RJD2's reinventions keep ideas flowing

RJD2

The voice answering on the other end of the line is raspy, wispy, barely audible.

"Hello?"

Ramble John Krohn, the deejay/producer/singer-songwriter known as RJD2, is between legs of a tour to promote his latest album, The Colossus, and his pipes are shot. He has only about a week and a half to rest before another grueling 15-night run of shows, including Tuesday night at the Hi-Tone Cafe in Memphis, but he's not worried about being ready.

"If someone else can make the record you're working on, there's no point in doing it," says producer/songwriter Ramble John Krohn, also known as RJD2. Ben Mistak

"This is my first record on my own label, and I felt like this album was do or die for my career, so I wanted to push it as hard as I can," Krohn says.

Krohn, 33, founded the new label, RJ's Electrical Connections, in order to exert maximum control over both the creative and business aspects of his career. In addition to releasing The Colossus in January, Krohn recently reacquired the rights to his early 2000s catalog from the Definitive Jux label and reissued some of the albums that first brought him to the attention of a diverse fan base that ranges from underground hip-hop heads to skateboarders to indie rockers.

The Colossus, and the tour accompanying it, continue Krohn's strategy of reinventing himself creatively with each release. Once known primarily as a producer of cinematic-sounding beat collages -- like his track "A Beautiful Mine," now the theme to the hit TV show "Mad Men" -- he has lately turned his energies to Beatles-esque pop songwriting and lushly textured instrumental arrangements. Furthermore, The Colossus features a host of guest vocalists, including Phonte Coleman of Little Brother and Pharrell Williams collaborator Kenna.

"I need to have the process of making music be fun and interesting, or else I just don't have very good results," Krohn says. "I find that a catalog of music is kind of like a game of darts. When you're first starting the game, the board is pretty wide open, so you don't need to aim so much, but on the fifth or sixth throw you start to run out of positions."

"Records should kind of have a purpose," he continues. "If someone else can make the record you're working on, there's no point in doing it."

In keeping with the melodic, song-oriented direction of The Colossus, Krohn's RJD2 act now includes a full live band for a portion of the show. Another part of the act features Krohn recombining beats and loops on turntables and a sampler.

"And then there's a portion that's kind of a melding of the two, basically," he says.

Going forward, Krohn plans to use the RJ's Electrical Connections label to collaborate with more vocalists and to push his songwriting and productions past what one might expect from an RJD2 release.

"It comes down to the type of thing where I'd rather feel like I'm putting a thousand percent into a record and risk someone not liking it than put 50 percent into something they want to hear."

RJD2 with Kenan Bell and Happy Chichester

Doors open at 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Hi-Tone Cafe, 1913 Poplar. Tickets are $16 in advance, $18 day of show. Order at hitonememphis.com.

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