Steinski
What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective
Illegal Art
By Rob Fatal
The name Stenski should be hailed in the hip-hop hall of fame right next to pioneers like Afrikka Bambataa, Grandmaster Flash and Kool Herc. It is unfortunate then the fact that the hip-hop history books have looked over this production/remix/DJ guru.
But finally in 2008, nearly thirty years after the release of his pioneering cut and paste song “The Payoff Mix” with partner Double Dee, Illegal Art has put out a retrospective of this pioneer’s master works.
What Does It All Mean?: 1983-2006 Retrospective takes the listener on a chronological journey through the remixes of Stenski, the most prolific of which were with his then production partner Double Dee. The album starts at the beginning: the 1983 Tommy Boy Hey Mr. DJ Play That Beat Down by Law Switch the Licks Mastermix contest winning song “The Payoff Mix”. This one blew the rest of the competition away. Instead of just remixing G.L.O.B.E. and Whiz Kid’s then new single as the contest specified, Stenski and Double Dee created a 5-minute tour de sample. The song is both fury and finesse: seamlessly mixing, at a sonic tempo, song after song and break after break.
The next song on the album, “Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)”, reclaimed the fleeting 15-minutes that were escaping Stenski and Double Dee. More precise and themed than their previous effort, “Lesson 2” takes the best of James Brown and beyond and creates an audio collage that crosses over from song to art. In fact, the most significant and historical tracks on What Does It All Mean? are the Double Dee and Steinski tracks. And while every track on this album is stellar and on point, the three “Lesson” tracks that start the album are the three masterworks of hip hop history that have influenced every cut and paste/sample producer (Shadow, Cut Chemist, DJ Dexta) and mash up* DJ (Girl Talk, Mike Realm, Z-Trip) to come after Steinski and Dee whether they know it or not. Stenski’s What Does It All Mean?: 1983-2006 Retrospective is required listening this summer for all students of hip hop history…Class dismissed.
* Just a small aside on the term “mash up”: It’s bullshit. As we can see from this album, “mash ups” have been around since 1983 with Steinski and Double Dee and before. What do you call Bambataa in 1976 mixing the Munsters theme song with Led Zeppelin at a club, a mash up? No, it’s called DJing (more specifically hip-hop DJing). Lets put this stupid industry term to death right now. Phew….that feels better.
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