Steve Aoki On Being The World's Hardest-Working DJ | Forbes
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- DJ and Producer Steve Aoki can play 300 shows in a year while maintaining entrepreneurial ventures and investments on the side. He talks to FORBES about how he keeps his work life together and still enjoys touring at the height of his career.
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I can't stop laughing at the title XD
???????? They are saying he's a DJ but not talking about the DJing its self is hard, they mean since he has the restaurants, the label, traveling doing 300 shows a year, all that
i like the way he said it: " i actually don't do drugs, drink or smoke" :))
He is not a dj
He is an entertainer
+Miwer1000 He's not even that!! He seems to be an okay businessman however. "Getting better as a song writer and producer." GTFO. Aoki is a clown.
but he has DJ equipment to mix his fucking tracks, YOU aren't a DJ either :)
Katsu Wolf So? that does not mean he is a dj. For allot of producers those things are only there to make ik look real ;)
Miwer1000 And who are you to know this? Have you ever been a producer ? Im not talking about in your own free time im talking about having a contract with a record company while producing? have you ever played at a big even? no im not talking your local quincinera or sweet 16 venues dude. im talking Ultra main stage, Hakasan, TomorroWorld. etc. have you played these events? Doubt it.. very highly doubt it, so you really dont have room to speak or say much. If you haven't had the experience doing so, you just making a fool of youself man.
Miwer1000 not to mention do you even DJ? you dont need to touch the mixer constantly while music is playing. and IF you DJ its kinda sad you would say that because you can clearly see he got a controller next to his mac hooked up into his CDJs right there. and if you saying this music played in the video is what he played you kinda stupid on that as its an audio overlay not the actual fuckin music he playing at that event he did they showed lololol
The title made me giggle before I even clicked the video
+LuPe True....
same hahah
He's like the male Paris Hilton.
To people who say Steve Aoki and DJs have no talent...I would like to say that they do have talent! They have a talent of making money by doing absolutely nothing! If that's not talent, then I don't know what is!
Geuss they forgot about Skrillex. He has his label with all the merchandise and such. He does a ton of shows in a year. Infact, 320 in one year. He's constantly touring. Listen to one of his interviews. Q: What do you do on your free time? A: Make music. He is definitely one of the hardest working people in the entire industrie. Not to mention he can also sing, play guitar and drums, and makes EDM. Forbes done goofed.
Yea but Skrillex is shit
Ryle61 music is subjective. i dont like his tunes either but the guy knows music.. even though to some it may not sound that way,
Ryle61 hahahaha
PaintBalla701
He is making noise not music.
well the interview says its about steve aoki who is a dj. skrillex is not a dj.
Steve Aoki On Being The World's Hardest-Working iPod
Lol
lol
Bereket Stefanos lol yeah right
666
Cat They dare to book the ugly alien Steve Aoki who makes awesome shit music
for students and teenagers ! What a scam ! This moron has psychiatrical
problems , he is a thief who steal money to idiots promoters and kids
and move away by private plane ! We really hope he is gonna crashes
himself soon ! Fuck this ugly crap !
People have enough to see the
same fake scam dj's all the time in all clubs !! Fuck Nervo, Avicii,
Guetta, Sinclar, Aoki, Axwell , Angello , Dimitri Végas and like mike
and all the same scam who monopolize clubs !!!! STOP BORING PEOPLE WITH
THESE FAKES WHO MAKE SHIT MUSIC FOR IDIOTS TEENAGERS!!!!
Honestly I'm impressed by the amount of work this guy does but I think he needs to put more time into producing rather than touring. Some of his music just sounds a bit empty...
"a bit"
:")
But the music doesn't really matter anymore, just have a known face and some booms and there will be succes. I can't really hate on the guys, for a while just fooling around on Fruity Loops, than get a label, and then get send around the world for loads of money, all you have to do is jump around a little behind some buttons and knobs and put your hands in the air. Most people don't have the pride to refuse that y'know.
PauLtus B It's a very tempting lifestyle.
On a side note, I'm not actually hating on this Big Room movement (although it's amazing what some famous artists can get away with), I'm just hating on Aoki's tracks.
If you`re a dj and the only highlight on your set is throwing a cake at people then smth is wrong.
Max Krampe Well most DJs just mix songs and get the crowd hyped and that's it. I guess throwing cake is.... a bonus?
Yikak4 haha thats so stupid for me. If you can walk around for like 5 minutes without going to your decks and throw cakes at people than you obviously did smth wrong.
Looks like the hardest thing he does is pulling his hair behind his ears every second. Lmao
everybody wanna hate steve aoki but you're the ones sitting angrily behind a monitor while he's touring 300 times a year
There are many DJs touring just as much as he is. They are just on his c*ck.
Deefex dB
so what? those other djs aren't steve aoki and just because they don't like something about steve aoki doesn't say anything about steve. trust me, i don't like steve aoki's production style, but i'd be a fucking loser to speak negatively about him. he's obviously doing things right and most likely enjoying his life without any knowledge of us while doing it.
Deefex dB he has the world record of longest touring a year so your rude comment is invalid
All that means is he puts on a great, exciting show. Then again, anyone can do that these days. Todays kids who are coming into the scene don't care anymore. I'd gladly pass on Aoki for some Ken Ishii anyday.
yeah, that's because he sold out you ignorant moron
2:05 " I actually don't do drugs." LOL idk why but that made me laugh.
...I "don't" drink, "don't" smoke...
Frost Graffiti Yet if you watch his show he almost always chugs champagne.
Champagne doesn't have alcohol in it. duh
DJs don't have to drink or take drugs, The music is there drug
daniel newman BOO!
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I went to a Steve Aoki concert, he wasn't even DJing he was just throwing cakes at people and running up and down the stage like a moran, while the music was playing and auto selecting songs.........
Haha, you actually paid to see this moron
Trevor Jonathan Who said he paid anything? :D Maybe he got a free ticket ;)
Ex0rz Sort yourself out.
Since every DJ been like that since 2009 ish?
world's number #1 HARDLY- working dj
Steve Aoki On Being The World's Hardest-Working Cake Thrower
Showing up to a concert every night with a pre synced set gets you the working respect of Forbes
Does he know what a vinyl is??
Does he know what music is?
he started off with using vinyl.
Fausto Amaya daddies money can buy one anything right ;)
Fausto Amaya no he didnt... nigga started on a laptop and a midi controller just like the rest of these half baked d-bags.... he use to live in vegas
TrollerCoaster. and does it matter?
I knew the title was sarcastic before I even watched the video.
But who's DJing at his sets?
Ik zeg stakker.nl
HGN: "Ik heb geen idee... waar ik het over heb!".
just prerecorded.
***** It's shut up, you asswipe, second.. how can he be number one if he's not even DJing?!
His just syncing and not DJing.. There is a big difference between sync play and a DJ play! Steve Aoki is definitely not a DJ! Daniel if you have been observing the industry and follow the development you should know better there is no way Aoki can be number one unless you kill Armin, Andrew Rayel and some other real DJ firsthand.
The title of this video is a big troll LOL
airricksreloaded LOL and i have a weird feeling it was intentional
this is how we know forbes is full of shit , when they call steve aoki the worlds hardest working dj lololo
When will the bass drop though?
+BrainExploder right ?
Wat ?
"Its been really hard to take the millions my dad gave me and market myself enough to become successful. I really came from the bottom and worked my way up"
"I'll just touch this knob..."
the title of this video is hilarious
this guy ghost produces his tarcks and spends his time on stage jumping up and down tossing cakes into the crowd... hes the worlds hardest working and only cake tosser
and you areeeee? who again?
do you do live events, have a clothing brand, a label, or anything like that? no, so keep your negative comments to yourself.
Oh, I don't doubt the whole "doesn't dj live" thing, although hes been djing for years and could easily do it live. But his music is different from most, that's why he's so popular, same with afrojack.
^ LOL afrojack, the biggest sellout in the industry
afrojacks music hasnt been "different" for a very long time now
hasn't changed for a long time, and has been putting out a lot of mainstream crap but none the less why they're so popular.
Sorry guys im being completely genuine here, I'm no Dj and I'm new to the scene. Why do people hate on Aoki? Give me real reasons not just jealousy. Pleas reply to my comment with your responses! I feel like even if he doesn't do a ton of mixing live, it still takes significant drive to perform 300 shows per year and still manage other businesses.
Thanks,
+justjared135 you see the problem with aoki is that he puts himself so high as a dj but he actually isnt there, what he does anyone else in the industry (skrillex guetta avicii, well used to, alesso, atc) does it, probably even more.
+justjared135 And probaby because he is in the EDM scene.
+justjared135 And the cakes.
I personally think all DJ's are hardworking, when you're a fan of something (like music) you will dedicate to it and do the hard work it takes just to make someone else admire your talent. You guys shouldn't judge a person's job, especially when it comes to music. Steve Aoki does deserve mad props for being such an awesome dj. He not only plays his music at shows but gets into it just like everyone else and not all dis do that, and that alone is hard work. so please just keep peace and respect and PLUR on bitches!
i love how his answer to the question about how hes able to handle all these ventures was that he had an excellent team (of ghost prods)
LMFAO this is laughable. He can maintain 4 jobs at the same time because he actually doesnt do any work, he just plays a pre-recorded mix and dances around the table throwing cakes on people, and has ghost producers to make all the music he puts out under his name. You'd be surprised how many different jobs you can handle when you're not the one doing any work lol
He's a business man. He initiates and others work under him. Get on his level before you talk shit.
Ethan Sequeira I don't need to "get on his level" just to make a observation that a good portion of the music scene already knows lmao
Ethan Sequeira Doesnt matter if he's a business man or not, the fact of the matter is that he is lying to his fans and all the people who spend their hard earned money to see him, *to all the people who have been mislead to think they are getting something that isnt fully true* and aren't getting getting a honest performance…and I think that's the very least he owe's his fans, honesty about the "product" he is CHARGING for.
Ethan Sequeira Businessman or not, if he was a HONEST person, he would just be the owner of a record label in that case…but he prefers to lie to make more money at the expense of fooling millions of people.
Ulek _ every successful businesses has some lies. I know this because my dad has been a pretty cunning fella when it came to his businesses.. xD
But yeah man. I agree that some of his hardcore fans would be disappointed. But if you think about it, they wouldn't tell if he was mixing live or not.. because the cdjs are out if their sight. So really.. all they pay for is to enjoy the music if you think about it
DUDE IS SERIOUS ……met him in Vegas 2009….real dude with a passion.. he clean up himself….and still growing ,,,,,good for him….
u just had one too many bro. Don't worry been there done that
I too need to Workout to push buttons... But I always use my Private Jet to go to the Gym, so that saves me a lot of time
why does is matter if he is the hardest working dj? Doesn't matter if he plays 3 shows or 300 shows, he's still shit. Hard work does not always imply quality. All Aoki cares about is maximizing profit.
How to be a good dj by Aoki: Step 1: Always Sync Button
Step 2: Cake Step
I caught the last half of his set at Glastonbury in 2013 and it was...painful. Whether you like the music he plays or not, watching him prance around at the front of the stage, throwing stuff into the crowd like he's the lead singer of a rock band, then return to the decks for 30 seconds to pretend to mix the next tune in is pitiful. Embarrassingly bad.
95% of the time we see him behind the decks, he's not doing anything, or even wearing headphones. We see him twisting bass/mid/high knobs... but I didn't see a single act of mixing. Mostly just jumping with hands in the air, or talking into the mic, or posing for a photo, or popping open alcohol and shaking it over the crowd, or pushing an inflatable raft into the crowd. Having showmanship is totally fine and welcomed but it should come with actually mixing music too.
fake knob turning
Yep "Steve Aoki is a bogus, pseudo musician thats just after your cash & is full of shit. It's a known fact that Justin Bates is his ghost producer. *He's happy to portray himself in a disingenuous way & put up a act just to take your money* He's one of the biggest fake, bullshit artists in the edm scene today."
and bitching here too. You are so butt hurt it's unreal
he turns knobs and still earns 1000 times more money than you, get over it
@@ulek_604 o
@@Vincent-pz3bc it is much easier to get to the top when your parents are already filthy rich and famous.
Please... Andy C does more work as a DJ in an hour set than this guy has done in his entire life.
It's easy. Be the son of the owner of Benihana's and have unlimited funds from the get go
+Adamo Fiscella I was thinking the EXACT same thing! WTF is this crap?!
+Adamo Fiscella He actually got 0 dollars from his Father
+Ryan Flynn network is everything
+Adamo Fiscella BENIHANA? FFFF-FUCKING BENIHANA!!!??
+Kåre Johnny Exactly, a rolodex of high profile contacts is more valuable than some startup money. Nothing wrong with coming up like that, anyone with half a brain would take advantage of their parents connections.
I hate the people on here that hate dj like steve aoki or teisto or even skrillex come on guys they are all dj they all do the same things make music that the whole world can enjoy and also make really good "jump on" music. Dont be a hater just go with it :)
He isn't even the one who makes his own music lol
Flapawangatang who are you referring to?! Because all 3 produce there own music and are know to have MASSIVE amounts of unreleased music stored away..
Zach Coulson aoki
That ain't hard work, he probably doesn't even load in his gear, shout out to the bands that play warpedtour all summer in a fucking shitty rental van.
***** Crizzly :3
Almost without exception, EVERY big artist started out that way. You think Aoki started where he is now? Of course he's been there, done that, but success earns you some comfort, and hard work EARNS that comfort!
lol, shoutout to all those emo/scene kids learning powerchords
PaintBalla701 Learning guitar is alot harder than learning to dj
Ben Gordon I do both and I would say that is debatable. If you are just learning to mix then yeah, I agree. However, if you're talking about learning to skratch, backspin, juggle, trick mix, both are fairly difficult and take a lot of hard work and dedication.
hardest working DJ your having a laugh
I,d like to see him mix to vinyl records together
Thought that was a real kid at 00:04
the world's hardest working dj? wow, pressing the play button must be SUPER hard.
I'd love to give him 2 turntables, a mixer and a bag of vinyl. Then we can see what dj talent he has?...I bet he wouldn't know what to do?
I'm pretty sure he used to dj with turntables back in the days...
people who try to defend steve aoki are so pathetic. its true that he can make a party. i saw him two years ago and it was fun, but he really does not deserve the success that he has because he does NOTHING behind the DJ set except touching knobs, drinking, and partying. its even obvious at the live show. if you dont agree, then you know nothing about DJing.
It doesn't matter how he is DJing, he produces so much and very good party tracks, that's what people want, and he doesn't do a bad job with that. The money he gets because of touring and DJing with not much skill is just the money for him, cause none does buy records anymore. Where should he get the money from if he wouldn't make the parties :D
His success comes mostly from being a good business man.. multiple business, not to mention having other run them for him at this point.. thats a boss.
Steve Aoki gets the GAS FACE..!!
"hardest working dj", he dosen´t even mix live for christ sake!
But why should djs even mix live? It's retarded. A simple transition from one song to the next is good enough
@@masseffect3922 I hope you're looking for bites, i'm gonna give you one anyway. If you don't match the beats and mix live it's not even DJing, what are you actually doing? Dancing? DJs should do it live because they can and can build some unforgettable moments from it, and being live means they can match the vibe and mood of the crowd - feed off their energy and in turn give back to it.
He seems like he has a good mindset and is down to earth. Great DJ!
I don't even consider him a dj......fuck that! The guy throws cakes! These guys kill dance music!
best joke : hardest-working DJ..................lolz
He owns restaurants? lmao.I wonder if his chef's pre cook all the food and just pretend to cook it while people watch.I see some fat chef hopping around and narrowly avoiding a stroke while tossing chicken nuggets around on a cold grill :P
Hardest working fake dj in the world
"It's pretty hard to work daily and keep up being a great professional fake dj as me, like you really need that life blood pumping in your whole body to even handle this kind of mass work"
This is what the subtitles said when switched on lmao
He jumps on a fucking trampoline during his sets. What kind of a dj does that? If he would call himself an entertainer, fair enough. But he is NOT a dj.
His music is not even nice. All of his song sound the same
It is 2018th, come on. The modern technology makes DJs concentrate on what really matters, rather than outdated skills that were important for early, vinyl DJs, but now can be executed more smoothly by a cheap technology. So if he jumps using a trampoline, he is able to spend his mind and charisma more effectively and rationally than some envious DJ who performs his sets without using trampolines.
Hardest working DJ? HAHAHAHAHA, cute.
SO much respect for this guy
Hardest working "Producer maybe" not a DJ.
he isn't the hardest working of either. Its such a subjective title. c
Palasako hardest working performer seems more like it
who is he? Well in to my Edm < hate the term edm... anyway... never heard of this dj/producer at all,sorry
Not sure if trolling.
He's number 8 on the djmag list. He's known for throwing cakes at people's faces at this party's. Also, he creates solid music (if you like that kind of music)
I can't believe you said that. What are you doing searching electronic music and not knowing who this man is.
Master Cesar If I had to take a stab at it, I'd guess he's trying to discover new artists in the electronic music scene. Gotta start somewhere.
Coldhatezzz Shit music basically.
Master Cesar you don't make alot of sense there...
DJ? no. Producer? Yea. Good Producer? To some. But not anything like a DJ. Huge fake.
His music is appalling. The fact that he works "very hard" at it, just makes the whole thing more sad.
A rich kid born into money with pre recorded set skills.....
Be healthy with 3 hours of sleep?
+Macho Bravado Only on the tours. They short but intense. He sleeps a lot when not on tour
I just know I wouldn't function very well. I would be sleeping as much as possible.
*****
Biohacking
cocaine
NO! he doesn't do any drugs remember? lololol
worlds hardest working button pusher
Kinda sad how he faked himself for so long
what are you talking about?
Atteindrelesetoile I guess he knows Aoki personally, since he seem to know secret things about him. It cant be that he just heard or read something on the internet.
Complete tool, destroying the DJ rep.
Oh your going to lie now and say that you work out
he's show is physical and his gotten hurt
Ben Helou cause he's never worked out and has the body of an anarexic teenage girl, its all lies
bomb2themaximum he does. check his vine. he has a work out routine for almost everyday.
***** its all lies everything steve aoki says is just a lie after another lie , its impossible he does not and even if he did so what that doesn't mean he's not a big phony joke and a disgrace to all musicians
Who's Steve Aoki? Don't think I would ever go see that guy, sounds like a fake dj
he throws a killer party no doubt. I saw Tiesto, steve A, Andrew rayel and moti. Aoki brought robots
who?
I just don't feel his style of music.EDM is not my cup of tea with all those noisy synths and distorted bass.
UK garage is amazing though. I love old school house and techno :)
Listen to the sincerity in his voice when he says he doesn't do drugs...
I always love learning more things from the comment section then in the actual video
This was published on my 20th birthday...I feel old. That's when I listened to Steve Aoki way more as well.
Yes He can play 300 shows in a year with pre-recorded set and the same sound. Unfortunately many djs play sets like steve aoki.
So Steve Aoki doesn't do drugs and is still able to party hard. There's my new inspiration.
the hardest thing he does is showing up.... just like he has people running his restaurants he has people working on his music....
there's a certain poetic symbolism in the fact that, of all athletes to invite on stage, Aoki invites Lance Armstrong
So many people hating but I went to a Steve Aoki show back in 2014 and was honestly one of the most fun shows Ive ever been to... Ive long grown out of my EDM phase, but at the end of the day the guys puts on a great show, hes got a vision and charisma and subsequently brings in a crowd because of it. Take notes :)
He hesitated when he said he doesn't drink lol
Did I hear this guy saying he does not get high or drink? He's the first DJ I noticed not getting high.
+Juan Leon I think DVS1 is the same. And he's a real DJ.
They used to say the same thing about people strumming a piece of would, distorted from it's original signal, whipping their hair around. However, I respect both as an art.
i made the video!!! 3:02 hahahaha edc weekend!! i almost lost my aoki tank that day and my boy got his face caked!!! best time of my life!!
this was awesome, then the crowd surfing in an inflatable boat with lance armstrong part. o.O wuuuttt haha xD
he seems very humble and kind
What about talking of the actually hardest working music maker, who created around 12 000 pieces of music in his life, released more than 12 albums of completed tracks (seems a little amount compared to how much unfinished stuff he's done right ?), releases a lot of free stuff because he cares more about sharing music than making money, and feels frustrated when he is on tour because he can't be working on creating new stuff as much as he would want to ?
The definition of "fake it till you make it" hey Steve? You know I'm right ;)
He does drink, just not heavy. He doesn't get drunk and that's what keeps his body going is the fact he's prepared and not physically tired
My daughters prom was last nite and she said the dj wasn't good. So I'm watching this.
It's funny how his hair bounces when he dances :P
I have massive respect for producers/DJs who have branched out into other businesses as well. I don't get people who say a producer needs to focus on music only. Of course,his music is his main passion & job but that doesn't mean he has to be trapped in it.If someone whose doing a regular job gets into a business,people praise his actions but if a DJ does that he is a mainstream fuck whose only looking for money? What!
Adjusting the treble and bass while jumping around... yeah, he works real hard.
Wouldn't say hardest working...but still, much respect. I mean, he does seem to be doing better than the majority of the people in the comment section, including myself.
i love how he has to point out that he "Actully don't do drugs" xD
thumbs up for not drinking, smoking, and doing drugs!
i dont do drugs i dont drink i dont smoke .... RESPECT
I've never seen so many people hating on one person. This guy does what he loves, makes a killing, is happy being at this stage In his life (self actualization) and you all are mad. Lol. Steve Aoki....good job Sir!
a dj that doesn't neither do drugs nor drinks! wooow ,
Obviously never heard of drum'n'bass djs, Andy C has been grafting since the early 90's.
let's see if you could mix a vinyl...
We can all diss his "craft", but the fact remains he's doing way better than all of us.
men like him are killing the scene...
Why is everyone hating? Go Steve Aoki!
300 shows in one year?
mad respect for aoki.