Dance music pioneer also opens up to MTV News about kicking off third year of his Sin City residency at the Palms.By Adam Stewart

Paul OakenfoldPhoto: MTV News

As a Las Vegas dance music pioneer, Paul Oakenfold has blazed a trail for a city that revelers have recently coined the "new Ibiza." But according to the U.K. DJ/producer, it was just a matter of time before the American club scene took a bite out of Sin City.

"We're all aware of the big change with electronic music in America. At the time, [three years ago], I was looking at taking a residency in America. I looked at New York and Los Angeles, but I felt Vegas was the place," Oakenfold told MTV News when we visited him in his Fantasy Suite at Vegas' Palms Hotel. "I always saw Vegas in the same respect as I saw Ibiza: young, fun people wanting to have a really good time, coming to this place from all over America and the world, letting their hair down and enjoying themselves. That's really the premise of what Ibiza was and still is; people going on vacation and having a great time, and that's what Vegas is."

As Oakenfold enters the third year of his residency at Rain nightclub, the dance icon is also gearing up for the iTunes release of his latest mix compilation album, Never Mind the Bollocks ... Here's Paul Oakenfold (an apparent nod nod to the 1977 Sex Pistols album), featuring cuts from Daddy's Groove and Little Mark, Infected Mushroom, a compilation with Marco V and a flurry of remixes under Oakenfold's Perfecto and Perfecto Fluoro imprints.

"In anything you do you need a balance. It's really important for me," he said of Bollocks, which caters to the underground sound that made Oakenfold a staple in the club scene. "My artist album, Pop Killer, is focused on more mainstream," he said of the record due to drop in early 2012. "It's playing to American beats with great songs and great singers."

The upcoming Pop Killer will feature the likes of Cee Lo Green, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Ryan Tedder of One Republic, among others. "Those collaborations fell naturally in place," he explained. "What I love about America [is that] the great song writers are here and the great singers are here. I wanted to work with those people in some way shape or form. So the idea of my album was to do cutting-edge rhythm with those collaborations. I've been very fortunate to work with those people."

But Oakenfold isn't limiting his collabos to established stars, however. In fact, he's currently grooming a young prodigy on his Perfecto label, the 14-year old KiD DJ. You read that right: 14-years-old.. While other 8th-graders are busy figuring out which sport they'll play in their freshman year of high school, KiD DJ (a.k.a. Cole) has been jet-setting back and forth to Las Vegas on the weekends, where he spins alongside one of the legends of dance music at one of the country's hottest venues.

"He DJs on two iPads!" Oakenfold said of the young phenom, who isn't even old enough to hang out at the clubs at which he performs. "He comes in with his parents, plays for one hour — there's no alcohol in the DJ booth — and as soon as he finishes, he's whisked out! Then Mr. Patró n comes out," he laughed. "This kid is talented."

Fans can catch Oakenfold this summer on Saturday nights at Rain. Never Mind the Bollocks hits on iTunes July 15, with a two-disc set to follow on July 27.

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