Rather Unique: Eight Things You Should Know About 88-KeysPeep AllHipHop’s Exclusive Debut of 88-Key’s video for “True Feelings”Given his eclectic moniker by none other than celebrated beatsmith Large Professor, 88-Keys is soon to be mentioned in the same sentence as some of his own musical idols. Stealthily working behind the boards over the years with high-profile artists such as Mos Def, Macy Gray and Beanie Siegal, the humble producer is now set to establish himself as an artist. Keys’ just released (Nov. 11) debut The Death of Adam, is a narrative ode to the trials and tribulations of the opposite sex. Fresh off the heels of his Adam’s Case Files summer mix-tape, Keys’ grind is a true testament to the proverb, “The last shall be first.”1. Most Known Unknown: Better known for his work with Black Star and soul singer Musiq, 88-Keys has also blessed rappers Scarface, J-Live, The Pharcyde, Grafh, Consequence, Foxy Brown and Joe Budden with tracks.88-Keys Death of Adam EPK2. Politickin’: Best bud Kanye West exec-produced The Death of Adam which features Redman, Bilal and Phonte of Little Brother.  Ever so diverse, his assorted industry pals include Freeway, Q-Tip, David Banner and Mobb Deep affiliate Alchemist.Stay Up! (Viagra) ft. Kanye West – 88-Keys3. Paper Chasin’: The hardest industry lesson 88-Keys has learned is to never chase a check. Says Keys, “If you don’t have my ‘front-end’ up front, I’m out. That’s a deal-breaker when I’m working with anyone.”4. Find Ya Wealth: “I would do beats for cats and they would love my beats. But then the album would drop and the lesser-known producers would get left behind. I’d wonder, “Why am I trying to convince someone else how great my beats are when I can focus on creating my own buzz and have them come to me? Now I focus on doing what I do best: making good beats.”5. You Must Learn: “The best advice I ever got was to learn the Akai MPC 3000. I was 14 years old when I used it and it never failed me since.”88-Keys URB cover shoot 6. Flip Side: “My beats are simply versatile; I just make good-ass beats. Anybody with any ounce of talent can rock to my stuff, from Jigga-Man to Joel Madden (Good Charlotte).”7. In My Lifetime: “Production-wise, “Happy” by N.E.R.D definitely describes my life right now. Not necessarily the lyrics but based on the hook, I can relate.”8. Make-ups 2 Break-ups: Very happily married, 88-Key’s favorite ode to love is (ironically), Main Source’s “Looking at the Front Door”. “He (Large Professor) knew when to quit before it (the relationship) got to a level it didn’t have to go. That’s actually my favorite song of all-time.”88-Keys “The Death of Adam”

A man of respect’s words always carry weight. When Detroit’s Trick Trick speaks, it’s worth your while to pay heed. “When I walk outside I have to be Trick Trick. My perspective on life is first and foremost don’t do nothing that’s gonna upset God. Love the Lord, be prosperous. Smile, s**t, it’s okay to be happy. All of the hard n****s [are] either dead or in jail. I’m not hard, I’m just not no punk, I’m no p***y. And I’m just not having it.“I’m a family orientated person. I love my family. I love my brothers and sisters; we’ve always been very close. Before, [when my father] was there watching my every move. Mom was crying every day because she had bills she had to pay. When he left the lights kept going off I went in the backyard, electrocuting my motherf**king self everyday, trying to cut the lights back on. I’ve done it many times. My brothers are kinda like my sons because I raised them, somewhat. I kept them outa prison. I’ve always cared a whole lot about my family. I’ve always had oversight over the whole family. “It wasn’t too easy. The way that changed my life was literally across the street. So, I had to go see somebody and one thing led to another. If you’re born into that lifestyle then that’s something that’s pretty much unavoidable. I [was] 13 years old and that’s the neighborhood I lived in. [The] environment [I came] up in. Trick Trick f/ Ice Cube “Let It Fly” Video“My guy, back then, he’d give me a bag and his beeper. I made a lot of money that night. More than I ever made in two weeks pay; in one night. At that point, I was thinking this right here is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. You can’t wake up and say, ‘I want to be a gangster.’ There are a lot of people that call themselves gangsters. The whole word gangster has been taken out of context. Most of these n****s is just some ratty-ass-b######….They feel that they don’t have to own up to no responsibility. They already got it set in their mind that they have no code to living this lifestyle. Then they’re gonna automatically call themselves G’s. They don’t even know what a G is. They want to be something that they don’t even understand.

“We have to man up to our responsibility. They ain’t give me one to twenty, I earned one to twenty.”

“The more money you made, the more responsibilities you had. I had started thinking f**k this s**t. I got to get out of this. But, I had responsibilities to the streets that I serviced. There were other folks that depended on me…That’s when the game started to change for the worse. We have to man up to our responsibility. They ain’t give me one to twenty, I earned one to twenty. I got found guilty with the charge of violating probation. Then I absconded from the other charge. “I was on the run for two, three years. If I had went right in the judge would have body slammed me. I had a chance to grow mentally and become more of an adult. But I still did what I did and the judge was lenient with me. He gave me one to 20 years. I was gone for a year. I went in with the idea; I’m not making this my home. I’m not getting comfortable here, I’m getting outa here. Prison is what changed me. It was twenty-three hour lock down in a zero tolerance, maximum security facility.“I was gone for a year. That’s enough time for a motherf**ker to change. I took it as a positive. That’s when I got serious about music. It was my road to recovery.

“People be hating on Soulja Boy, he was silly enough to come up with that silly s**t and capitalize off of it. I applaud the motherf**ker. I congratulate him. Because his silly ass can get away with that sh*t, I can’t.”

“In this game now, there are a lot of kids. People be hating on Soulja Boy, he was silly enough to come up with that silly s**t and capitalize off of it. I applaud the motherf**ker. I congratulate him. Because his silly ass can get away with that sh*t, I can’t. Dude came up and God blessed him. To me, MC means something different than rapper. MC’s can do things with words that calls for a skill. A rapper just got words and make it rhyme. If you listen to today’s rap. So much stuff today just don’t have no passion. There’s a lot of rappers out here now; they’re dry as hell.  I don’t want to say no names, because I don’t want to have to f**k nobody up later. [laughs] “There’s a certain percentage of these folks; I fail to see the talent. Eminem is definitely an MC. Jay-Z, he’s an MC. Busta Rhymes, he does things with words that people can’t do, Nas, Mos Def, Talib. If Lil Wayne takes that voice box outta his throat he can do some things with words, too. Put that damn voice box down and say that s**t. Trick Trick “Let’s Work” Video“Then you got a few of the other young artists that talk all that beef s**t and want that respect that the OG’s get. They want that J. Prince respect, they want that Trick Trick respect, they want the respect from Ice-T, Ice Cube, But these motherf***ers ain’t even earned their way. The word earn is too close to burn to them, it’s like they stay away from. You don’t know how to work for it? “Nowadays, these n****s have got gang banging so f**ked up. You can go to the beauty supply [store] and buy a bandana. Put it on your waist and all of a sudden you’re a gang banger. Back, when I was coming up we had to get jumped in, we had to put in work and there was loyalty and honor amongst thieves. It was a Crips, Bloods, and there was Latin Kings. Bandanas came into play way later and after that. But, now a n***a will go right to the Beauty Supply and get a bandana and be like, I’m a Crip today; flip a coin tomorrow and they Blood. They have all the hand signals together and everything. That whole lifestyle and that whole cult/culture is too accessible now.

“I don’t go around just doing mean s**t to people. You got to f**k with

me for me to do something to you. I ain’t never f**ked up nobody or

f**ked over nobody that didn’t have it coming to them… You don’t have to worry about me

running up on you or doing nothing to you unless if we just happen to meet up in an alley

“Fairy tales are allowed in Hip-Hop when the fairy tale contains s**t that we know is not true. Ice Cube did “Gangsta Fairy Tale.” Scarface did “Cereal Killer.” But a lot of these motherf**kers out here just lie and I can’t take it. That’s why I like Kanye. He don’t be talking about no damn trap or no guns. But, being the nerd n***a that he is; he’s still being able to create literature with his words and his beats. He’s totally accepted in my eyes as what he is. Let’s take the Kanye West 50 Cent beef that was not a real beef. That wasn’t authentic. But, I enjoyed that little controversy it stirred up because it was creative. “LL Cool J and Kool Moe Dee, that was a Hip-Hop beef. I don’t think that was staged by any record label. I don’t think the record labels would be dumb enough to link their artists to gun fights or royal rumble because that doesn’t make a good gang of sense. It’s necessary to lay hands on a motherf**ker when that m########### crosses that line of disrespect.  That means that he doesn’t respect himself. He gotta be respectful, all that lip-talking s**t is uncalled for. “I don’t go around just doing mean s**t to people. You got to f**k with me for me to do something to you. I ain’t never f**ked up nobody or f**ked over nobody that didn’t have it coming to them. Leave me the f**k alone. Don’t say s**t about me. If you don’t like me stay the f**away from me. If you don’t like me stay the f**k outa Detroit; stay the f### outta Michigan… You probably don’t want to go to too many places if you got a problem with me. You don’t have to worry about me running up on you or doing nothing to you unless if we just happen to meet up in an alley…“Back to this music, The Villain is 200 times better than The People –vs- Trick Trick. Being around [the] lyrical geniuses, people that been in the game stronger, [allowed me opportunity to] absorb that knowledge. I experimented and did something way different than I ever done. It’s one of those albums that you can listen to from beginning to ending. I’m doing this album like Dr. Dre did The Chronic. It’s completion from production to the lyrics. “I didn’t want to hear Trick Trick over everything. I definitely needed some help. I’m not ashamed to admit that. So, I got with the best in the business, Eminem, Kid Rock, Dr. Dre, producing. Lil Jon, Young Buck, Royce, quality cats. I produced “Let It Fly,” around a great influence. Lil Jon came into the studio and gave me those Lil Jon pointers to make it more successful. So, it wasn’t just me…it was that collective insight that made the album the way it is. “This album is gonna get you hyped as hell. Now, don’t get it twisted. If you got an attitude with somebody or if you’re thinking about doing something to somebody, you’ll probably want to listen to some gospel. DON’T put in Trick Trick album. This album will motivate you to do some s**t that you probably can’t do, but you’re gonna believe you can. On the top part, it’s a lot of aggression. The whole album is like a story. If you don’t listen to everything you’ll miss something. It’s an album that you can listen to and that you can feel every word. Trick Trick – Trick Trick“I’ma go on the record right now with this. Homosexuals are probably not gonna like this album. Fa**ots hate me and I don’t give a f**k. I don’t want your fa**ot money any g##### way. I don’t like it. Carry that s### somewhere else.… It’s just that every time that you turn on the the TV, that sissy s**t is on. And they act like it’s f***ing okay. The world is changing for the worst when s**t like that happen. And I address that issue. I address it hard as hell…“I wish people would learn to be more respectful of themselves and those around them. Pay more attention to God because all His attention is on you. If you want respect from me just be respectful. If you respect yourself you’ll respect everything around you. You gotta be respectful. Because, once a person respect themselves they’ll respect others. And when you respect others you’ll get that respect back. If more people in this world would learn to respect themselves and how to respect other people we wouldn’t have as many problems as we do now.”