Theophilus London has seen very little of his Brooklyn apartment since the release of 2009’s This Charming Mixtape. Between solo recording, posing for fashion spreads, jetting to Cannes to perform, and collaborating with producers such as Mark Ronson and TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, it’s not difficult to see why. For his official label debut Timez Are Weird These Days, the 24-year-old, Trinidad-born musician pairs his signature blend of rapping and singing over the kind of eclectic, off-the-wall production that first branded his as a cultural chameleon.

Where did you settle down to record the album, since you’re on the road so often? Since I’ve been in demand and I’ve been traveling to promote mixtapes, I would write lyrics in different cities and record instruments and real vocals in LA. I also went to Stockholm for two months to record because I felt like all the music was getting too much of the summer vibe from LA. I went to make some good, cold, straightforward records--I made “Girls, Girls, $” and “I Stand Alone” in Stockholm.

Los Angeles vs. Stockholm is pretty good contrast. In LA I was living in Venice, going to the beach every day and changing my routine from the city, which is so fast-paced. I slowed my life down; I would wake up, shower, sing melodies in my head, record on my iPhone and then head to the studio from 9-to-5 everyday. When I wanted to turn things around, I worked with producer John Hill from 10pm to 3am, and some nights we’d end up going to a club, or we’d buy a ton of Patron and end up drinking in the studio, recording, talking about girlfriends and the meaning of the records. Stockholm was a fun time too, because I went with no entourage. I went alone and it was the dead of winter; the snow was up to your knees. And I was in a cowboy phase too, so I was wearing a Stetson hat and pendleton jacket and people in Stockholm were laughing at me.

Are your travel adventures a key part of the narrative on Timez are Weird These Days? This record is from my point of view, so I’m bound to write from some of my memories, my pastimes, and relationships that I’ve had. Some are just one-liners, and some influence an entire song but you’ll definitely find stories of my travels on this. My friends will be able to listen to this album and say, “Oh shit, I actually know what you’re talking about” and there are hidden messages that capture the moment for me. I’ll be able to listen to the album nine years from now and get back to the same place we were in our lives. Hopefully people that buy it will be able to turn it on, listen, and go back to that place in their lives when they first heard the song and find something to connect to.

The tracks range from disco-inspired to guitar and rock-heavy beats. How involved were you in production? I totally rolled up my sleeves and worked on the sound from the ground up. It was very new for us. A lot of the producers I worked with are very popped-out; I knew I wanted to make a pop record. I knew that was the first thing I wanted to release on Warner Brothers, following the legacy of Prince, Madonna, Seal, and Talking Heads etc. The producers took us outside of the elements that we usually work with and we just had fun. A lot of the stuff we made, we’d never attempted before, so we were discovering new things in the process. There were about 30 songs that didn’t make the album, and are so good and I’m like, “They’re going to end up on a mixtape, or they’re going to end up on EPs.”

What’s the story behind the girl on “One Last Time?” “One Last Time” was written about this girl, one of my favorite rappers--her name is Mapei. She’s an indie legend. She lived in Stockholm, but all of a sudden she just jumped off the radar. She started to work with Downtown Records, started getting produced by Justice but now no one can find her. I called her ex-boyfriend, called her booking agent, just called everyone to try to get a hold of her and then finally I heard that she’s not doing well. She’s living on the street or something like that, so I just wanted to make a song to reach out to her.

Was that one of the most challenging songs to record? “I Stand Alone” and “Lighthouse” are the songs I put the most effort into. I took four singing lesson courses to just finish those songs alone. I sat down with this lady and worked on my voice; she helped me understand the power of it. I couldn’t have finished those songs without those lessons. Also, the lyrics have a lot of meaning to me. “Lighthouse”…that’s one of my favorites.

You’ve been performing some of the songs for a while now. The crowd in Cannes was particularly fond of “Why Even Try.” It’s been so cool man. I ended up at Diddy’s house one night, just hanging out with him, listening to the track, and dancing to it. I hung out with Kanye in Cannes and performed it for the French, who were loving it and I’ve seen the YouTube videos of people singing and dancing to it. Now we’ve got a new remix with RAC. That’s one of my favorite songs on the album and Sara Quin did a great job on it. I’m happy about the success of that song and I’ve got some more stuff coming, including the alternative video for “Why Even Try.”

You recently dropped a non-album single “No Particular One.” Do you still plan to release a new album next spring, under a different alias? Yeah, it’s not like I’m changing my name—I’ll still make music under Theophilus London—but this will be a side project where I team up with these guys that I met through Mark Ronson. A lot of people know them from Budos Band but now they’ve branched out. I always wanted to hit up my Caribbean roots and I got the chance to do a little live instrumentation. They don’t record with pro tools, there are no phones on in the studio, we have to do everything in one take and everything has to be perfect. If it’s not, we’re going to have to do everything again. That’s when artists can get credit for performing a record, because they’re really performing. We were going to release a whole EP but only released 5 songs. There’s another song called “Rio” that we’re going to put out after the record.

Your upcoming album release show at Bowery is already sold out. Do you have any outfit ideas for the night? We’re actually designing the outfits. For every show I design something specific, it’s been one of my latest hobbies. I just performed at Bread and Butter in Berlin and I made this sequin tank top, with all sequins and silver, and the back was silk with zippers on the side. It was kind of couture and costume-like; you had to zip it open to put it on. You could probably buy it for $500 but I left it there by accident and maybe one of the sound members ran away with it. I’m going to do something on Kimmel soon, which should be pretty fun. I’m already working on the outfit.

Are you going to be putting out a clothing line any time soon? Nah, I’m not interested in that actually. I started talking to Kanye about doing consulting and being part of the creative process, more than just having your own clothing line. Like if Louis Vuitton asked me to be their Creative Director or something like that--but I don’t want to have my own shirts in stores. I’m always about limited pieces, like having only five pieces in one store in Paris. I never want to have my own line, but I talked to Kanye about possibly collaborating on something.

Do you usually that reaction from people often when they see your outfits? No, that was just dudes. Chicks dig me. But dudes were just like, “Look at that hat!’” I was like, “Yup, I’ll bet you’ll be rocking this next year.’”

Are you going to take a break from touring after your summer shows? I feel like I’ve been on tour for the last three years of my life. I never stop. This music is so inspiring to keep making and I get to perform in the most exotic places. I’ve been to Cannes three times this year--that’s insane for me, to go to the South of France three times to place shows. I’ve been to Venice--which is just straight water and taking a boat to shows--and also to Africa and Australia recently.

So you’ve spent more time on the road than you’ve spent in New York in the past three years? Definitely. So whenever I’m in my apartment I really try to stay in because I never see it. It’s just like, “We’re going to Berlin, now we’re going to Miami, now we’re going to L.A., now we’re going to Chicago, now we’re going back to New York, now we’re going to Paris.” It’s been weird, you can’t take a tour bus on these tours, you’ve got to have sky miles.