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Steinski - What Does It All Mean? 1983 - 2006 Retrospective

Steinski – What Does It All Mean? – 1983 – 2006 Retrospective

Steinski – What Does It All Mean? is a collection of Steinski’s greatest solo moments and also his early recordings with Doug DiFranco aka Double Dee.

It is great to listen to these songs again.  They still sound fantastic!

Steve Stein aka Steinski was way ahead of his time and these songs prove that.  The cut n mash-up style of DJ Yoda among others owes everything to Steinski & Double Dee.

Steinski & Double Dee started out as hip hop prdoucers in the early 1980s and found fame with a series of underground hits songs that used cut n mash-up sample collages.  The 12″ releases were knoown as The Lessons.

Lesson 1 – The PayOff Mix, Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix), Lesson 3 (History of Hip Hop), Jazz and Voice Mail (Sugar Hill Suite) all use the cut n mash-up style while The Motorcade Sped On uses a great hip hop beat with samples of newsreels from the infamous Kennedy assassination.

The Motorcade Sped On was so exceptional and completely different on its release, and its sparse cutting sound appears even colder today – brilliant.

Steinski has been referenced as a major influence by many hip hop artists including DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, both recorded tracks titled “Lesson 4″ in homage to Steinski; and De La Soul’s Magic Number from the seminal 1989 hip hop album – 3 Feet High & Rising, begins with a tribute to DiFranco and Stein’s Lesson 3. It contains many of the same samples, arranged in a similar, although shortened, sequence.

Other tracks include Ninjatunes tracks It’s Up To You and I’m Wild About That Thing – a satire on sex licensed to Pretty Polly Bras for a TV advertising campaign.

There’s also the  ghost remix Steinski recorded for Ninjatunes, the  hard-hitting Is We Going Under? with vocals by Chuck Dee of Public Enemy which for some bizarre reason was released in Japan under Coldcut’s name?!

The retrospective also includes a 28-track mix called Nothing To Fear, a rough mix by Steinski.

Steinski – What Does It All Mean? – 1983 – 2006 Retrospective is a wonderful album and should be seen in CD collections of any old skool hip hop fans, especially younger converts that would like to hear where it all began.

You can currently listen to Lesson 1 – The PayOff Mix, Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix), Lesson 3 (History of Hip Hop) on Steinski’s MySpace page.

Steinski – What Does It All Mean? – 1983 – 2006 Retrospective is out now on Illegal Art.