On May 27, Illegal Art, home to club prankster Girl Talk, will issue Steinski’s What Does It All Mean?: Retrospective 1983-2006.
Steinski, along with then-partner Douglas “Double Dee” DiFranco, is the mastermind behind “the Lessons.” Originally released as a promo-only 12-inch on Tommy Boy in 1983, the three “Lessons” — “The Payoff Mix,” “Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)” and “Lesson 3 (History of Hip-Hop)” — stand as one of the cornerstone texts of turntable hip-hop (alongside Grandmaster Flash’s “Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel.”) Cut Chemist recorded several tributes to it, including the classic “Lesson 6,” and DJ Shadow replicated its sampladelic format for part of his 1992 debut single, “Entropy.” Steinski has posted the original “Lessons” tracks on his MySpace page.
If “the Lessons” stand as Steinski’s greatest achievement, then What Does It All Mean susses out the remainder of his eclectic career as a sound artist, advertising jingle musician and mashup icon. It includes tracks made for Ninja Tune (including “I’m Wild About That Thing,” a collabo from Coldcut’s 1997 album Let Us Play!) and others, and a booklet of liner notes from ace journalist Hua Hsu. There’s also a brand-new mix, “Nothing to Fear,” where he purees dozens of hip-hop tracks in his inimitable and widely copied mashup style.
The track listing for What Does It All Mean?: Retrospective 1983-2006 is below.
CD 1 (Retrospective):
- 1. “The Payoff Mix”
- 2. “Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)”
- 3. “Lesson 3 (History of Hip Hop)”
- 4. “Jazz”
- 5. “Voice Mail (Sugar Hill Suite)”
- 6. “The Motorcade Sped On”
- 7. “It’s Up To You (Television Mix)”
- 8. “I’m Wild About That Thing”
- 9. “The Big Man Laughs”
- 10. “Vox Apostolica”
- 11. “Is We Going Under?”
- 12. “Ain’t No Thing”
- 13. “Everything’s Disappeared”
- 14. “Number Three On Flight Eleven”
CD 2 (Nothing To Fear):
- 1. “Tonight from NY Intro”
- 2. “Swingset”
- 3. “Opening Credits”
- 4. “Greatest Man Alive”
- 5. “The Id”
- 6. “Let’s Get It On”
- 7. “Hit the Disco”
- 8. “Lolita”
- 9. “Hot Spot”
- 10. “It’s A Funky Thing Pt. 1”
- 11. “Bboy Breakdown”
- 12. “B-beat Classic”
- 13. “Funk Construction”
- 14. “Them That’s Not”
- 15. “Swan Lake”
- 16. “Here We Come”
- 17. “Product of the Environment”
- 18. “By Any Means Necessary”
- 19. “The Art of Getting Jumped”
- 20. “I Like It Like That”
- 21. “Solid Air”
- 22. “Country Grammar”
- 23. “Let’s Get It On (Reprise)”
- 24. “Muscles”
- 25. “Easin’ In”
- 26. “It’s Time to Testify”
- 27. “The Acid Test”
- 28. “Silent Partner”
www.steinski.com
www.myspace.com/steinski
