The history of beatmaking is long and winding. Happy accidents, chance meetings, legendary parties and countless hours of hard work have all made hip-hop, house, and techno into full-fledged cultures. In those cultures there are unsung heroes whose influence reaches wide, and one of those heroes is journeyman DJ and producer Anthony Khan, aka The Twilite Tone.
Raised on marching band funk in New Orleans and schooled in beatmaking later in Chicago, Khan's travels in and out of music have earned him an astounding resumé. In Chicago he lead a dance crew, played a massive role in Common's earliest records, and helped force hip-hop into the city's clubs at a time when house giants like Frankie Knuckles ruled over the scene. Speaking to longtime OKP and LargeUp contributor Rishi Nath in a new interview with Open City Mag, Khan remembers wanting "other tempos and other textures in the party. It was just time, like 'Yo let's hear Soul II Soul, or A Tribe Called Quest.' Play something with some other kind of beat. And we were met with adversity."
Still, Khan remembers Chicago kindly. Dancing to pounding house sets late into the night was like an "out of body experience," he told Open City.
In what's ultimately a far-reaching and enlightening interview, Twilite went on to speak at length about Common, his newly-forged bond with Kanye West and his current life as a DJ and music-maker in New York City. He produced two tracks for West's G.O.O.D. Music 2012 compilation Cruel Summer, helped to write its biggest hit and continues to grow as an influencer in the modern East Coast hip-hop and house scene. His sound is loaded with surprising samples, moody synthesized bass and plenty of the same pulsing house beat that shaped his worldview decades ago. Listen to a sampling of his work below, watch a short video clip of Khan at work. and be sure to hit the link for Rishi's full interview:
