Various

‘Strictly the dopest jams mixed by the original beat master’

Kenny Dope delivers a sonic masterpiece as his first digital exclusive mix album for Strictly Rhythm, the label where his reputation was confirmed alongside Masters At Work partner, Louie Vega.

On Dope Jams, Kenny represents the real B-Boy old school mixtape style as a showcase melting pot of house music with elements of his trademark jazz, funk, soul and hip-hop influences running throughout. Mixing fast but smooth, Kenny cuts this party set precisely as a true Master should: with hot re-edits and plenty of doubling, tripling up or even more, it mesmerizes with the sheer force of its musicality.

Three-time Grammy nominated Kenny Dope, one of the most prolific artists of the modern music age and, without doubt, one of the greatest DJ-producers of all time, changed the direction of modern dance music on many more than just one occasion and, here his collection includes some of those moments in a mix up of the eclectic sounds of New York, both classic and brand new, which never pauses for breath. What’s more, this set is fully accessible to DJ consumers as all the full-length individual tracks including six special Kenny Dope re-edits (also sold separately) are available unbundled.

The real magic lies in Kenny editing borrowed or alternative beats to lay beneath various original works constantly throughout his mix. Kicking off with a quadruple up(!) of The Bar Dub of ‘I Get Lifted’, the ‘Finally’ accappella and ‘Freedom (Make It Funky)’ into the DJ Oji & DJ Buzzard opener ‘Afronauts’ before splicing into Mr.V’s Strictly Rhythm 20th Anniversary remix of ‘Deep Inside’ gives an immediate impression of this plenty-going-on-at-once technique that only lets up as wailing sirens reach across another Hardrive standard ‘Just Believe’, signifying the conclusion amid the totemic words, ‘Kenny Dope on the one, on the two, on the beat and everything in between’.

Indeed, in between we’re treated to further full length classic Masters At Work productions, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Never Forget’ plus more recent Kenny Dope tracks such as ‘Dance’ and ‘Get ‘Em High’ (with Terry Hunter), K-Dope remixes including P’Taah’s ‘Dance Until We Die’ and some real quality vocal garage and jazzy house from Peven Everett on ‘Sexy Make Up’, Kenny’s own Ill Friction signing, Mishal Moore, with ‘Oh Lord’, Astrotrax’s ‘It’s Over’ and Key To Life’s ‘Find Our Way’ sung by Kathleen Murphy. Be sure to check out the re-edit of Blaze’s ‘Wishing You Were Here’ too.

Dope Jams is Kenny giving us nothing short of a real show: colourful, energetic and soulful and it’s topped off with the creation of vintage graffiti-style cover art from long-time graphic collaborator, Joey Vega, commissioned especially for this album.