Prince William Interviews Kingdom

Ezra Rubin is a Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, and digital artist who
performs under the name KINGDOM. KINGDOM also raps on his own
Lumberthug rave anthems, as well as producing "Dance It Off" (which
features vocals from Telfar and Melissa Burns), the first single off
his upcoming Official Kingdom Mixtape Vol. 2. His beats fuse rarer
styles like Chicago Diva House, Horror Crunk, Reggaeton, and UK Grime.

Meanwhile, he single-handedly brought back friendship bracelet bling, and his video skills demonstrate his visually aggressive portrayals of the things he loves most. Topics include vortexes, Dipset, stone walls, and special effects, all rendered in his signature mystical-psychedelic, digital style.

KINGDOM was recently featured in the "Live 2007" section of i-D
magazine and was featured on the front page of the Arts section of
the New York Times. The first volume of his mixtape series is
available at Opening Ceremony, NYC, and Printed Matter, NYC.

We are excited to have you for the premier of makermaker. Your work as a producer is enough to get you here but your mixtape and dj sets are going to work the dancefloor hard. On top of that you are premiering some new video work. its gonna be HUGE. Jackmaker is gonna jump off hard!

Let the people know a little bit about how you make your graphics and specific points of inspiration or reference.
In 2003 I made a web page for the theatrical fantasy rave performance troupe I was in called Memories Forever. The page was a sparkling GIF-laden forest environment. Since then I have been fascinated with background patterns, screensavers, magic eye, and homemade animated GIFs. The patterns I use are all custom made and always leapfrog off of old patterns I have made, by torquing them and applying effects to them. Sometimes I will scan kente or guatemalen fabrics, photo's I have taken, or even just use the single pixel pencil tool to draw shapes and then repeat them. I love crafting something mystical, spiritual, or ephemeral out of janky digital information.

Also tell me when you remix tracks like keyisha or busta does it mean you dislike the original beat or are you just giving it a new context. if that is the case, specifically what context do u see it as.
Big producers go for a pop hit so... I love top 40 hip-hop and R&B but many of the beats are overused or have been sampled too many times. I respect the original but like to take Keyshia to places she's never been. My new 909 acid-trance mix of "Let it Go" with Missy and Kim takes them to outer space while also taking them to Detroit in 1989, same thing I guess.

Tell me about something tight and your involvemennts with it.
I do Something Tight every first Thursday at Happy Ending with my boys Telfar and Timmy. It's basically just us and our friends dancing to what we want to hear. It's a pretty tight knit crew and its where people come to hear the Kingdom tracks that have not dropped yet, but also come to hear the mixtape joints that Funkmaster Flex debut the night before. It gets banjee in there sometimes.

Tell me about your feelings for Dallas.
Dallas is one of my favorite places on earth that I have been so far. Incredible shopping at the swap meets / indoor malls. Best BBQ ribs on earth. Friendly gay hip-hop clubs that play that crunk shit I need to hear. Driving around with the Prince blasting music from the future...what more could I ask for!!!???!!!

What artists or designers are you looking at, wearing ,or listening to, respectively?
There are so many people who have done and are doing incredibly inspirational things. Mike Kelley, Ryan Trecartin, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Rich Harrison, DJ Tameil, Remy Ma, Bernhard Willhelm, Walter Van Beirendonck, Terrah Danjah, Davinche, Forcefield ( R.I.P.), Aaliyah (R.I.P.), Telfar, Riff Raff Crew, NGUZUNGUZU, Hood By Air, Sterling Ruby, Tobias Bernstrup, just to name a few....

-Prince William

Also check Kingdom in the Style section of the Fader site here, grab his blazing new remix below and come to Prince William's first mothly jumpoff Jackmaker this Sun. @ The Loft...it will be insane!

Keyshia Cole :: Let It Go (Kingdom 909 Remix)
Myspace :: Kingdom