Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez

Sat., Jan. 29th

Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, one half of the prolific New York City production duo Masters At Work, has put out landmark mix tapes, compilations and production work in a number of genres. After years of working with partner "Little Louie" Vega, Gonzalez has started his own funk imprint, Kay-Dee Records. This Saturday, he plays the BumpShop party at APT. I interviewed the Dope man just before he left for a short European tour.

NYP: You travel a lot to Europe, Asia, and Australia. Why is the appreciation for DJs so much higher over there?

Kenny Dope: I'm not sure-for years my music has been making an impact over there so there are always opportunities to go and play abroad. And the crowds are always into the music-it's crazy!

NYP: Why don't you like to play in New York City anymore?

KD: It's not that I don't like it. I just travel so much to Europe that when I am home I don't want to have to commit to a night every week. But it's gonna happen soon. I'm starting a night in the city soon.

NYP: You got into this game through hip-hop. Do you ever play hip-hop anymore?

KD: Sometimes. It depends. When I get a feeling from the crowd that I can drop it, I will.

NYP: What do you think of the current hip-hop coming out of the South?

KD: I'm not really feeling it, but music is subjective. You can't please all of the people all of the time. But there are artists from the South that I am into-Ludacris, T.I.

NYP: Speaking of the South, let's go further down. You just released a mix of new Brazilian tunes, Brazilika on the Far Out label. You and your Master's At Work partner, Louie Vega, have always had roots in your native Latin music-or more precisely, Puerto Rican. What do think about reggaeton?

KD: It's cool. That style fuses Latin lyrics over reggae beats. It's getting bigger and bigger by the day.

NYP: Do you ever feel you've been cornered into only playing house? Ê

KD: The years have gone by so fast and there is such a demand for that type of music I just kept going with it. But now that I have done it for so long, I feel like I can do different types of music. This is why I plan on doing different nights-a Kay-Dee night playing funk & soul on 45s-a Classic-Old-School Hip-Hop night. I'm also planning on doing a Classics party once every two months. Once I do that, I'll switch it up. I have a lot of music I want to share with the people.

NYP: What kind of set can we expect at APT on the 29th?

KD: It's a funk party-so I'll play some soul, some funk-all on 45s!

APT, 419 W. 13th St. (betw. 9th Ave. & Washington St.), 212-414-4245; 9, $8, $6 adv.