently, especially DJing?
Yeah, losing Scott changed my life. I was very young when that happened. Losing Scott, losing my [other] best friend to suicide, it made me appreciate life and how precious it is. Everything I do has to have some sort of meaning to it. I want a life that’s inspirational. That’s just how I approach it. It must have meaning to it.
So with all this spotlight on you now, what’s the longer-term plan?
You know, I don’t really have a plan. The way things have happened recently? Like, you could have a five year plan and have a sense of what the steps are for you to get there but…all of that is done. I literally have to reduce that five year plan into a one year plan because all of the opportunities are here now.
I don’t quite know how to approach this, to be honest with you. Because I’ve never experienced this. I’ve never seen where it’s happened for anyone. I’m DJing at home and touching the world at a time when we all need a little bit of inspiration. When you look at my long sets? It’s because, man. If I have to stand up a little longer to keep smiles on someone’s face, then I’m going to do it. We’re going through a crazy time. If all it takes for me to do is play some music for you to feel good? I’m cool with that.
OK, forget long term. What does tomorrow look like?
Tomorrow I have a conference call with the mayor of Los Angeles. But really, tomorrow’s my day off to sit back and just process. I’ve been going non-stop. Go to sleep, wake up, eat. Then back to playing music, or doing an interview. Which isn’t a bad thing, it’s great that people really do appreciate what happened but I haven’t had a chance to sit back and process how much that… that changed my life.
Imagine this: I went to bed last Friday night. I woke up and I had 220,000 IG followers. By the time I woke up the next morning, I was nearly at a million. Just like that. You just never know how you may touch someone. And you never know how your life can be changed, in a moment—good or bad.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
