Steve Aoki, the DJ/Producer, grew up in Newport Beach, CA, and went to coll… Read Full Bio ↴Steve Aoki, the DJ/Producer, grew up in Newport Beach, CA, and went to college at UCSB. In his early 20s, he founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as Datsik, Infected Mushroom, Dada Life, Zeds Dead, his own collaboration with Tiësto, MSTRKRFT, The Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal and Mustard Pimp, as well as by Bloc Party, Battles, The Kills, The Gossip, Klaxons, Scanners, Whitey, and Mystery Jets to name a few. The label has released over 250 records so far.

Aoki's debut mix album, Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles was released in January 2008.[6] He also had an Essential Mix that aired on BBC Radio 1 on August 2, 2008.

Aoki's latest solo album, "Wonderland" was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, Will.I.AM aka Zuper Blahq, Wynter Gordon, Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Chiddy Bang, Lovefoxxx of CSS, Big John former guitarist of the punk band The Exploited, and others.

Aoki has also been busy in the studio collaborating with other fellow producer friends and thus far has released singles with The Bloody Beetroots, Armand Van Helden of Duck Sauce, Afrojack, Laidback Luke, Tai, Sidney Samson, Tiesto. In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel, he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future collaborations with Diplo, Knife Party, Datsik, Chris Lake, Rune, Iggy Azalea, Angger Dimas, and Dirtyphonics.

He has remixed many artists and bands, including Jackson 5, Drake, Kanye West, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Mike Posner, Girls Generation, All American Rejects, Refused, The Killers, Bassnectar, Lenny Kravitz, Bloc Party, Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke, S.P.A., Kid Cudi, Chester French and Peaches.

Through relentless touring he gained huge support from colleges. Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he has recently started touring with production via bus tours like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour he headlined over 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada.

In March 2010 Aoki released "I'm In The House", a collaboration with Zuper Blahq—alter-ego of The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am. The song charted at #29 in the UK Singles Chart in its first week of release.

In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist Michael Davis' Music Is Revolution Foundation,[9] a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools.

www.steveaoki.com
www.djz.com/featured_djs/steve-aoki/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Aoki

Earthquakey People
Steve Aoki Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Let me tell you all about my life
Grab a seat, get strapped in tight
You may have heard about an earthquake ride
But these ones happen deep inside
My life is a chain of troubled times
That which only last a little while
And then when the next one comes along
I'm getting ready to jump, jump, jump

Earthquakey people, jump around
Nothing they can do or say to bring us down
Earthquakey people, jump around
Get ready to shake with the power of sound

Break me up, break me down
Turn my life upside down
Brush it off, there and then
Pick my life up again
I'll still keep on dancing
I'll still keep on dancing

When my daddy left my mum
When I got kicked from the prom
When I got my first pink slip
When my only tooth got chipped
It doesn't matter what you got in store
I'm able to handle so much more
And I never hide away in me
Let's shake it up, shake it up right here

Earthquakey people, jump around
Nothing they can do or say to bring us down
Earthquakey people, jump around
Get ready to shake with the power of sound

Break me up, break me down
Turn my life upside down
Brush it off, there and then
Pick my life up again
I'll still keep on dancing
I'll still keep on dancing

Don't be afraid to dance
Don't be afraid to take a chance

Don't be afraid to dance
Don't be afraid to take a chance

Earthquakey people, jump around
Nothing they can do or say to bring us down
Earthquakey people, jump around
Get ready to shake with the power of sound

Break me up, break me down
Turn my life upside down
Brush it off, there and then
Pick my life up again

I'll still keep on dancing
I'll still keep on dancing

Overall Meaning

In this song, Steve Aoki talks about the troubles in life as being like an earthquake. He shares a message that no matter how bad things may seem, we must shake it off and keep dancing. Aoki encourages listeners to jump around, dance and have fun even when things get tough. The lyrics, “It doesn't matter what you got in store, I'm able to handle so much more,” suggest that he has been through tough times but he refuses to be defeated by his problems.

Aoki also shares some of his personal struggles such as his father leaving his mother, getting kicked out of prom, receiving a pink slip, and chipping his tooth. These struggles may seem small in the grand scheme of things but they are significant as they have clearly impacted him. Steve uses these experiences to suggest that he has yet to allow them to defeat him. Instead, he has learned to pick himself up and keep dancing.

The chorus of the song is largely repetitive, which makes it a perfect song for the dance-floor playing on people’s love for electronic music. Steve Aoki beautifully weaves technical aspects of his EDM style with meaningful lyrics drawn from his personal experiences in life.

Line by Line Meaning

Let me tell you all about my life
I'm going to share with you the ups and downs of my life

Grab a seat, get strapped in tight
Get ready, because it's going to be a wild ride

You may have heard about an earthquake ride
You might have experienced things that shook you up

But these ones happen deep inside
But for me, the earthquakes are happening within me

My life is a chain of troubled times
My life has been a series of problems and obstacles

That which only last a little while
But I know that each problem won't last forever

And then when the next one comes along
When the next problem arises

I'm getting ready to jump, jump, jump
I'm ready to face it head-on and keep going

Earthquakey people, jump around
We, the people who've gone through tough times, are still jumping around

Nothing they can do or say to bring us down
No one can bring us down or defeat us

Get ready to shake with the power of sound
Get ready to feel the power of music that moves us

Break me up, break me down
Life may break me down, but I'll still get back up

Turn my life upside down
My life may turn upside down at times

Brush it off, there and then
But I'll brush it off and keep moving forward

Pick my life up again
I'll pick up the pieces and keep going

I'll still keep on dancing
I won't let anything stop me from enjoying life

When my daddy left my mum
When my dad and mom split up

When I got kicked from the prom
When I got kicked out of prom

When I got my first pink slip
When I got my first job termination letter

When my only tooth got chipped
When my tooth got chipped

It doesn't matter what you got in store
Whatever life brings your way, it doesn't matter

I'm able to handle so much more
I'm strong enough to handle it all

And I never hide away in me
I never wallow in self-pity

Let's shake it up, shake it up right here
Let's dance and move on

Don't be afraid to dance
Don't be afraid of what others might think, just dance

Don't be afraid to take a chance
Don't hesitate to take risks

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Ultra Tunes, BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Steven Hiroyuki Aoki, Rivers Cuomo, Justin Robert Bates, Lucas Secon

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS