What's the biggest size the waist goes up to?
Because you know some things don't always look right.
Yeah, I know.
I'm a size 30.
[CLEARS THROAT]
But I do wear some baggy clothes.
So some of it's 33, maybe.
[LAUGHS]
I don't know.
That'll get one thigh.
[LAUGHS]
Just one?
OK.
From Amazon Music, it's The Walk In, honey.
[THEME MUSIC]
(WHISPERING) Boom.
The doll is back in Vegas, honey.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ah!
[HUMMING] I'm on my way to meet one of the busiest men in show
business, Steve Aoki.
Oh!
On the heels of his latest album, Hiroquest--
Genesis, Steve Aoki is one of the most sought after DJs
in the world.
With a passion for fashion and a love of streetwear,
he blends the worlds of fashion and music
with his lifestyle brand and label, Dim Mak.
Now, I hear that he has no shortage of clothes.
So let's go see what I can borrow.
Ooh, this is so nice!
Ooh.
[GASPS] Oh, my gosh, is that his face?
Hello, Steven.
Hello, darling.
Hello.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Is that a beat?
I think this might be Steve.
Ah!
Steve, I'm coming.
Steve!
Oh my god.
Ah!
Hey.
Your house is amazing, OK?
How are you?
How you doing?
Hey, how are you?
It's good to meet you.
You too.
The looks are right.
Thank you.
We're kind of in the same vibe.
Yeah, yeah, we definitely are--
Woo!
Look at that.
Just give me a spin for the people at home.
Boom.
Now, is this your own label?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it's called Aoki 1of1.
It's hand-painted clothing from my team.
So it's precious to you?
Yeah.
So I couldn't leave here with it?
[LAUGHS]
I'm hoping that you give me at least two things.
Maybe a T-shirt or something?
Can we take a photo and put it up on the wall?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to get you on the wall.
Here.
Cool.
But you have to sign yours, OK?
OK, that's fine.
So let's get your signature on here.
Put the date on there, too.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And then we need to pin--
Look at dreams coming true.
I didn't get caked in the face, but bitch, I
got my photo on the wall!
Thank you so much.
Let's go check out your closet.
OK, let's do it.
OK, Mo, I want to show you this.
This is something special.
You ready?
Yes, I'm ready.
You have to just walk in blind.
OK, just walk in?
OK.
All right.
Ooh!
OK, just welcome to my closet.
This is where I live.
What was the inspiration when you said,
I just want to wake up every morning
and feel like I'm in a music video?
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
It's a set.
So it's a set, it's his closet.
And you know what that means?
It's a tax write-off.
Because work and home, boom.
I know that's right, baby.
Boom!
Mr. Steve.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(SINGING) Ooh, this is the closet.
Yeah.
All right, Steve, we're at the Fashion Rewind.
This is where we go through your looks
from the past and talk about it.
OK, now, here you go.
This jacket is speaking to me, so let's start here.
Yeah, so this one is promoting one
of my songs called "Popcorn."
We drew a bunch of popcorn, painted it all out.
It's colorful, it's bright.
Dim Mak's my brand.
Who's the designer?
Do you go to the same person that paints?
We have, like, 15 different artists that work.
But it all started when I was in high school.
I always doodle on my clothes.
What's your inspiration like before the show?
Will you go, I'm feeling this right now?
Originally, it was all doodles.
Oh, just random?
Yeah, random stuff, whatever was happening in culture,
I'm just drawing it.
Whatever I'm seeing, cities I was at.
A true, full-on artists.
I'm reminded of the quote from Nina Simone, who
said it is the artist's job to reflect
what is going on in culture.
So if a lyric, if this is going on, and you doodle that,
that's really cool.
OK, so let's jump back into the fashion, right?
OK, Louis Vuitton.
So I like Louis Vuitton.
This one actually is one that brought me back
during COVID because I was doing a lot of shows here.
I built my own greenroom, DJ booth area.
And we were just doing live shows
to entertain everyone through their TV screens.
(SENTIMENTALLY) It's so nice.
So I was like, oh, we'll make a cool piece.
It's bright.
It's colorful.
It's going to pop on the screen.
It's kind of cool.
I would like to know, how did you get started?
Many of us know you being infamous, the music is great.
You got that rat-ta-ta, boom!
[LAUGHS] Honestly, I feel like the real start
for me was when I found music as a lifestyle,
when it became my entire life.
I was 14.
When you're a kid, all you care about
is belonging, finding a community that accepts you.
Mm-hmm.
I was bad at sports, so I couldn't fit in on that.
Same.
These kids were like, yo, we don't really
fit in anywhere, either.
But we listen to this kind of music,
and we subscribe to this kind of lifestyle.
Here's a tape.
And it was a tape of all these bands.
Pause.
For the young people at home, a cassette tape
is what we used to listen to music on, OK?
[REWINDING AUDIO]
You had to play it back and then flip to the B side.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Boom.
And they kind of told it to me like, no one likes this music
because it's too weird.
OK.
It's screaming, and it's just loud and abrasive.
I'm like, I don't care.
You accept me.
I'm going to love this.
Boom.
Because all I wanted to was just hang with a crew that was like,
please come into our world.
And with this music, I was like, I want to know all the lyrics.
I want to know the history of these bands.
I want to know the members.
And I'm like, wow, I'm obsessed with this whole thing.
And then music became everything-- activities I did,
the friends I made, the food I ate,
everything was about the culture, yeah.
OK, we see a Balenciaga.
You know what I love?
That you buy designer clothes and then make them yours, OK?
Yeah, I want to make it custom.
[GASPS]
So this is--
I'm a big anime geek.
And this is one of my favorite, Fist of the North Star.
So rocked that at Parookaville in Germany.
That's a festival, one of my favorite festivals
in the world.
This is bad-[BLEEP].
Yeah.
I love.
Come on, bringing the ooh-ah sensation to every nation.
This is a monkey.
Yeah, this is Bored Ape Yacht Club.
I'm all about Web3 NFTs.
We put the Bored Ape right on the clothes
instead of on a jpeg.
So your clothes are now NFTs, is what you're telling me?
Well, it's part of the Web3 NFT culture, these Bored Apes.
Because I was about to say, baby, I'm holding the NFT.
I'm holding!
Oh, my gosh.
What was your first instrument that you picked up?
Did you go straight into music production?
No, guitar.
Boom.
I was in bands from that age.
14.
By 15, I recorded a demo--
What?
--made a song, did all the instruments.
I played guitar, learned bass, learned drums, sang.
I wrote a song.
I wrote the lyrics.
I did everything by the time I was 15.
And then I knew this was going to be my calling, you know?
The transition of what music I would make
or how I would make it would change.
Yes.
But I knew that I had this interest
to make, and create, and be a part of music in some form
or fashion.
A lot of these clothes eventually
goes up on our website, dimmakcollection.com.
And we've sold hundreds of these pants.
We just put it up online, and people like it.
What's the biggest size the waist goes up to?
Because certain things don't always look right.
Yeah, I know.
I'm a size 30.
[BUZZER]
[CLEARS THROAT]
But I do wear some baggy clothes, so some of it's
33, maybe?
[LAUGHS]
I don't know.
That'll get one thigh, just one.
[LAUGHTER]
How did your parents respond to you saying,
this is what I want?
Well, I left college.
I toured the United States 14 times by the time
I left college--
Wow.
--but made no money, you know what I mean?
Building the dream.
Yeah, I was like, I love what I do.
But my parents were like, it's not sustainable for you.
That part.
And then I was like, OK, fine.
I got to the point where I'm like,
I'm going to stop actually touring and being in a band.
I positioned myself to go, well, I
want to do something else in music, which is what I
was doing, is my record label.
Yes.
Signing, developing, finding the next big artist.
Yes.
And then Dim Mak really took off.
I found some artists.
Some of them blew up.
Yes.
Even though the label on the front end looked really good,
I was spending all the money I was
making without realizing it.
The back end was a mess.
Maxed out 10 credit cards.
I was in debt, six figures.
Wow.
And there was no way for me to actually climb out
of that hole.
There was no light at the end of the tunnel.
At some point, I was thinking to myself,
there's no way I can get a lifeline from my parents.
Because they knew this was going to happen.
Right.
I'm going to have to close up this label that everyone thinks
is the hot [BLEEP].
So I was DJing and opening up these parties.
Through the act of DJing, I learned how to DJ.
Yes.
And then I'm like, wow, I'm a musician.
I can actually produce this music.
How old were you when that all clicked for you?
This was mid 20s.
Wow.
So mid 20s, I was broke, but I was still figuring things out.
The $50 that I was making per bar, gig, whatever--
Very much like drag--
all night for $50, I'm just-- ha!
[LAUGHS] OK, very nice.
And then eventually made $100, $200, $500.
And then I'm like, wow, that is the lifeline.
OK.
The DJing actually was the saving grace to my company.
Slow steps and small steps.
Then when I was producing, I produced 30 or 40 remixes
before I actually made one that people cared about.
As they always do.
Right?
People don't remember the 30 or 40.
Never.
But they remember the "Pursuit of Happiness."
That part.
That was, like, four years in the making.
Oh.
When you love it, you'll just keep doing it.
I found my calling in how to create music that actually
has an impact on culture.
Because being in a band, playing to 30 people
has an impact to those 30 people--
Right.
--but not necessarily outside those four walls.
Very true.
But this kind of music, and what we're
doing with electronic music, it was literally
like a ticking time bomb of a cultural explosion.
I feel so inspired.
We walk around your house like, it's gorgeous!
Oh, my gosh.
You're like, no, baby, I put in work for this.
We have some sneakers here.
These are the ones that caught my attention right away.
Yeah, I think these are the Pharrells.
So these are Pharrell's company, Human Race.
Yeah.
So we saw the closet for clothes.
Where's the closet for shoes?
Oh, I got a whole shoe closet.
I believe it.
I'm a big, like, sneaker head for sure.
OK, and then one more pair of shoes.
Those ones, I wore pretty much all summer.
Here you go.
Are these custom, or did you get them custom?
No, no, I got these in Dubai.
But they still have cake all over them.
There's some cake on here--
I know!
Yeah, right here.
And for the world, we see that there is a little "Brown Cow
Stunning" in there.
Da, da, da, da.
It was a moment of mine on RuPaul's Drag Race.
I said brown cow stunning, and then the world blew up with it.
But I didn't get the credit, but it's OK.
All right, Steve A, let's get to the here and now.
OK.
Now, here you go.
I believe this is for your new--
Album.
--album.
Yeah, just Hiro--
Hiroquest.
It's called Hiroquest.
This is the main character, Hiro.
I've been rocking this fit lately,
and this will eventually go up on my site.
People can buy this.
Now, here you go.
When I was walking around your house, scouting it.
OK.
He has a rug that has the same image.
This is Mothman.
You know, this Pokémon trading cards?
Yes.
It's like we created our own called MetaZoo based
on cryptids, like Bigfoot.
Sounds like Pokémon for adults.
During COVID, I got really into cards.
I got really into NFTs.
Word.
I'm a serial entrepreneur and investor.
And I wanted to start my own.
I've had this for 16 months.
It's, like, incredible.
The community has grown rapidly, and Hiroquest
is part of the MetaZoo universe like X-Men,
Avengers are part of Marvel.
I want-- I want a full cartoon series.
I want-- please.
Exactly.
That's what's going to happen.
Creating characters, building worlds, writing the story.
Just tell me where I need to invest.
I don't have $400,000, but I got at least $20 I can invest.
I love that you are like just a big ass kid.
I am.
I mean, you can tell in this house.
I mean, truthfully, like boom!
Just everything.
Like, oh!
I just love it.
Tell us about this.
This is just a fun way of using different logos
that everyone sees.
You know, like, we just put Dim Mak all over it.
I love.
You know, these are really meant for me to wear on stage.
Oh.
But, you know, one thing I-- when I was outside
at the lovely pool, I love that you have your face embroidered
as a logo.
I said this man-- you inspire me so much.
I'm so serious.
Now these two jackets, I really want this one that
looks a little like Chanel.
This is my character we-- me and Snoop Dogg, we made
an NFT band called Alpha Dogs.
And we release music.
It's giving very that.
This is me as like an alpha dog.
This is my NFT social membership community called Aokiverse.
So we have a whole community that we have our own solo
house.
Who are you?
Look, for you to be the baby of the family, your greatness
from what it sounds like is like, you're just touching it.
You know what I mean?
Like, what else are you going to do?
Like I feel like I'm bubbling with creativity.
Are you inspired?
I'm inspired.
OK.
Like I want to go be a boss.
Thank you so much.
Blessings, blessings, blessings.
All right, legendary children, we
have walked in to the closet.
And now we're walking out with the stories.
We're walking out empowered.
We're walking out encouraged.
This man is a G, a boss, a gangsta.
I mean, I really did not know you were like--
this is how you get this house.
Oh!
OK.
Anyway, thank you all so much for tuning in.
You have anything you want to promote?
Yeah.
My new album, Hiroquest, just came out.
Listen to it on Amazon Music.
You know, this is a special album
I've been working on since COVID.
Two years in the making, it's connected to a whole new world
that we're creating with all these new trading
cards and so much more.
All right, Mo, I actually want to show
you one more spot in the house.
You're going to love this one.
Take me.
Let's go.
Take me.
Let's go.
Take me.
Oh my gosh!
Stevie!
Ah!
Like, really?
What?
Who has this?
This is your house?
Come on, Mo.
Jump up with me.
We're going to jump-- we're going to jump in the foam pit
right now.
Let's go.
You know, my insurance really isn't that cleared yet.
You know, I work with stars, but--
I'm just going to do it then.
OK.
Let's go!
Woo!
Oh.
The way he just kind of stood there,
I was nervous for a minute.
Thank you so much for watching The Walk In.
Woo!
Oh.
OK.
I'm on top.
OK, love.
Bye.
Thank you so much for watching.
Oh, I didn't die at his house first off.
Thank you so much for watching.
Click here to subscribe, and click here
to watch more episodes of The Walk In.
Click right up here, if you want to hear
my new album, Hiroquest--
Genesis, on Amazon Music.
We'll see you next time.
Bye.