BIGSONG:
Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (/eɪˈoÊŠki/ or [aoki]; Japanese: (born November 30, 1977) is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, record executive, and heir to his father Rocky Aoki’s fortune from the Benihana restaurant franchise. In 2012, Pollstar designated Aoki as the highest grossing electronic dance music artist in North America from tours.
He has collaborated with artists such as will.i.am, Afrojack, LMFAO, Linkin Park, Iggy Azalea, Lil Jon, blink-182, Laidback Luke, BTS, Monsta X, Louis Tomlinson, Backstreet Boys, Rise Against, Vini Vici, Lauren Jauregui, and Fall Out Boy and is known for his remixes of artists such as Kid Cudi.
Aoki has released several Billboard-charting studio albums as well, notably Wonderland, which was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2013. He is the founder of the Steve Aoki Charitable Fund, which raises money for global humanitarian relief organizations.In 2019, Aoki published a memoir, Blue: The Color of Noise
Early life
Aoki was born in Miami, Florida, but grew up in Newport Beach, California. He graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1995, where he was a player on the varsity badminton team.[12] He is of Japanese descent, the third child of Rocky Aoki and Chizuru Kobayashi.[13] His father was a former wrestler who also founded the restaurant chain Benihana. He has two older siblings, sister Kana (who is sometimes called by her middle name “Grace”), and brother Kevin (owner of Doraku Sushi restaurant).[14] His half-sister is model and actress Devon Aoki.[15]
Aoki attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with two B.A. degrees, one in feminist studies and the other in sociology. In college, he produced DIY records and ran underground concerts out of his Biko room in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative,[16] which was located in Isla Vista, a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch.[17][18] Aoki was also involved in student activism at UCSB, being the founder of a Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League chapter on campus.[19] By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak – a reference to his childhood hero, Bruce Lee.[20][21][22]
Music career
1990s–2000s: Dim Mak Records and early releases
See also: Dim Mak Records and Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles
Aoki in 2008
Aoki founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as MSTRKRFT, The Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal, and Mustard Pimp, as well as Bloc Party, The Rakes, The Kills, Klaxons, Infected Mushroom, Scanners, Whitey, and Mystery Jets.[23] Aoki teamed up with Blake Miller of the Los Angeles-based band Moving Units to produce remixes. The duo of Miller and Aoki work under the moniker Weird Science. Aoki has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.
In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis’ Music Is Revolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools. Aoki’s debut DJ mix album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles was released in January 2008.He had an Essential Mix that aired on BBC Radio 1 on August 2, 2008, and again on October 27, 2012. Aoki has collaborated with fellow producers and thus far[when?] has released singles with The Bloody Beetroots, Armand Van Helden of Duck Sauce, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Tai, Chris Lake, Angger Dimas, Sidney Samson, and Tiësto. In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future[when?] collaborations with Diplo, Knife Party, Datsik, Chris Lake, and more.
Aoki has remixed many artists and bands, including The Jackson 5, Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mike Posner, Girls Generation, All American Rejects, Refused, The Killers, Bassnectar, Lenny Kravitz, Bloc Party, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, S.P.A., Kid Cudi, Fërnando Oviedo, Chester French, BTS and Peaches. He remixed the track “The Wind Blows” that features on the UK edition of The All-American Rejects’ 2008 album When The World Comes Down.[citation needed] On November 10, 2009, he released a remix for Drake’s song “Forever”. The song features Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. The track made it to the top of Hype Machine’s chart in December 2009.
2010–12: International breakthrough
See also: I’m in the House and Wonderland (Steve Aoki album)
Through relentless touring, he gained huge support from colleges. He is widely known for his acrobatic crowd surfing stunts, throwing cake at fans, spraying champagne bottles, and riding rafts on the dance floor.[citation needed] Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he started touring with production via bus tours, like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour, when he headlined more than 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada. Many of the artists Aoki collaborates with make appearances on tour with him. He has played lesser-traveled regions – in 2009 he played a show in Beijing, China, with Diplo at a night organized by promoters Split Works. In July 2012, Aoki was added to the Pollstar Top 100 North American Tours in their 2012 Mid Year Report.The list designated Aoki as the highest grossing dance artist in North America for the first half of the year.
External video
Steve Aoki LIVE at Ultra Music Festival 2013 Weekend 1: Main Stage
Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke ft. Lil Jon – Turbulence
In March 2010 Aoki released “I’m in the House”, a collaboration with Zuper Blahq—alter-ego of The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am. The song charted at No. 29 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release, and later entered the UK Dance Chart and the UK Indie Chart, peaking within the top five in each chart. The song was featured on an Episode of MTV’s Jersey Shore, as well as in the feature film Piranha and the trailer for Think Like a Man.[citation needed] Producer-songwriter Lucas Secon confirmed in a May 2010 interview with HitQuarters that he and Rivers Cuomo had recently worked with Aoki on a single.
Aoki’s first solo album, Wonderland, was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Kay, Travis Barker, will.i.am a.k.a. Zuper Blahq, Wynter Gordon, Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Chiddy Bang, Lovefoxxx of CSS, Big John Duncan (former guitarist of the punk band The Exploited), and others. A remix album was released shortly after.
During Aoki’s set in the Halloween electronic music festival Thriller Music Park at Madrid Arena, Madrid, Spain, 16 600 people crowded the hall, authorized for 10 600. In the resulting stampede [Wikidata], three young women were crushed to death, two died weeks later and further 29 people were injured.
On December 11, 2012, Aoki released his first EP, It’s the End of the World As We Know It, which includes three songs. Aoki was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album for Wonderland at the 2013 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
