Thursday, 02 July 2009 15:30 Last Updated on Friday, 18 December 2009 15:53 Written by Max Powers

 With acclaimed early work with Eminem, igniting underground mainstays like The Jigmastas and Poly Rhythm Addicts and compiling releases like Funk Rock and Wonder Wrote It, Spinna could stay in the past. Still, the man who helped J-Live make a classic album and remixed Donald Byrd is quick to compare new-schoolers like Homeboy Sandman and others to some of the biggest stars of his generation.

DJ Spinna interview courtesy of hiphop DX

(interview after jump)

There are very few producers who have a discography as vast as New York's DJ Spinna. As revered in House and Rare Groove music as he is in Hip Hop, the Brooklyn deejay's history dates back to when Hip Hop was embedded in the parks and on the blocks. With his July offering, Sonic Smash, featuring the crème de la crème of the underground it is apparent that Spinna is back to reengage himself with the Hip Hop crowd of today.

With acclaimed early work with Eminem, igniting underground mainstays like The Jigmastas and Poly Rhythm Addicts and compiling releases like Funk Rock and Wonder Wrote It, Spinna could stay in the past. Still, the man who helped J-Live make a classic album and remixed Donald Byrd is quick to compare new-schoolers like Homeboy Sandman and others to some of the biggest stars of his generation.

When you have the history and the passion that this authentic and symphonic mainstay has, why wouldn't you want to move forward with the masses? Talking the past, the present and the future, DJ Spinna spits his version of what Hip Hop is about today.

HipHopDX: The Jigmasta's reunion track "New York" is one of the strongest on Sonic Smash. How was it picking up with guys after so long and was recording with them the same as before?
DJ Spinna: For one thing we have never stopped recording for the past nine years since Infectious came out. We are working on a new album actually, and every year we say it's coming out next year, but hopefully we will be able to get it out top of 2010 as we are getting closer to the finish line. As far as chemistry goes, [Kriminul] and I are friends before we are partners in the group. We have known each other for a long time, so we are brothers. We started Jigmastas in 1991, but we have been friends since 1984; so that chemistry will always be there.

DX: Talking about putting out this album as Jigamastas, does timing play a major role for you?
DJ Spinna: Well I think it is important because you can flood the market but certain releases will be unnoticed; but when you spread yourself out you will be more than likely be recognized for your work. For me, I am a multi-genre producer who has spread himself out over all kinds of production and I think for me, it's time now to go back to my roots with the Hip Hop thing, as I miss it personally.  That's me in the forefront, and there is a whole new generation of Hip-Hop now. There are producers and beat-makers that I feel I should be a part of and be recognized as someone who has contributed to the history and the scene and who was once a name-stake. I want my name to become a household name in the world of Hip Hop goes as far as producers go, along with the legendary ones. I have been off the scene for a long time; I mean I never stopped making beats and have done stuff sporadically for people throughout the years, but I haven't been putting out a lot of Hip Hop stuff for a long time. I want to get back into that zone just to be relevant.

DX: Returning to Hip-Hop right now though with it being such a ‘new day,' how are you finding that?
DJ Spinna: Honestly, what took me out of it and made me step away was when things started to change after the big underground movement of the mid-to-late '90s, when mainstream Hip Hop started sounding different. What we were doing for the most part was mainstream in the '90s. It was the boom-bap that was selling. You had platinum-selling artists making those records and suddenly the sound changed. For a while I was being quite a hater on the new sound, but I had to bring myself to grips with the new generation and I just wasn't a fan of the direction it was going, especially commercial radio. Now we are in the 2000s, we are in a whole other sound with the southern Hip Hop being at the forefront.

I do find it to be challenging to the point of being relevant in the overall picture but at the same time I think the underground or what is considered ‘underground' is resurgence. You have artists like Redman and Method Man [click to view] coming out with a new album and they are not compromising their thing. Ghostface [click to read] has never disappeared.

DX: Do you believe that many of those artists from the "golden era" of Hip Hop have actually stayed true to their craft?
DJ Spinna: For the most part, yes. There are some that have conformed to the sound that have become commercially viable; whatever is hot on the radio, they try to emulate that to sell records. It is a business at the end of the day.

You do have those who have tried to stay true to the boom-bap or "real Hip Hop" and continued the legacy by putting out what is considered quality by most. I just want to be a part of that movement. There are a lot of records that are coming out this year alone that I am really appreciative of and I feel it is a good time, going back to the timing again.

DX: There are those certain labels that have maintained the standard of Hip Hop they release such as Duck Down...
DJ Spinna: The corporations have a lot to do with it because they are the ones in control and there is no reason why what's considered underground now can't be in the mix and filtered in with everything else that is playing on the radio. It's not like a lot of us have compromised what we have done. The guys who have been in the game for a long time, we recognize what the realness is and we just want to see the scene flourish and not die.

We care about the culture and that is one of the main reasons I am still doing it; because I love Hip Hop and I care about it. It's in me, part of my upbringing, been there since day one and embraced it from the early recordings. I did a little break dancing and the graffiti thing and I think everyone else who is doing it, it is a part of them too. We don't want to sell our selves out.

DX: Talking about corporations, you have worked with so many labels  during your history, looking back and then where you are today, what would you say are the major differences?
DJ Spinna: Now, they don't know what to do. The music industry has become quite viral and Internet-based and before there was some sort of artist development. Where as now it is about "How many units you can Soundscan in the first week?" and "What kind of following do you already have before we sign you?" You have people like Kid Cudi who have a pretty big record and then there is Drake. These guys have no deals but I am sure there are bidding wars for them. Now it is about what the artists can do for themselves and the labels are almost secondary.

The artist is a powerhouse on their own and the label is there just to push them, whereas back in the day, the artist was more unknown and they needed the label to do work for them. Now we have so many resources with the Internet that we can even pretty much establish our own situation and move forward. I think that is why the underground has the potential to be kind of like Rawkus was back in the day. There is the potential to push things forward. The fans are now in control. We don't necessarily need corporate dollars to make things happen a major way as everything is word of mouth.

DX: Has the internet deaded the major corporatons?
DJ Spinna: Definitely, as it has left the industry struggling. But it is economical too as when an album is out it's available on line immediately. You have people blogging all the new stuff. Labels don't make money from the artists anymore. Labels like Universal, Def Jam etc. are doing 360 deals where they dip into your pockets from shows and anything you get on your own, they want a piece of that. They recognize that records aren't selling like they used to and that it is a totally different thing now.

I think they will be obsolete in the next few years. I think it is going to be corporations or brands sponsoring and taking on the role of labels and funding projects.

DX: You have a selection of both emcees from the '90s and then from the present on Sonic Smash, what are the differences or even the similarities between them?
 

finish reading at http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1361/title.producers-corner-dj-spinna/p.all