2002, June 30; 22:19:
"I was basically a thirteen-year-old kid sneaking out of the house and watching these DJs working these records. That's where I started to learn about breaks and beats."
Kenny "Dope, was doing mobile DJ work with his crew who called themselves the Masters At Work. While dropping hip-hop beats at neighborhood parties, he decided he could create beats and tracks at least as well as the people on the records he was spinning, and so he created Dope Wax, his own independent label. After several underground hits on his own, he started doing tracks for the New York independent record labels that included Strictly Rhythm, Cutting, Nervous and Big Beat. By the time mutual friend, Todd Terry (To whom Kenny lend the name Masters At Work to for the 1998 release, "Alright, Alright") introduced him to "Little" Louie, he had built a reputation as one of the best beat men in town, well versed in hip-hop, dancehall and house.
The ensuing twelve-inch turned out to be a bit of a sleeper, in part because 'I Wanna Know' was released as the A-side. "That's the track that everybody was playing in New York," says Gonzalez. "But for some crazy reason, the Europeans were loving the B-side." not crazy at all. 'The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)' is an incredible track of driving drums and a screeching sound effect build to a crescendo and then wittily break into an extended sample from Chicago's melodic 'Street Player' ó and before long it was shooting up the charts in several countries.
"That shit sold so fast it was unbelievable. We were like, "Yowww! We got a problem! Sample clearance!" For which Gonzalez blames the European Trainspotting Association. "Everybody was saying, 'He sampled Chicago!' The press didn't realise it but they were destroying me! They were like putting handcuffs on me and saying, 'Take him!'" Chicago didn't mind, but then they hadn't written the record. "The shit ended up costing me thirty thousand dollars," says Gonzalez. "And that's a lot for dance. There was a lot of drama behind that record! But it was a good turning point." And a fitting climax to an extraordinary first five years.
Tim Lawrence
A wealth of spacey disco tunes -- all selected by Kenny Dope for this massive 3CD set! 2 of the set's CDs feature unmixed tracks -- a total of 18 in all, with a wide range of obscure dancefloor numbers from the 70s and early 80s, especially those that have had strong currency in recent years, thanks to a far-thinking approach to production and instrumentation. Disc 3 of the set features Kenny mixing together tracks on the other two -- coming up with a swirling batch of grooves that are all linked by the unique Dope approach! There's loads of choice rarebits in the set -- and tracks include "Just As Long As I Got You" by Love Committee, "I Need You" by Sylvester, "Powerline" by Double Journey, "In The Bush" by Musique, "Go Bang" by Dinosaur L, "Me & The Gang" by Hamilton Bohannon, "You Got Me Running" by Lenny Williams, "Grooving You" by Harvey Mason, "Got To Have Your Love" by Clyde Alexander, "Keep On Dancin" by Gary's Gang, "Life On Mars" by Dexter Wansel, "Delerium" by Francine McGhee, "Jazz Carnival" by Azymuth, and "Here I Go Again" by Thelma Houston.
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