88-Keys
Charles Misodi Njapa (born March 3, 1976), better known by his stage name 88-Keys, is an American record producer and rapper.
Biography
Born in New York to West African parents, he was raised in the Eastchester section of the Bronx and in West Hempstead on Long Island, where he attended high school.
88-Keys first took an interest in hip hop after hearing Prince Paul's production on De La Soul's 1989 critically acclaimed album 3 Feet High and Rising. In the early '90's, 88-Keys met A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip, DJ-producer Pete Rock and producer Large Professor working as an intern at West Hempstead's The Music Palace recording studio. It was Large Professor who gave Charles his 88-Keys moniker after witnessing his skills on the Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard.
However, 88-Keys's parents were strict on education and less enthusiastic about his interest in the then-newly emerging cultural phenomenon of hip hop. Both of 88-Keys's parents are registered nurses, his brother is a doctor, one of his older sisters is a nurse and another sister is on her way to becoming a doctor. Upon considering a serious career in music, 88-Keys's parents and older brother began trying to point him into the field of medicine because it was a more "professional field" and the music industry didn't seem like a lucrative move. After briefly attending Hofstra University and Queens College, 88-Keys dropped out to pursue his dreams of being a record producer. His decision was fueled by an opportunity to record some tracks with The Pharcyde who were recording in California. 88-Keys currently resides in Harlem, New York with his wife and two daughters.
