Steve Aoki is on a multi-world odyssey and it goes beyond music

Steve Aoki has been a household name for the past two decades, but that hasn’t stopped him from perpetually experimenting, jumping from one sound to another, and challenging how his music is consumed, understood, and commemorated.

“There is no one doing what I do,” he says. Rolling Stone when reflecting on HiROQUEST 2: Double Helix, an expansive 23-track album released on Friday. The ambitious project simultaneously spans country, Latin and dance, drawing on Aoki’s early roots while embracing today’s appetite for innovative music. Paris Hilton, AconAngela Aguilar, Danna Paola, Greeicy, Galantis, JJ Lin, Hayley Kiyoko, Galantis, Timmy Trumpet and John Martin appear throughout the album, which was released alongside a new music video for “Us”, a country dance track starring Ernest.

“I continue to work with artists who are not in dance, because I love it,” she says of her collaborative work, adding: “You have to do things that move your heart, move the needle, move the culture within you. You.” He later explains, “I want to go deeper… I love that we’re in a different cultural state, where the underground sounds of house and techno are becoming the forefront.”

A big part of Aoki’s innovation has expanded to his storytelling beyond the music. While the first punk-infused installment of 2022 HiROQUEST: Genesis introduced protagonist Hiro and continued his quest to capture magic rings and save the world. Double helixis based on this universe: introducing a new antagonist and, with it, an opportunity for Aoki to engage fans with his passion for card collecting.

“The albums are like the fossil of that era,” the producer explains when talking about how each album acts as a “time stamp” of the current sound of the culture. “For me it is very important to leave a legacy. I love telling stories, and that’s why HiROQUEST, I have physical trading cards… I’m obsessed with the history of building intellectual property, of building brands. “I am a brand builder.”

His obsession has manifested itself in a HelloROQUEST Collectors Edition, arriving on November 21, offers fans an official CD, a graphic novel, and four “Kolex” trading cards from a 12-card set. Like the new album, the novel, which Aoki wrote with former Marvel Comics creative director and Eisner Award winner Jim Kreuger, describes the story of Hiro’s journey through five mythological kingdoms and confrontation with his archenemy, Hyro. Aoki adds that he eventually plans to turn the story into a television series.

“I am very excited to tell the story. I want people to really follow me on this journey beyond music,” Aoki says. “I want people to be part of that story from the beginning, because the story is just beginning.”