King Takeshi is a unique artist for many reasons and wears many different hats. As an artist, producer, and DJ that is currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan Takeshi is a man of many talents. Takeshi has just dropped his single “Desire” from which he drew inspiration from the guys that ask him how to talk to women at his strip club emceeing gigs in Japan. King Takeshi also host one of the hottest international shows on the web with The Heat Okinawa.
The singer/emcee wants to bring back the feeling that the music in The 90’s gave us. From its ability to make people want to move, to its ability to make us want to get close to that special someone in our lives.
Takeshi speaks on the current landscape of R&B and how Hip-Hop has changed the genre from a technical and performance level. Checkout our interview with the Orlando, Florida born artist, as well as his new single “Desire” below.
King Takeshi Interview
A2HH: Where does the name King Takeshi come from?
King Takeshi: The name came from a conversation I was having with some Japanese females. It’s a cartoon in Japan and the main character’s name is Takeshi and I thought that was a cool name and I added the King to it and it became my brand, and has been for the last 6 years.
A2HH: Do you spend a lot of time in Japan?
KT: I work for the federal government in the US stationed in Japan. I’ve been in Japan since 2007.
A2HH: How does that work with your recording process?
KT: I record at three different studios in Japan. I go to Furious Vibes’ studio. He engineered my current single “Desire”. Furious speaks English so there’s no language barrier when it comes to letting him know what I want for the particular track.
A2HH: What’s the Hip-Hop & R&B scene like in Japan?
KT: Not too much of an R&B scene in Japan, but the Hip-Hop scene is just like it is in the states. The Japanese fans have Japanese Hip-Hop artist that they follow. They pick up on the trends from the states and incorporate it into their music. MTV Japan is really big out here, many of the native Japanese watch that and take various influences from there.
A2HH: Who are some of your R&B influences?
KT: Maxwell, Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, and Trey Songz.
A2HH: What are some of your go to albums in general?
KT: I don’t really listen to the whole album nowadays. If I like a song I just grab it and put it in my playlist. There really hasn’t been an album where I just sit there and put it on replay like that.
A2HH: Are you working on an album right now or are you more focused on releasing singles?
KT: I’m pushing the single right now, then I’m going to work on part 2 of my mixtape Water Ever Temptation, I released part 1 early 2018 and it was well received and got great reviews.
A2HH: What was your inspiration for the single “Desire”?
KT: I emcee at a Japanese strip club so I get a lot of questions from the military guys here, on how to talk to girls. After they’ve gotten that liquid courage to go talk to a girl. So the thing behind it was that 2am back and forth flirting conversation between a man and a woman right before the club closes, when the guy is trying to close the deal. This is the track that comes on at the end of the night right before the slow jams come on.
A2HH: What’s a Japanese strip club like?
KT: Okinawa is very Americanized, so the strip clubs here try to be as Americanized as possible with the tipping and the girls going half nude. They can’t go full nude because of the laws. It’s pretty much the same as America except for that customers aren’t spending tons of money like that.
They have a pole and everything. The club I work with tries to make the club as American as possible. The clubs that cater to American normally close at 1am.
A2HH: You’re from Orlando, Florida. How would you describe your sound as an artist?
KT: I would say my sound can be compared to Gerald Levert as an artist.
A2HH: You produce as well, how would you describe your sound sonically?
KT: From a production standpoint I would say more like a modern type of Trey Songz. Really slow jam type late night music. It started DJing in the clubs out here in Japan and I started playing slow jams at the end of the night and a couple of other DJs out here started doing the same thing. It’s a big copycat league here so if you do something the Japanese DJs will copy it. So now slow jams at the end of the night out here is the norm.
A2HH: What role do you think Hip-Hop has played in the way that R&B currently sounds?
KT: I think the auto-tune really changed the Hip-Hop and R&B thing. You have singers that can’t really hit the vocals that you need to hit for an R&B song nowadays. With the track “Desire” I went through about 14 different singers before I got the perfect mix that I needed. With male singers especially there’s a lot of auto that they try to use on their vocals.
A2HH: Do the singers use auto-tune as a crutch?
KT: They use it as a crutch and they don’t really have the knowledge of their vocals. You have to end up paying a vocal coach to get them where you need them to be vocally. I think auto-tune played a lot into people losing that sense.
Artist don’t even understand the surgery that goes into an engineer fixing out of tune and out of wack vocals. It’s a lot of work. I’ve had guys claiming they can sing and then they come to the studio and lay it down and I’m like “No, I can’t use this”. I’ll let them finish their session but after awhile I’m like, I can’t even use this.
A2HH: What else would you like for the people to know about your music?
KT: Check it out! I’m trying to bring back the feeling that The 90’s gave us a little bit. Baby making music.
A2HH: What is next for King Takeshi?
KT: Promoting the single, got the new mixtape coming out. That will probably be out in April. I’ve got my radio show The Heat going. And I’ll put out a Hip-Hop mixtape soon. When I put together a mixtape I like for it to follow a story. I’m still getting that story together.
