It was no accident, according to energetic music visionary 88-Keys. The 29-year-old producer would be the first to tell you that he was always going to make his mark in hip-hop and beyond. For 88?, who has showcased his eclectic studio prowess for everyone from socially conscious Brooklyn rhymer/actor Mos Def (Black On Both Sides, The New Danger) to platinum R&B singer-songwriter Musiq (Juslisen, Soulstar), creating music would prove to be his destiny. It is a path he knew he would take when he first heard legendary Prince Paul?s groundbreaking, mad scientist production on De La Soul?s 1989 classic 3 Feet High and Rising. ?It made me look at hip-hop as an art? recalls 88-Keys. ?Then I remember walking home from my 8th grade class and hearing A Tribe Called Quest?s ?I Left My Wallet In El Segundo? on a car radio. And I?m like, ?What was that?!!!? Hearing someone like Kool G. Rap was a wake-up call but De La and Tribe was a bucket of cold water. I knew hip-hop music was it for me.?

Indeed, the kid born Charles Misodi Njapa in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, New York more than made good on his hip-hop ambitions. His early ?90s transition from eager intern to assistant engineer at West Hempstead?s The Music Palace recording studio insured that he would meet up with his heroes: A Tribe Called Quest?s charismatic front man Q-Tip; influential crate digger Pete Rock; and respected Nas producer Large Professor. It was L.P. who blessed Charles with his 88-Keys moniker after witnessing his budding skills on the ARS-10 keyboard. ?I told myself if I ever make it in this business, that?s the name that I was going to use because I got it from one of the great ones,? 88? recalls.

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