It’s spelt W-A-A-J-E-E-D. Let’s just get that straight. Not Waheed. Not Wajid. Just plain old Waajeed. A funky-arse name befitting of someone so creative. See, this Detroit raised DJ and producer has always been involved with the new shit, the cutting edge. Lucky enough to mix some of Jay Dee’s dreamy, groundbreaking beats as a DJ for Slum Village, being there to see Detroit become the city for raw hip hop, and delivering a future soul and hip hop album as Platinum Pied Pipers [now PPP three years ago that people are just catching now. Yet it’s time to flip it again. Taking the current Motown craze a level deeper, as only one from Detroit can, the new PPP album Abundance explores a range of sounds that have originated from the Motor City and infuses them with Waajeed’s distinct sound.

It was his shift from DJ to producer many years back, a seemingly simple transition according to Waajeed, that has him in his position today. “From my history [of being a DJ] I was familiar with the process of making records, knowing when the breaks come in and arrangements”. Fair enough. However, while most will have an idol, few can claim to receive guidance from them and actually use their equipment. This is Waajeed’s claim. “I remember Jay Dee had a beat machine in his basement just sitting there for six months, so… I took it home, no manual, and just sat there for three days and started cracking away at it. He heard some of what I had made over the phone and was like ‘Yo! What was that?’ He was buggin! So that was kind of a seal from this super producer.”

When asked about the difference between a PPP and Waajeed project, he explains that it’s minimal. It’s clear however that at the moment PPP is a way of exploring a new sound whilst still having the Waajeed name attached to it. “There’s not much difference actually. But it’s a weird dynamic when you talk about PPP as a group, because as the founder, I pick a new cast for every album.”

This could sound like some Axel Rose, fire-all-band-members-because-I’m-cuckoo mentality but it’s not. Rest assured that it’s just his attention span. “As a producer or even an artist I just get bored really quickly. I saw how Slum Village got pigeonholed at the start of their career as just ‘a hip hop group’. These guys had aspirations to sing but were victimized by their own success.”

Here, he makes comparisons with bossa legend Sergio Mendes: “He used to change groups every fucking week it seems! Even Prince, every time his style changed, his band would change. People like that inspired me. So I decided that if I had a group situation it would be under the constraint that it would constantly change.”

With the exception of his production partner Saadiq, it certainly has changed. Having broken names like Georgia Anne Muldrow, Tiombe Lockhart and Ta’raach on the previous album Triple P, this time he’s got a new batch of talent to work with. In particular, the soulful singer/producer Coultrain, and extraordinary vocalist Karma, who steals the show on Motown influenced lead single On A Cloud. “That song fit her voice but I didn’t necessarily mean to make the song that way. Like all good music, it just happened y’know? As for Coultrain, I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t a househould name. He ended up writing 90 per cent of the album, all with the exception of one song, and he performed on more than half of it.”

Which is fortunate really, because to find such good artists he’s had to endure more than enough bad ones. “To be honest with you, most of the CDs I get and singers I hear about, they suck arse! But there’s always a diamond in the rough. There’s always one or two that I pick out that makes me wonder ‘am I the only one that is hearing this the way I am? Am I right? How is it possible these people don’t have a major deal?’”

Considering the soulful, Motown influence on Abundance, and the market’s sudden obsession with that sound, it’s possible that the album itself could have been released on a major label. Merely coincidence Waajeed reassures us. “Man, as a producer I live in a vacuum. I separate myself from the world. Everything. Current events, trends, politics. So because of the way I work, we made On A Cloud and decided it had to be the first single, and it was then that I noticed people like Duffy and Mark Ronson. People will tell me that we are ‘doing like an Amy Winehouse style now’, and I have to say ‘Uh, no. That’s Motown actually’. Don’t judge the fruit, judge the tree that it came from.”

After all, the man is from Detroit, something he feels strongly about and attributes this to the sound of the album. ‘The situation with me being so far from Detroit [he moved to Brooklyn a few years back] plays a big part, so I think the sound chose me. The more time I spent living away from home has made me more fond of that Detroit Motown sound. I’ve passed those studios so many times. This is my birthright to do this sound, This sound is from here and if nobody else is to do it, then a person from Detroit should be the one to do it’.

Industrial, dark Detroit seems a long way from the coastlines of sunny Australia, but Waajeed’s been here before, as a DJ in 2006. This summer he’s bringing PPP with him. “It could be ten people or 10,000 and you’d get the same show, to show people where we’re from. Expect a celebration and a real performance from us because I’m really doing something that I love. I never thought I’d be able to live out this dream of creating music in my underwear, from my home, but I am.”

Finally, does that name bother him? “Oh my god! It’s a constant pain. What can I expect? It’s a funky name to spell and it’s a funky name to say. But I believe the weirder the name the more you remember it.” His theory makes sense. If Abundance is anything to go by, then PPP should be a name on everyone’s lips in the very near future.

Catch Platinum Pied Pipers at the following shows…

Tues 30th December – Pyramid Festival, Victoria
Thurs 1st January – Brown Alley, Melbourne
Sun 4th Jan – Days Like This, Sydney

Going to the first ever Days Like This in Sydney? Registered members of ITM can buy their tickets for a tasty discounted price of $94.80+BF.

And for more info on all the party action happening over summer, check out ITM’s Festival Pages for more news, features, clips and DJ mixes that you could possibly ever hope for!