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Steve Aoki’s Remix Radio will feature Aoki curating and playing dance remixes of the top pop and dance hits, his own original tracks, and selections of his favorite songs. The new channel will air Steve Aoki’s Remix Rewind, where Aoki handpicks his favorite five remixes of the week, and Aoki’s House, his weekly mix show. Two-time GRAMMY Award-nominated DJ/producer, Dim Mak Records founder, fashion designer, author, and entrepreneur Steve Aoki stands as one of the most successful American cross-genre artists, solidified via dozens of multi-platinum releases, multiple awards, billions of music and video streams, and innovative cross-platform projects.
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Exclusive interviews from Sway Calloway and the Sway In The Morning/ SwaysUniverse.com team with some of today's biggest celebrities, like Kevin Hart, Kanye West, Eminem, Usher, Jessica Alba, Steve Aoki, Torey Lanez, Julia Stiles and so much more.
Steve Aoki Launches Remix Radio Channel on Sirius XM | SWAY’S UNIVERSE https://youtu.be/QHeuNHK-RUQ
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0:00
I've been wanting to work with you ever since I've seen you throw your first cake
0:04
I'm serious. That's my good brother, Sean Paul, having a conversation with the visionary himself
0:15
ladies and gentlemen, the adventurer himself, the producer, the ice bath swimmer
0:23
the one and only Steve Aoki is back on the show. Give it up. Give it up
0:27
Give it up. Steve! Steve! What's up, Steve? What up, family? Man, how you been, bro
0:39
I'm good, man. I'm good. How you guys doing? Excellent, man. Today we're celebrating a big day
0:47
I think you may appreciate this. In my hometown of Oakland, a couple of years back
0:52
they made February the 4th Swade Calloway Day. Oh, my God. Wow, that's incredible
1:01
Yes, Steve. Man, that's incredible. Yeah, man, and it's due to a lot of work that was put in
1:07
a lot of community action that we've done over the years. It's named after me, but I give the credit to my family
1:14
and all the teams that I have worked around to get to that point
1:18
And so today we're celebrating, which is great, because I know you're celebrating today too, man
1:23
You've done something that many folks aren't able to do here at SiriusXM, but when you're able to get this opportunity
1:32
it's a real big deal. You got your own channel now, right, Steve Aoki? Yes, Clay
1:40
It's a great feeling. I'm still buzzing about it. And I think bigger than that for myself is that, like
1:49
there's a channel just based on what we've been fighting to do
1:53
It's remixes. You know, remixes are the foundation of at least electronic dance music
2:03
You know, producers, DJs, you know how it goes When you play records out, you're always playing some form of an edit
2:12
Some form of a remix You always tweak it a little bit You never just play the original
2:16
You make your intros, you gotta make a drop You gotta make this, that, and the other
2:20
And it's, you know, it's the cornerstone of what we do So, dedicating the entire channel to it was, you know
2:30
I'm just happy that we finally got to that place. Well, congratulations, man
2:35
What channel? What's your channel number, Steve? A channel number? Come on, Steve
2:45
You are sibling now. You got to look that up for me
2:49
Okay. No, Steve is hilarious. Steve what's up buddy it's Heather how you doing I want to ask you just what you being an artist
2:58
a producer um man just an author a creator just an overall guy just about the world doing your
3:05
thing how do you balance your time like how do you say no how will you how are you comfortable
3:10
with your nose like I'm just amazed at how you balance your time because every time we see you
3:16
You look well-rested, man. Like, all is good. So, share some of your secrets if you don't mind
3:23
If you don't mind. Oh, absolutely. Well, one thing I have to work on is what you're talking about, sleep
3:30
Because still to this day, even though I'm not touring 200 shows, 250 shows a year
3:37
I'm still, like, just jam-packed. My whole days, all my nights are jam-packed
3:43
And I was up until like 2 or 3 in the morning last night working on all these different projects
3:50
I mean, yesterday was all about remix radio for sure. I mean, we're just slammed on that
3:57
But time management is a big part of that, just like you're talking about
4:01
If you don't have a system set up where you need to make sure that, just like what Sway is saying
4:09
that your team is working with you so that you are able to do all those
4:14
different things that you're doing across, you know, all your priorities, all your verticals, you'll never get to execute
4:23
Because, of course, you love – we're human beings. We love everything. You know, we love all these different things that come our way
4:30
But the hard part is the execution of those things, you know. How do we take it and then execute it
4:36
We can all start projects, but the most difficult part is execution
4:41
And that requires a great team. I would have to say one of the biggest attributes to that is having passionate teams that understand, you know, the focus of what you're doing, working with them hands-on
4:56
Because you have to work with them hands-on. You can't just put other people to do your stuff
5:00
work with them hands-on and just, you know, get them to grind
5:05
and put in the real work. Steve, if you don't mind sharing, like
5:10
speak about, like, who your starting five is on the team, where if they were absent, the Steve Aoki movement would crumble
5:19
or crack or rust a little bit. Speak about them and what they do for you
5:24
I'd say, like, the top dog, and he's like a – doesn't get much a shine or spotlight
5:33
So I'm happy to talk about him as, uh, as Matt, Matt Cole. And he's been my manager for 15 years, uh, 16 years now
5:40
since I started, since I started my first cover on a magazine in 2005
5:47
Um, he actually put me on, he was working for a magazine, um, uh
5:53
it was called BPM. And, um, and yeah, So he put me on the first cover
5:58
The cover before that was DJ AM and DJ AM was instrumental in my life as a DJ He taught me just the nuts and bolts the philosophy the ethos
6:13
and just was a great human being to me as a friend
6:19
I digress there. But, yeah, I'd say Matt Cohen, he's been there with me for 16 years
6:25
general manager, going through most of my different things, and in many ways we're partners, you know
6:33
where we jump into things together. We learn together. We fail together
6:38
You can't survive with one person without falling together and, like, butting heads and fighting like brothers and family
6:49
And, you know, I'm a very loyal guy, you know. So, like, with Matt, I've been with him since day one
6:56
Number two, I would say, is Michael Fian. My second manager, he managed me in Europe and UK, and he was my business partner in a lot of different ventures as well
7:08
And he started with me back in – sorry, I could keep going on this stuff, but he started with me back in 07 and was with me until he passed away, unfortunately, last year
7:21
And he was my best friend. So, I mean, I work with my best friends
7:27
You know, like Dougie is my number three, Dougie Bohe. He's on the management team
7:33
And I've been working with him off and on on projects since 06
7:38
So, like, one thing I think I've learned through this whole thing is that, you know, the people I've worked with
7:44
and you, like, you're going to have your problems. You're going to have your issues
7:49
But as long as they don't break the, you know, the golden rule of, like, you know
7:55
where they're stealing from you or they're doing something addictive or malicious
8:01
people are going to mess up. They're going to fail on you or you're going to fail on them
8:06
or they're going to sleep on you or you're going to sleep on them. But if you know that their heart is there
8:13
and you're both knowing that we're all human beings, we're all learning together, but we all want the same vision and goal
8:21
And we love the most important thing is we love the journey because, you know, the end is never, like, so exciting and crazy
8:30
as you imagine it to be. It's about the journey, really. And if you can't love the grind with them
8:38
then they're definitely not, like, they're not on the team. They shouldn't be spending that much time with them, you know
8:45
So I'll definitely shout those guys out. I mean, there's so many businesses, guys
8:51
There's so many different teams. but it all kind of starts on the top of that umbrella and it goes down
8:58
Wow. Steve Aoki is here with a couple of things going on. You got a new EP, right? Yeah. Do you know
9:11
So yeah, we got the EP. It's all about EDM. It's called Ray Royale, six records, six Oki, called six Oki, six records
9:21
It's six collaborations With six other DJs And Every song comes Obviously with a music video
9:31
But the music video is an animated short That connects together With all these other songs
9:37
And all these other music videos Into a longer Animated film And
9:44
It's all about pure EDM Getting people's hopes up and getting that festival spirit back out
9:52
I really want to start the year off strong, even though we were considering waiting
9:58
until we knew when festivals were going to open up. But we're like, you know what
10:03
We need to start 2021 really strong and get people hyped. And it's pretty hard
10:08
It's probably my hardest musical project I've done ever. So I think it's all about just coming out the gate strong there
10:17
but also, you know, I like to switch things up. You know I like to switch things up, guys
10:22
I also released a Latin record and an Italian record with Sean Paul
10:29
you know, like you mentioned earlier, El Alpha, and Sfera Basta from Italy with Willie William and playing skills
10:37
So that's like a, you know, there's a global record. Let's take a listen real quick, Steve Aoki
10:44
Check it out. Oh, yeah
11:17
Yo, man, yo, that's fire
11:33
I'm trying to be under that tent partying with you right now, man, throwing cakes in faces
11:38
You know, you have one of the most interesting, Will Smith and you have two of the most interesting IG pages in existence
11:47
You learn so much from you. Two things I want to ask you about
11:52
Number one, did you really spend $420,000 on Pokemon car? Oh, my God
12:04
Yo, that was crazy. That was nuts What a piece of cardboard It insane Trust me before I even got into this whole world of collecting cards
12:17
I couldn't believe. I remember my friend told me he spent $15,000 on a Mike Trout Ben Baller card
12:24
and I couldn't believe. I was like, how do you spend that much money on a piece of cardboard
12:29
I don't get it. It's weird. You don't see it until you're in it
12:36
play it's really bizarre and then what now i'm in it i'm fully in it it's a crazy world explain
12:43
bro four hundred and twenty thousand dollars you could have bought a house instead of a piece of
12:48
cardboard i don't you know explain the value okay i know i'm not in it so i might not catch
12:54
the feeling but can you put it to words what would drive you to do that that's interesting
12:58
and then how does it keep it does it keep his value right right so first of all i mean let's
13:05
It doesn't matter what the thing is. It matters exactly what you guys said, the value of it
13:13
So it's like this whole collecting cards world, which has gone crazy because of COVID
13:19
And I would have never picked it up if I wasn't stuck in my house
13:24
There's a lot of people in that same consideration. There's people that have just become day traders, jumping in and game stuff
13:32
There's so many different avenues to make money. Cash is not necessarily king because it doesn't move like physical cash
13:42
Like you rather put that money into things that move faster. You know, so cards are moving like crazy
13:51
So for me, it's having a card. It's like you are, yes, you're gambling because these things go up like day trading stocks
14:02
especially right now during this insane craze. But you have the sentimental factor of collecting cards
14:11
since you were a kid, the nostalgia behind it. But there's definitely this huge investment return
14:18
that's happening, and it's highly liquid. That's what's very interesting that I didn't understand
14:27
is that you can buy these cards, or you buy sealed boxes of cards and it's highly and you could sell it right away you could buy it
14:36
and sell it right away and and the returns uh you know you could 2x even in like one week
14:43
you know it's just wild i just i mean the thing is so even before i got this purchase
14:49
before i decided i'm going to spend this kind of money on this single card i already made other
14:56
purchases smaller purchases and already had some really big games and and then i saw what else was
15:05
in the market and that this particular card is the holy grail of the entire pokemon card collecting
15:14
world and pokemon is the largest largest media franchise a media property uh in the world they're
15:22
They're bigger than Marvel. They're bigger than, you know, like what you see out there
15:27
Hello Kitty, whatnot. They're the number one. And the numbers people are spending on collecting some of these rare cards
15:37
420 is a start. You know, what I did, I bought this card
15:44
I got this card, right? I got it sent to a grading place
15:50
And this is where the whole game has changed. It's not about having the card so much
15:55
You want to have a great quality, you know, clean card, but you need to get it graded
16:00
And when you get it graded, it means it's in a slab and has a number of cash through it that someone has authenticated that it's real
16:07
And it shows you the condition of the card. And if it's a 10 and it's a super rare, low population, the two things I look for is low population and, most importantly, what everybody wants
16:23
If you have a call that everybody wants, the Michael Jordan rookie card, LeBron James rookie card, the Kobe rookie card, in this case, the illustrator, the Holy Grail
16:34
considered as the holy grail, the most sought-after card in Pokemon. Very, very, very little population
16:43
And you get a high grade on that. It's a million-dollar card. It's a million
16:48
You pay $420 for a million-dollar card. Wow. I pay $420 with a gamble
16:53
Where do you keep it? Because you don't know how it's going to grade
16:59
It's like it's a swing. It's like putting like, you know, I'm like, okay, this could either be potentially less than $420,000 or it could be potentially over a million dollars
17:13
You buying it, though, does that add value to the price? You being attached to it, though, that creates a frenzy around
17:21
Okay. Absolutely. And, you know, I put my – actually, my name is on the actual card grade
17:31
So when you go in the system, it says the Aoki collection with that card
17:36
So it adds a very, you know, like, you know, whenever this thing goes to auction, if it ever does, you know, 20 years, 30 years later, and people care about having a piece of the Aoki collection
17:50
then yes, it'll have its own place in time, just like anything
17:55
All this stuff is nostalgia. It's like we get into things because, at least for me
18:01
it's like I remember buying a pack when I was eight years old
18:05
and getting my baseball cards, and I loved that feeling of, you know
18:09
it's like gambling. You open a pack of cards and you like oh I got it I can believe it No one else got it Look at it And you show your friends you know this is just that but it actually you doing it like they stocks they
18:21
literally stocks that have this kind of sentimental value i get it man similar similar to the art
18:29
world and paintings i i can see the parallels in that hey man steve aoki you you learn a lot just
18:35
going on his Instagram page and you're always at Instagram. I'm about to follow Steve
18:40
I don't know why I wasn't following Steve. That's our friend. Steve, you gotta follow me back
18:45
I'm at the happy hour of WHB, alright? Don't forget Steve. Yeah, man
18:51
Hey, I wanted to ask you about the cold... I mess with Steve. Your head is not a follower
18:57
Steve, I wanted to ask you about the cold plunge that you... The cold
19:03
plunge that you do. Like, what is that about like you said it's good for your health right oh my god it's uh it's definitely everyone
19:11
out there do their own research on it um i i would say the first place to start is um a guy
19:18
named wim hoff w-i-m-h-o-f wim hoff um he's he's the one to turn me on to it i i remember reading
19:26
about him he he like he he does these cold plunges all around the world he hikes up you know
19:33
Mount Everest in shorts, no t-shirt. I just didn't understand what he was doing
19:39
And I got to see the benefits of why you put yourself through extreme conditions like
19:47
you know, like cold and heat and what that does to your body
19:52
And, you know, through the investigation and research into the whole space
19:56
of course, I love trying different things out like that to see how it works for me personally
20:01
and uh yeah it's incredible it's invigorating it's like you you do you sit in cold bath first of all
20:09
the fear of getting into an ice cold bath is frightening like it like you just won't do it
20:16
most people just won't do it 99 of the people won't do it you need to be kind of handheld you
20:23
need someone to kind of walk you into that that step and and let you know you'll be all right
20:28
Because your brain, once you get into that water, your brain is saying, get out, right
20:33
It's got that fight or flight mode where it's telling everything in your body and your brain saying, your brain telling your body saying, it doesn't matter who's asking me to get in here
20:45
I got to get out. I'm going to die. You're not going to die. You'll be fine
20:49
You know, I mean, of course, if you're in there for a really, really long time, yeah, it's a problem
20:53
And you could even tolerate and control your whole mind and body by regulating, self-regulating, as you do it more and more
21:05
But yeah, it's invigorating. You leave like you ran. The endorphins are exploding in your brain
21:12
It's like you ran like a 10K. And the mitochondria are just active
21:19
And the cellular growth and the brainstem. Like, physiologically, that's why athletes do it
21:26
You know, if you can talk to athletes after games or after scrimmages, football, whatever, basketball, it's like it's great for your muscles, but it really speaks to your brain
21:37
It opens up the pathway of your brain. So it just does so much amazing stuff for your health
21:44
And, you know, I love optimizing performance, just like we talked about earlier, like what you need to do for time management
21:52
absolutely you need time if you're going to do all those different things you need time to have a
21:58
reset you know to have uh to like stop from the the busy life you know i meditate daily i do i do
22:06
the sauna daily uh a cold plunge do about once a week you know but um you know i try to do all
22:12
these things on a regular basis so that the body can function in an optimal way okay man looks
22:21
so can i accomplish this with a cold shower though or is that is that not cold enough
22:26
absolutely i think that's a really great way to start is is uh sitting in the shower for 30 seconds
22:33
but ending the shower in cold okay you know and i'm not even like a like uh you know i'm an
22:41
advocate of what this is but check if you guys want to check it out there's an app called the
22:45
Wim Hof method, W-I-M-H-O-F method. And, you know, there's breath work where you do breathing
22:53
It's really incredible, really, really, really great for you as well. And all this stuff is, this is all free stuff
23:00
Like anyone could do this anywhere. You could do your shower, you need your breath work
23:04
These are all things that anyone can pick up and do. And you just try it for yourself and see how you feel through the day
23:10
I feel energized. It's a natural energy. like you know core seats in your body and um yeah check out the app and i use the app to kind of
23:20
do all my breath work and you can log in your your cold showers as well too
23:24
hey man this is awesome it's great speaking with you this is our first time communicating this year
23:30
first of many steve first of many brothers always love talking with you man it's always uplifting
23:36
i always feel good after a conversation with steve aoki and check it out you can
23:41
Go to his remix radio. You could go to Sirius XM to the Sirius XM app is online as well
23:48
Amazon Alexa or however you stream in your house. Steve Aoki's remix radio is there and it's available for you
23:56
Congratulations on everything and keep inspiring us, brother. OK, thank you. Love you guys
24:03
Love you, too, man. Steve Aoki, man. We coming back with a little celebrity wire
24:11
We'll see you next time
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