Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez is one of the most famous artists of the modern musical era. The musical genius of the early 2000s, nominated for four Grammy Awards, entertained and wowed audiences with a combination of house, hip-hop, Latin, jazz, funk, soul and reggae.
The Early Years of Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez
Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez was born in 1970 and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. When the guy was 12 years old, he began to study the hip-hop beats that sounded at local parties. And in 1985, Gonzalez began his musical career as a sales clerk at the local WNR Music Center in Sunset Park. During his five years in the store, Kenny expanded his musical knowledge and studied the "diggin" for recordings in detail. Today, Kenny's collection contains more than 50 thousand records.
In the late 1980s, with friend and future partner Mike Delgado, Kenny organized a series of local parties under the pseudonym MAW (Master at Work). Brooklyn DJ-producer Todd Terry attended these parties, and soon the guys became good friends. Kenny left school to go to Todd's house and watch him work on beats, record famous singers and rappers.
From his youth, the guy was close to creative personalities. And it would be strange if he did not play music. Kenny's acquaintance with King Grand (Russell Cole) became fateful for the guy. They created the KAOS group. In 1987, Kenny and Todd released the band's album Courts In Session. And in 1988, Kenny's first album was released on Greg Fauré's label Bad Boy Records.
After 1990, the MAW group became very famous in clubs. As a result, Kenny created remixes of songs by such artists as: Michael Jackson, Madonna, Daft Punk, Barbara Tucker, India, Luther Vandross, BeBe Winans, George Benson and Tito Puente. And also Stephanie Mills, James Ingram, Eddie Palmieri, Debbie Gibson, Bjork, Dee-Lite, Soul ll Soul, Donna Summers, Puppah Nas-T and others.
Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez: Active creative period
In the 1990s, Kenny traveled the world a lot, playing his tracks and making them very popular. At the band's concert during the weekend in Southport, Kenny watched the jazz dancers. Therefore, the idea of a syncopated beat, called "broken", arose.
During this time, Kenny not only collaborated with Louis and worked on projects for the MAW group. He has also been active in producing and remixing hip hop and reggae tracks. His tracks Get Up (Clap Your Hands) and The Madd Racket were the most popular club tracks for several years.
In addition to working on solo projects, Kenny has been actively working on a joint project with Vega. Therefore, the musical group MAW Nuyorican Soul was created, which appeared in 1993. It is named after its origin (Puerto Rican), place of residence (New York) and style of music (soul). In the same year, the band released the first single, The Nervous Track, which became a record for listening. Here, Kenny showcased a previously developed syncopated beat style. A second single, Mind Fluid, was also released in 1996 (Nervous Records).
Nuyorican Soul was completed and signed by musical maestro Gilles Peterson. At every stage of the creation of the albums, Kenny's creative imprint was imposed. And marked the transition of the musician Dopa into one of the most important and sought-after modern producers in America.
Revolutionary track maker team
Master at Work Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez was labeled "The Most Revolutionary Track Production Team of the 1990s". Artist innovation has become a cliché in the music world. Latin percussion, upbeat vocals and natural drumming are the hallmarks of the band, which lifted the dance floors with a sense of ecstasy and energy. If ever there was a massive crowd, it was Nuyorican Soul (1997) and Our Time is Coming (2002). It showed that MAW is writing and remixing great songs that are organic and soulful.
For example, the popular song A Tribute to Fela with a touch of afrobeat and the great solo of Roy Ayers in the main track.
From DJ to performer
Kenny Dopa's "breakthrough" as a solo artist came in 1995. One night, frustrated with the music that was circulating in show business, Kenny went home and picked up a series of classic records. Three days later, the musician presented the album The Bucketheads. Kenny did not know that this would be a turning point for him. The record, which was fun, featured one THE BOMB track. With driving drums, screeching sound effects and an extended sample from Chicago's Street Player, the song was an instant hit. As a result, Gonzalez conquered the European pop charts with his first hit.
Over the years there have been dozens of attempts to remix or copy and reproduce the song. None of the options came close to the true sound of the original. Now many years later, artists often try to use the same samples to recreate the sound of a timeless classic. THE BOMB will forever be part of the history of dance music.
Beginning in 2000 and over the next 10 years, Kenny remixed songs from certain artists, citing other important projects. While producing and touring made up the bulk of his time, Kenny also created Kay-Dee Records in 2003.
New music mixes
Then the idea arose to find the old masters and create new mixes. "Don't remix, but combine the originals and create new masters to give collectors and DJs a whole new version." It was this principle that Kenny always adhered to in his work.
Since then, he has been collecting and mixing rare and unreleased recordings. But due to circumstances and the transition to a digital version, creative activity stopped for a while. The musician was torn between a passion for rare "real" music and a deep love for vinyl. Soon Kenny began to work on updating his brands and in a short time revived the Kay-Dee label.
New successful projects
In 2007, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez began another collaboration with Mark Finkelstein (founder of Strictly Rhythm Records). They teamed up and created the Ill Friction label. The goal of the label is to find and produce new artists and release quality music in various genres. The Ill Friction label was a combination of house, disco, funk and soul. And he continued to push the boundaries, collaborating with different groups of artists to create excellent music. Ill Friction released Ill Friction Vol. 1 is a collection of famous flutes compiled by Kenny Dope. It was released in August 2011. The second album included Mass Destruction full of LP tracks produced by Kenny and DJ Terry Hunter.
Another large-scale project was the collaboration with the artist Mishal Moore. On May 31, 2011, her album Bleed Out was released. More than three years have been working on the creation and development of the collection. When the ideas presented by the singer hit Dop's table, all that an ordinary person could hear was her voice and playing the acoustic guitar. But what Kenny heard was completely different. He gave his word that he would leave the original basis of Mishal Moore's music. But he will add a base, keys, electric guitars, drums and four horns to create a unique effect. Soon music critics wrote about Mishal that she is a well-trained vocalist. Her voice can touch the soul.
Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez: Singles
Combined with sounds composed by Kenny Dope, it's something real and refreshing. The first single Oh, Lord was released in 2009. The record was a firework, but it took some time to catch on. The second single It Aint Over was released in 2010 along with an unusual video. The track was remixed by the Wide Boys. The single became popular when a dub-step version of the record was re-created by the band Document One. Only this version of the single scored 1 million views. The total number of views of the single It Aint Over amounted to about 2 million. Thanks to the talents, voice and melodies of Mishal Moore, as well as Kenny's experience, composer, arrangements and production, an amazing album was created. With him, the artist toured the world for several years.
New developments in the work of Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez
In 2011, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez received another Grammy nomination. Raheem DeVon's third album Love & War Masterpeace (Jive Records) was nominated for "Best R&B Album of the Year". Kenny produced 11 tracks on the album. On July 12, 2011, Kenny released the first produced old hip hop album.
It also has the track Mishal Moore and a song by the very talented DJ Mella Star. The new production project The Fantastic Souls is a 12-member band that Kenny created in 2012. He brought together a very gifted group of musicians who were also involved in other projects. This year, talented musicians released Aftershower Funk and Soul of a People. They are also released on limited edition colored vinyl. Fantastic Souls complement each other, and their instruments fit together perfectly thanks to Kenny's arrangements and instructions.
The Fantastic Souls have another single released at the end of 2012. A full length album was released in 2013. The collection contains the voices of several very famous vocalists.
With a reputation as an extraordinary DJ, Kenny demonstrates a distinctive ability to program superb beats, combining multiple musical styles to create the perfect MIX. It combines house, jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and more, maintaining a colorful, energetic and soulful show. Producing and touring make up the bulk of his time. For the past two decades, Kenny Dope has been busy releasing thousands of tracks, remixing hundreds of singles and traveling with DJs around the world.
