Thursday, February 25, 2016

NAUGHTY BY NATURE GETS IN THE MIX WITH HK™ (VIDEO)


Naughty By Nature, the legendary Platinum selling and Grammy award winning group that crossed over to mainstream audiences with anthems like Hip Hop Hooray and OPP are once again on the road and in the studio! They just dropped a fresh track with Queen Latifah and are getting busy on a new album. I was lucky enough to work closely with Naughty as A&R Director and Staff Producer at Tommy Boy Records. This week I catch up with them for an exclusive backstage interview in the middle of their 25th Anniversary Tour.  Treach, Vin Rock and Kay Gee tell us about the Kickstarter campaign for their new album, the amazing stuff fans can get for participating and what creative direction the new album is taking. All that, plus some crazy stories about working together back in the day! Hear highlights from the PG rated version of the interview on this week’s show and check out the full R rated 19 minute video interview below.


My Jersey brothers are hotter than ever and so is this week’s show! The decks will be on fire with exclusive HK remixes on DNCE, Troy Sivan, Tori Kelly and Mike Posner. Plus a wicked mash up with Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Adele and new tracks from Taylor Swift, Elle King, Jess Glynne! And that is just getting the party started!

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

Friday, February 19, 2016

TWENTY ONE PILOTS ARE FLYING HIGH

Twenty One Pilots have come a long way from going door to door in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio handing out tickets to their gigs. When that got to be a bit much the duo consisting of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun would meet their fans at a local mall’s food court. Even Joseph’s mother got into the grassroots movement hawking tickets to Ohio State students outside their venues saying “Come see my son play music”.

Twenty One Pilots hard work has paid off. Their rock rap throwback Stressed Out, that I CAN NOT get out of my head, is #2 this week on the Billboard Hot 100 and they recently announced a 58-date U.S. arena tour that includes two almost sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden!

I have the ultimate stress reliever for you this weekend. A non-stop party on In The Mix with HK™! Get ready to turn it up for exclusive HK remixes on Coldplay, Adele, Justin Bieber, Twenty One Pilots, Borns and more! Plus new joints from Kygo featuring Parson James, and Zara Larsson & MNEK. Just when you think your woofers are gonna blow, I’ll be unleashing a surprise reworked classic you don’t want to miss! It’s all going down right here this weekend! 

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

Friday, February 12, 2016

GRAMMY® WEEKEND ON IN THE MIX WITH HK™

This Monday is music’s biggest night - The 58th Grammy® Awards!

Being a long time voting member of the Academy plus a previous Grammy® nominee I take the awards very seriously. Record of the Year is another tuff one this year. The nominees are: D’Angelo and The Vanguard – Really Love, Mark Roson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk, Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud,  Taylor Swift – Blank Space and The Weeknd – I Can’t Feel My Face. Not an easy decision to make but for me there was one standout. Who would you vote for? Seriously I want to know, hit me up at @HowardHKKessler on twitter with your thoughts.

The performance list for the show reads like a who’s who of the music industry with Adele, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Diplo, Skrillex, Ellie Goulding, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Demi Lovato, Pitbull, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Meghan Trainor and many more! Plus a tribute to David Bowie and The Eagles & Jackson Brown doing a tribute to Glenn Frye. DAMN! I love Grammy night!

Even better than Grammy night is Grammy weekend! I'm kicking it off on In The Mix with HK™! We’ll be talking Grammy gossip, what to expect on music's biggest night and I’ll be throwin’ down brand spankin' new custom HK remixes on Twenty One Pilots, The Chainsmokers featuring Daya, One Direction, Selena Gomez, Tori Kelly and many more faves so don't miss a single second! 

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

SUPER BOWL - SUPER MUSIC!

We all love the game but don’t underestimate the entertainment for heating up the field! First, there’s the singing of the National Anthem. Six-time Grammy winner Lady Gaga will do the honors this year. The Star Spangled Banner is no easy song to belt out, but if Gaga nails it, like she did her tribute to The Sound of Music at last year’s Oscars, Levi’s Stadium will be blown away!

Of course Gaga is just getting the party started. Next up is the halftime show. A no holds barred musical extravaganza, not to mention a virtual album seller as well as pressure cooker for the artists invited to the party. Perform for one of the world’s biggest audiences for twelve minutes, all the while trying to make a killer definitive statement…no worries right? Who doesn’t love watching this stuff plus you never know if there will be another wardrobe malfunction! This year Coldplay and featured guest Beyoncé will take the midfield stage with about 115 million of us watching and ready to jam out! Oh yeah and there’s a football game too! You gotta love Super Bowl Sunday!

I’ll give you another reason to love Super Bowl weekend. I'll be making more moves on the decks than the Broncos and the Panthers on the field! So do the right thing and kick your Super Bowl weekend into epic party mode with my exclusive remixes on Coldplay, Rihanna & Drake, Justin Bieber, Adele, Tori Kelly and Charlie Puth. Plus brand new music from R.City, Borns, Mike Posner and even more surprises! 

Remember…if it's hot, if it's new and it makes you wanna move…you're In The Mix with HK™.