Tuning In: Steve Aoki

For our next episode of Tuning In, we speak with Las Vegas-based DJ, producer, and entrepreneur, Steve Aoki as he makes a stop in Hong Kong to headline the city’s first-ever Ultra Festival.

Known for his electrifying performances and cake-throwing antics, 2-time Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Steve Aoki is always up to something new. Since forming the indie label Dim Mak Records in 1996, he’s continued to be a trailblazer in dance music across the past two decades with chart-topping hits like “Turbulence” and “Pursuit of Happiness,”

Having already established himself as one of the most recognisable DJs in the world, he continues to evolve, tapping in with everyone from Rick Rubin and Linkin Park to BTS and Lil Yachty. Beyond music, Aoki is a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who constantly looks to push boundaries with cross-industry collaborations and creative ventures.

While Aoki recently made a club appearance in Central last year at Zeus, it’s been a decade since he’s played for a festival in Hong Kong — the last time being for BLOHK PARTY alongside Edison Chen and Pharrell Williams. Catching him for a few minutes before his act at Ultra Hong Kong 2024, he updated us on what’s new with his HiROQUEST project, his plans for his stint in the city, and more.

 

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A post shared by Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong (@lifestyleasiahk)

How does it feel to be back in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is always amazing. I look at the city as a hub of fashion and culture from Asia. You guys are always ahead of the curve here. So that’s what I did all day, visiting friends.

When I first started DJing here in 2006 it was more on the fashion and culture side of things. It wasn’t Steve Aoki, the DJ. It was more where I was just in the mix with the fashion circle. It’s a really forward-thinking city. Great for just walking around and sightseeing.

I don’t expect the crowd to be a really crazy-crazy crowd. Hong Kong is a cool city, so the cool kids don’t go too crazy. That’s the thing about cool kids. They don’t go crazy on the outside. They go crazy on the inside. So if they’re going like this [bobbing head], that means they’re really feeling it. That’s why I don’t look at the crowd like I need to have them screaming.

It may not necessarily be like the energy at Ultra Miami.

Yeah but it’s Ultra too. So Ultra brings a different kind of energy. When Ultra hit me up to do Hong Kong, I was 100% down because I haven’t done a proper festival show here in a long time.

Last time, I remember I was on stage with Pharrell and Edison Chen for BLOHK PARTY. That was ten years ago. I actually just talked to Edison Chen an hour ago. I had to stop by CLOT. I remember that festival. It wasn’t a crazy crowd, just a very cool crowd.

 

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A post shared by Aokis Cardhouse (@aokiscardhouse)

On the topic of fashion, it looks like most of what you’re wearing is custom?

Everything is custom except for the Murakami x RTFKTs. Mostly hand-painted, but this [points to his top] is my IP, HiROQUEST. I wrote a book, built trading cards, and built a whole world around this character, HiRO.

What you see on my pants is HYRO — what HiRO becomes. He becomes more of an evil character. In the second book I’m finishing up, which should be done by the end of mid-October, HiRO actually comes up and battles HYRO. It’s going to be a pretty interesting sequence of events there.

I love worldbuilding, I love creating IPs, and building brands. This time I actually built my own anime-style characters and world.

We saw you were at TOPPS yesterday. What else do you have planned for your trip here?

I got here yesterday and I’m part of the TOPPS family, so I did TOPPS trading cards for baseball and soccer before and became close to Michael Rubin and the Fanatics family. So they asked me to be part of their TOPPS Rip Night and I was like, well, I’m going to be in Hong Kong during the Rip Night and they’re like, oh, we’ll find a Fanatics sponsored store.

The Hong Kong card community came together. They slammed a bunch of people in the store and we had a fun Rip Night. I pulled a [Victor] Wembanyama rookie auto, a redemption card, which everyone was freaking out about. It was pretty sick. That was fun.

 

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Message for fans in Hong Kong?

My fans in Hong Kong, keep being cool and keep innovating in fashion and culture. Every time I’m here, I feel the creativity, I feel the energy, and the city’s energy is based on the people, so my fans that are here are ahead. Keep doing that and keep following me because I’m innovating and always thinking about my music and how it’s going to reshape myself as an individual and also the culture that we built.

Follow me on my card game too. I just did a scavenger hunt in Quarry Bay. The cards were found immediately but no one shot the video. I asked you guys to make a play video of you guys in the cards, but there are videos of people trying to look for the cards and they’re gone. So guys, make a video so we can post it up! I will probably do one more scavenger hunt before I leave Hong Kong.

Video: Ryan Putranto
Special thanks to Ultra Hong Kong, Monica Cheung