I was a bit of an outsider in the hip-hop world because I was a scratch kid and people weren't necessarily trying to hear that all the time.

One thing that I learned in recent years from working more with other people is this idea that part of a producer's job is to make people comfortable and confident.

I'm not even a trained producer. I just keep following my ear and working on stuff until it sounds the way I like it.

There are things I like, there are things I strongly dislike. In my DJ sets and in my production I just gravitate towards what I like.

Building the scene, going out and doing shows and connecting with the fans, cultivating the fanbase in all these cities. I'm very glad that it's happening.

There are producers that have been my friends for many years that I'm still a big fan of, from Boyz Noize to solo acts. Justice. It really varies. All the way to like...sometimes I'll just find some dude out of Chicago that makes a great house song. I'm feeling a lot of the deep house stuff, Jamie Jones.

I'm one of the few DJs who uses turntables. I'm the only DJ that's scratching.