When Ethnic Goes Pop: Balkan Beat Box on Providing Horn Hooks for Diplo, Jason Derulo

Billboard Cover: Jason Derulo on the Success of 'Talk Dirty' (Despite His Mom's Disapproval)

It’s pretty amazing that in this day and age one sample on one song could make such a big impact on a band’s career -- but then again, Balkan Beat Box isn't a traditional band, nor are the band members exactly newcomers. The band got started in New York City over a decade ago, with a goal of bringing traditional ethnic music to the masses. Their vaguely Middle Eastern sound is influenced by everything from African percussion to Klezmer, and their forthcoming album Shout It Out (out Nov. 11) continues the trend -- it would be equally at home in a hooka and a hookup bar.

Kaplan knows how to walk that line. “We’re doing funk and we like African and Latin [music],” he says. “We’re involved passionately with so many different kinds of music. And when we sit with producers in L.A., it’s not necessarily always pop language [we bring]; it’s thinking about how to shape music, how to use different roots or get [hooks] embedded in the back of our ears and just bring that to the session.”

Of course, with such a unique and multi-ethnic voice comes political talk -- and though Kaplan doesn’t directly finish his thoughts, it’s clear from his tone where he stands on the U.S. presidential election. “It’s very stormy right now and things are on the verge of absurd, basically. I mean, if Trump wins…” he trails off, then continues. “I’m surprised there aren’t more artists to talk about it before shows and not about what’s going on, how crazy it is.

“I feel like music can change people’s mindset up,” he says. “It’s more like a slow permeating kind of thing, but it’s so important. Where would we be without listening to Bob Marley or John Lennon?”