Just ahead of the 30th anniversary of their critically acclaimed debut album, Dah Shinin’, Smif-N-Wessun announce the launch of “Still Shinin’,” a tour that takes them from Brooklyn to Borlänge, Sweden.
The duo, composed of Tek and General Steele, first appeared on Black Moon’s album, Enta Da Stage, and they’ve been consciously commanding the stage ever since. Within a year, they were on a remix of May J. Blige’s "I Love You" from her chart-topping sophomore release, My Life, then released their own album reaching the Top 5 of Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop chart!
Featuring production from Da Beatminerz, cover art inspired by Roy Ayers, and the debut of the Boot Camp Clik super group, Dah Shinin’ would eventually be named one of The Source magazine’s 100 Best Rap albums and yielded such classics as “Bucktown,” “Let’s Git It On,” “Wontime,” “Wrekonize,” “Sound Bwoy Bureill,” and “Stand Strong.”
It wasn’t all smooth –– jazz funk and riddims –– for the Bucktown pair, however. After a cease and desist from gun company, Smith & Wesson, Tek and Steele temporarily released under the moniker Cocoa Brovaz with 1998’s The Rude Awakening, but the culture never let Smif-N-Wessun fade. In 2005, they released Smif-N-Wessun: Reloaded and Smif-N-Wessun: The Album.
In the following years, they delivered concentrated works with two more of hip hop’s most respected producers, Pete Rock for Monumental (2011), and 9th Wonder and his Soul Council for The All (2019), spawning collabs ranging from Styles P, to Bun B, Musiq Soulchild and Rick Ross.
In 2013, they pushed boundaries and the West Indian undertones laced throughout their music won diaspora-spanning respect and their first EP, Born And Raised, featuring reggae favorites, Jahdan Blakkamore, Junior Kelly and Junior Reid. It was entirely produced by Beatnick & K-Salaam. In 2018, a European tour showcased their stockpile of anthems and energetic flow with Champion Sound (Live From Prague).
Perhaps most known for their Timberlands and hook, “I shine, you shine, shine,” Smif-N-Wessun’s overall M.O. has acquired them a catalog and audience as loyal to them as they are to hip hop.
“When we on tour, we see generations that come to our shows,” says Tek. “At some shows, we have kids that are 9, 11, 13 years old with their dads, and their dads had their dad, and they all rocking, and they know the words too.”
For them –– and fans –– it still feels like 30 years ago. Coming off the 50th anniversary of hip hop and music industry-wide shake ups from lawsuits to rap beef, we can look forward to seeing Smif-N-Wessun enter the stage once again with some “super friends” for this “Still Shinin’ Tour.” “It’s hip hop, it’s going to be exciting,” says Steele. “I don’t want to say, ‘throwback’ but it’s going to have a feeling of just coming to a show and having fun.”
Smif-N-Wessun is also back in the studio for their eighth studio album, INFINITY, but no word yet on what to expect other than P.N.C.-type vibes. “When you hear the new lyrics on the next project you’ll see,” Steele continues. “We’ve been smashed in the media, we’ve been blacklisted in NYC, we’ve been underdogs and under-voted, outvoted, outcast, thought of last, shot at, took stabs at, shut doors on and we still look forward. That’s how you keep shinin’.”
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