DJ Kenn: The Unsung Architect of Modern Rap
The legend of DJ Kenn is a story of sheer fate.
Kenn moved to Chicago after a brief stint traveling around the US post-high school. While looking for a place to stay, he met Chief Keef’s uncle, who housed him and took him in. With a deep love for music, Kenn wanted to make beats and videos for all of the local southside rappers. Kenn met a 12 year old Chief Keef, and together they shaped what rap music sounds and looks like today.
Kenn’s and Sosa’s (Chief Keef) ingenuity paved the way for independent creatives to become global superstars. During an era when high budget music videos shot in expensive studios were the standard, they were able to break through the mainstream with creative solutions to limitations nobody had ever seen before. “Love Sosa,” arguably Chief Keef’s most iconic music video, was shot in his kitchen due to the fact that he was under house arrest. Now most underground rap videos are shot in easily accessible locations such as kitchens instead of expensive sets. This is just one example of the countless techniques, trends, and subcultures that have stemmed from this era. Public opinion on DIY tactics from independent artists shifted from unprofessional to authentic, given the energy and rawness of drill videos.
However, despite Kenn’s influence, his story is one filled with setbacks and hardships. One of the less glamorous aspects of life as a creative is dealing with the industry’s volatility. Kenn found himself in a place and time where people in his community would do anything to make it out of the dangerous conditions in which they lived. Deception and exploitation are rampant within creative industries, but when basic survival is involved it is hard to see any benefits to the work at all. Kenn is currently dealing with an immigration case that has extended over 11 years, and is at risk of being deported back to Japan.
With contracts from previous songs and videos being lost in translation, he isn’t able to get a handful of the royalties he would have been given if things had been properly arranged. He has resorted to starting a t-shirt business in order to pay his lawyer fees. Despite the adversity he has faced, especially in recent years, he remains hopeful and is working on a handful of different other projects.
Sabukaru reached out to Kenn for an interview to gain more insight into his background, as well as his plans for the future.
Hello DJ Kenn, can you please briefly introduce yourself to the Sabukaru network?
I’m DJ Kenn. I’m a producer, director, designer and DJ. I came up producing with Chief Keef and Glory Boyz Entertainment. I grew up in Yamagata prefecture, studied music for a bit after high school but I dropped out and started working to save up to move to America. When I was like 20 I moved to Los Angeles for a bit to study English. I didn’t really like the vibes there so I moved to New York to continue learning and shit. I was working and studying in New York for a few months until I needed a change of pace and then decided to move to Chicago. That’s where I met Chief Keef and where everything kinda started.
How did growing up in Yamagata inspire you as a creative from a young age? Were there any artists or creatives there at the time when you were growing up?
There wasn’t really a scene or anything, but I was really into Japanese rock music. This band called Dragon Ash actually really inspired me growing up. They were kind of like a Japanese Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit. A lot of rap influence in their shit. Their main vocalist (Kenji "KJ" Furuya) also played guitar and did all of their production and shit. I was like “damn, homie goes crazy.” After I discovered them, that was when I really wanted to be a part of the music scene. I didn’t even know how to play anything at the time. I was also listening to a lot of hip-hop shit. A balance of both rap and rock. I found Nas’ “Stillmatic” and Cam’ron’s “Come Home With Me.” Those were the first two rap albums I listened to. Those two albums really made me dive deep into rap music.
I also read the Beck manga. When I was reading it I thought it was the coolest shit ever. Young people coming up and making music, they really had to hustle.
I always kinda knew that it was just a story though. At the time it seemed impossible for a Japanese band to go to America and shut shit down. In one book, they went on a US tour and ended up visiting Jimi Hendrix’s grave in Seattle. I did a show a couple months ago with ASAP Ant in Seattle and decided to go check it out myself. It was a cool full circle moment for me.
How did you and your family feel about you moving to the US on your own at such a young age? What made you want to move in the first place?
They’ve always been supportive but I left out a lot of information about how I was doing. I think they would have been really scared for me if I told them what was really going on. I was dealing with some of the worst of the worst people and living in a horrible situation. I’ve started letting them in on information now that I’m older and they have been pretty shocked haha. My parents did come to Chicago one time though like during the third year I lived there. They stayed with me in Englewood and they could tell that it was not a safe place by the vibe. They don’t really speak English so they didn’t understand what people were saying but yeah. They did get to see a lot of it firsthand.
Your arrival in Chicago is a pretty crazy story. How did you end up meeting Chief Keef’s uncle, Big Keef while walking around Englewood?
I chose to move to Chicago because when I looked it up online, it was rated the third best city in the US after New York and Los Angeles, which were the two places I had lived before. Also Kanye and a few other artists were kinda coming from there so I felt that there would be a couple of opportunities, you feel me? I really needed to leave New York so I packed my things and left. I had no idea how dangerous the southside of Chicago was. I honestly knew nothing about Chicago at all except for the fact that some cool artists were from there. I knew nothing about America! I knew nobody at all, not one person. I can’t lie, if I knew how fucked up shit was and how there was hella gangbanging going on and shit, I definitely would not have moved there. Maybe not though, I was willing to do whatever it took to make it. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for that decision. But yeah, I was walking around with my suitcase and my dog through Englewood asking everyone on the street if they knew of a place I could stay. One group of people were tryna rob me and they kept on tryna lure me into their block. Big Keef came through and just told them to chill out. To be honest, I never felt like people really treated me the same. They just thought I was some dumb asian muhfucka that didn’t speak good English. Big Keef was the first person to treat me fairly and really looked out for me though. He sorted me out with a place to stay for a while. After that though, I really learned how to watch out for myself. There were so many times where people wanted to do me wrong. I just wasn’t used to that at all. Started thinking on my feet a lot faster the first few months out there. A lot of people would make promises they wouldn’t keep and I had to learn that the hard way.
I read somewhere that you first started producing after you moved to the US. How did you first start learning production?
Yeah man, pretty much. When I was at music school, they only taught us how to produce like once or twice the entire time I was there. They didn’t really have the resources or knowledge to teach us anything useful. When I started making beats in Chicago, that was me just trying to do the best I could do with my knowledge. I looked up a few things on YouTube and Google here and there but I really learn by doing. I was also using this software called Reason and there weren’t that many tutorials online at the time. Sometimes knowledge means nothing if you don’t use it. It doesn’t come with a product or come with results. You have to actually do the work. When me and Chief Keef started recording together all I knew was that pressing the triangle meant play, pressing the red circle meant record, and pressing the two lines meant pause. I didn’t even know how to export tracks. But I was able to learn really quickly because I tried. I didn’t give a fuck about being the best back then I just wanted to make shit. I think a big problem today is access to the internet. People just take in knowledge about making beats and they know all the technical stuff and all the genres and shit but they don’t try because they’ve been put on to too much shit at once. You actually have to go through shit if you want your shit to sound original, you feel me?
You started working with Chief Keef when he was 12 years old. What was it like helping him grow into the artist he has become?
I knew he was crazy. I knew he was really talented but I couldn’t imagine - I don’t even think he could have imagined how big he would end up becoming. We were really hungry. From when he was that young to like when he started blowing up our work ethic was insane. I remember when I really knew he was gonna make it, kids in the area would come up and tell me that they were playing our songs in school and in the classrooms. Our YouTube views weren’t that many but people saying that shit meant a lot. Kids were hyped. We were living fast too, things changed really quick for all of us. We dropped “Bang” right around Chief Keef’s 16th birthday. A year later he was the face of Chicago. Before us, Chicago had Kanye and Lupe Fiasco. There was a big age gap there and kids weren’t really relating to it anymore. Our low budget effort really made shit more real for the kids. There was more of a genuine connection to the community. He’s one of the greatest of all time. These past ten years have been crazy, he really changed everything. He was the one. I thought he would probably sign to a major label later on but he was able to do it all on his own at a young age due to his natural talent. Changed everything when he was 16 years old.
Your song “Hottest in the City” features Capo, Black Kray, Bladee, Justo, and Seeda. That is absolutely insane. What was your thought process with that song? How did you get such a diverse cast of artists all on the same beat?
I was inspired by what DJ Smallz was doing in Miami. He had a song called “Welcome to the Gunshine State” and it featured like every rapper in the city. Trick Daddy, Ice Billion Berg and a bunch of others. It was like 15 or 20 people on one song. I wanted to do something like that but with a bunch of people I was working with at the time. I wanted to highlight myself as like a bridge builder. A lot of people kinda dismissed me as like an “engineer” or just a side guy. By having all these guys from all these worlds I’m a part of on one song I was able to highlight myself as the producer since they were all on my type of beat. It just made sense for me since I was doing stuff for all of those guys separately. I don’t like when people dismiss me as just an “engineer.” I bring a lot of vision to the table and I wanted to show that.
How did you start working with Bladee, Thaiboy, and Ecco? You have done a handful of iconic songs and videos with them. Please tell us more on how that collaboration came about.
I remember I think one of them liked a picture of mine on Instagram and we started speaking over DMs. People had been telling me how good they were for a minute back then. Especially Bladee, people were telling me I should tap into Bladee’s music. I listened to all their music and I thought that shit was hard so I said “let’s make something.” They’ve shown me a lot of love and respect, I fuck with them. They make crazy music. They love to try new things. I linked up with them in Cali, they had a show that they invited me to. The next day we all went to Shlomo and D33J’s studio around Hollywood. We ended up making “Frozen 2” and a couple of other songs too. Actually, I made like 3 songs with Yung Lean that day but they aren’t ever going to get released.
There’s pictures online with you and all of the Haunted Mound guys. It’s cool seeing you tap in with some newer artists, especially ones that are so influenced by you and Sosa. How did that linkup kinda come about?
I fuck with them, they showed me respect and are super humble. They are genuinely good people. I want to work on music with them most definitely. We haven’t made anything yet but it’ll happen eventually. I was intrigued by them so I reached out and we just talked from there. I check out whoever follows my page, especially if it’s artists. I always try to see what’s going on and I was rocking with their music. But yeah, we were all in Cali at the same time so we linked up and that’s how I met them. I don’t know too much about them, I just know they showed me love and make good quality music. I can tell they were a little bit influenced by what Chief Keef was doing which is really cool.
About a year ago I saw a clip Peedapan posted of you at Chief Keef’s house making this really crazy piano-ballad type beat. Any upcoming collabs with Sosa? I know he’s loading AS2…
Yeah we made like 4 or 5 ideas that day! Did some stuff with Lil Gnar who’s one of his artists and Young Malcolm who’s one of his producers. I’m still cool with Keef man, he’s helped me out a lot. I was just with him in Cali, we kicked it and talked about a lot of things. It was just me and him. He repped some of the new shirts I printed too and took some photos for promotion. I helped him when nobody was there for him and now he’s done the same for me. Whatever he does, that shit’s gonna help me because we came up together. I don’t ever want a handout from him but he does a lot for me out of the bond we have built together. I want to earn everything I have. Was talking with him about being on Almighty So 2. He’s really doing most of his own production at the moment. I’m doing a couple of melodies and stuff for him so it’s a possibility but not entirely sure if I’ll be on it.
You’ve been doing a whole lot at the moment. Vlogs, Your brand Shibuya Tyson, producing beats, making videos etc. What is the next step for DJ Kenn?
I’ve got a collab with D33J on the way, some house type shit that he’s singing on. I’ve been practicing DJing and tryna do more live shows and pop-ups. I’m opening for Snow Strippers on the Chicago stop of their tour which is cool. I’m selling shirts for my brand Shibuya Tyson to help out with my lawyer fees. If you’re reading this and want to help me out, they are $28 on my website shibuyatyson.com. I actually also have collaborations coming out with Bladee as well… A lot to look forward to.
In the meantime, it would mean a lot if you repped my clothes. I don’t like asking for handouts but I am going through a lot right now. Just want to be able to afford a good lawyer and handle the situation so that I am still able to live in and visit the USA in the future. If you support me or acknowledge my work, it would mean a lot if you supported me in this way.
Words and interview by Koko Bond-Razak
