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88-KEYS: Going After Those Weezy Numbers
By Marsha Gosho Oakes
As a teenager, Charles Misodi Njapa interned at The Music Palace - a studio in his hometown of West Hempstead, Long Island. He spent a decade working his way up the ladder, from being Assistant Engineer on
Busta Rhymes’ debut album,
The Coming (“He’s a great guy and super-talented but now I feel like I’m in a position to label him a colleague or a peer”) to producing several cuts on the
Black Star album
and
Mos Def’s solo debut
Black On Both Sides.
Now at 32 years old, producer and DJ
88-Keys (don’t you
dare call him Charles! “People haven’t referred to me by my birth name since elementary school…NOBODY, aside from my parents and my siblings, nobody else calls me [by my birth name]…“) has added rapper and singer to his repertoire, independently releasing his debut album:
The Death Of Adam.
If the thought alone sounded like a dream, the realisation of the finished product has created a euphoric, fantasy like feeling. The music world - for the first time in some years - stood waiting for with baited breath for the release of an empirical album which has avoided the now accustomed 'week early leak.' In a dream collaboration for our time, Kanye West, who captivated the world with his incredible music as well as his eccentric behaviour, comes together with a man who has gone beyond any other rapper's heights in music and business. Jay-Z, the last of a few living legends, shares more than a recording booth with Mr West as they unite to re-invigorate the somewhat lost joys within music. In an age where it's become the norm to constantly drone about what's missing in music as well as spend hours on YouTube denouncing the newest fad, Hip Hop's two insurance policies aim to lay at ease the notion of music's current offering being devoid of soul and heart.
“I’m of the opinion - especially in this day and age - that having a record in the marketplace doesn’t mean anything if the right pieces aren’t in place.” - the unsung hero increasingly known as Colin Munroe tells SoulCulture.