Digable Planets DJ King Britt got his career started at Tower Records, but he quickly moved into DJ and production work. His most recent projects include work on the Miami Vice film soundtrack and the Scuba album, Hidden Treasures. In part two of our exclusive interview, Gearwire's Joe Wallace asked King Britt about what it takes to break into DJ culture and what he thinks of the evolution of DJ gear since he got started. His advice? Don't be limited by just one aspect of the business, branch out and make your mark in as many ways as possible.

What does it take to launch a successful career as a DJ?

My advice? it was really a timing thing for us, the early 90s was an amazing time, these groups and clusters of parties were popping up all over the world. There was a cultural exchange through DJing . The only way people knew our names as DJs was thru production that traveled the world and got played in the clubs. Producers and artists had this following through the production. Now, it's crazy how the mix tape game that has gotten so big that DJs can travel just through their mix tapes. Mix tapes in the hip hop world, the mix tape is your key to traveling. With other genres it's more complicated.

Technology allows everybody in the world to go online and get the hottest release. back in the day you had to search for it. you had to go digging all the time, the art of digging is lost. All the young people coming out DJing, but dont have the history. My advice is to learn the history; if you are into techno learn the history of techno. Learn it and get into it. They are all available online. Ultimately that is where it all started from.

What about the division of genres, and using your knowledge of those genres to compliment a set in the DJ booth?

It's all very genre driven now, it's harder for us. I can play anything because of my name, but when you are coming out now, everything is so separate, either you are a hip hop DJ, or a tecnhno dj or whatever. (Even so) there are certain hip hop records that are sampling the original techno records from detroit! Once you start getting deeper in your history and genres of music you find these paralleles that work in your set, but outside your genre. You can easily mix Carl Craig into Justin Timberlake's My Love and not lose the floor. Be creative.

There are massive resources for DJs now online, you don't even need to travel to a record store to sift through the bins. How does that change the game?

I'm on iTunes and Dance Tracks Digital all the time, and I'll come to a gig and I'll play stuff and head "Where'd you get that?" and I say "iTunes!" Ultimately the indie side of iTunes is run by Bruno Ybarra, who used to run Naked Music, one of the best house brands ever for dance music. All these incredible songs came out of it. For him to be head of independent music for iTunes, that's saying something. You can dig and dig, I find stuff all the time, every day that I would never think would be on there. Play the b-sides! Don't play what people expect, soon as people hear Jay Z that are like, "Oh shit!"

Be creative and then, be a producer. Create music that you would play out, ultimately DJing can only go so far, and there are soooo many DJs right now, or quote, unquote they claim to be DJs. There's cutthroat competition out there.

What about the gear you prefer when producing and working in the studio?

It's so funny you say this, I've been collecting keyboards for years, I have Moogs, and Korgs, I bought a Mini-Moog for specific sounds the ultimate bass sounds. But now it is just mind blowing that all this stuff, nothing beats analog, but for convenience its all in my MacBook Pro. It's insane what I can do with this MacBook Pro. Up until a few months ago, I was in my G4 . When I got the MacBook Pro, OS X, faster processor, it's just mind blowing. I use logic as my main program, Logic 7. I also use Reason 3, Ableton as well, just getting heavy into Ableton. It's one of the most creative programs I've ever seen. Just those three. I have done more amazing projects with them than with all my other analog gear. I actually have too many sounds!