Steinski

Steinski (born Steven Stein) is a Brooklyn-born sampling maestro and hip-hop pioneer whose cut-and-paste wizardry helped shape modern music production. Alongside partner Double Dee (Douglas DiFranco), this crate-digging legend dropped the groundbreaking "Lessons" series in the early '80s – revolutionary collages of news clips, movie dialogue, and funk breaks that became DJ holy grails. While major labels shied away from clearing his Frankenstein mixes, bootleg copies fueled hip-hop's sampling revolution and foreshadowed mashup culture.

Decades before "remix culture" became a buzzword, Steinski kept pushing boundaries with politically-charged audio montages like "The Motorcade Sped On" (his JFK assassination soundscape) and collaborations with artists like Money Mark. Recent releases like "Is We Going Under?" and "Everything's Disappeared" show he's still masterfully stitching together cultural debris into urgent, groove-driven commentaries. A DJ's DJ and plunderphonics prophet, Steinski remains the cool professor of sample-based music – even if you've never heard his name, you've definitely heard his influence.