Dusty Fingers is the name of a series of compilation records of songs that are widely admired as breakbeats collected by Bronx DJ Danny Dann the Beat Mann TBB.
Some of the songs featured contain "open breaks"...
...which are solo drum passages which enable DJs to easily transition into them. These are also attractive to producers, who loop or rearrange them to create new compositions. Following in the tradition of the Ultimate Breaks and Beats series, the Dusty Fingers records contain an eclectic range of musical styles: mainly funk and jazz, but also including soul, rock, disco, and pop.
Many of the songs in the Dusty Fingers series have been sampled into new musical compositions, mainly by hip hop producers. Popular songs sampling Dusty Fingers compositions include "Guilty Conscience" by Eminem, "Find Your Wealth" by Nas, "Rowdy Rowdy" by 50 Cent, "Show Me What You Got" by Jay-Z, "Daydreamin'" by Lupe Fiasco, and "Dr. Carter" by Lil' Wayne.
Much has been written about Hip Hop and the different people that make it a way of life. A recent magazine article unveiled a selection of 50 people who, in sum and substance, most personified the essence of the culture. Consisting of an unsurprising mix of MC's and CEO's, the list talked about how each individual demonstrated, in one way or another, a facet of the soul unique to rap. There was no more conspicuous exclusion than to have ignored DJ Danny Dan the Beat Mann.
He is Hip Hop Personified; proud, powerfully loyal, brutally honest. Born and bred in the South Bronx, his name deserves to be mentioned with the KRS-ONE's, the Diamond D's and respectfully Breakbeat Lenny Roberts, the late founder of Ultimate Breaks and Beats.
Lenny was like a father to me, recalls Dan. I used to buy one record at a time. He taught me to never buy just one copy- buy em all!
Dans relation with records began in his childhood. The product of an Italian mother and a Spanish father, he grew up with different styles of music.
My mother was an influence, remembers Dan. She would come home with records and I still have them. By the 70s it got crazy. She owned Skulls Snaps, David Axlerod, Incredible Bongo Band... she had so much stuff.
Coinciding with the breaks being passed down to him was the birth of Hip Hop. It took him to another level, turning record collecting into something more than just a hobby.
I caught up with Kool Herc in 1975, says Dan. When I saw him use two of the same records on the turntables, I realized I had to buy two copies. And he did, finding doubles for his moms originals; in a matter of years, Hip Hop guided his heart, changing him into DJ danny Dan The Beat Mann who was known for spinning and cutting records no one else had across the city.
By 1980, Dan and Lenny would buy cutouts golden records from the 70's available en masse on the cheap and resell them at triple the price; they hit up warehouses and buy out entire inventories, hoarding away what are now priceless breakbeats for a killing.
It was a beautiful time for me, laments Dan. I was like, damn where am I gonna put all these records?
Much of his collection today is kept in a storage facility in pristine condition. And with the passing of Breakbeat Lenny, the legacy of Dusty Fingers was sealed. Dan decided it was time to carry on tradition, creating a series that is more obscure than its predecessor.
DJ Danny Dan The Beat Mann and Afrika Bambaataa donating some of Bam's records to Cornell Hip Hop Collection.
Beginning in the late 90's Dusty Fingers had been responsible for selling millions of records. Dr Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Nas, Jay Z, and Diddy forming just the tip of the iceberg, have utilized Dusty Fingers for its collection of rare grooves and original breakbeats.
Listen to the arrangements, listen to the way the bass slaps you in the face, listen to the way the snare cracks, listen to the way DJ danny Dan The Beat Mann Touches your soul. This is Hip Hop when it was born. This is the Dusty Fingers sound straight out of the South Bronx and always ahead of its time.
35 years later, fingers are still dusty.
By Chris Milan Thomas.
DJ Danny Dan The Beat Mann, Skamrok, and SOLO138.
Portrait by Manny Fernandez The Starving Artist
