And say children, what does it all mean?

Way back in ’83 two geeky white boys namely Douglas Di Franco and Steve Stein (Double Dee & Steinski) both entered Tommy Boy Records’ contest for an original remix of tracks they later christened Lesson 1 - The Payoff Remix. Their entry won the competition hands down and has ever since become a hip-hop classic. The duo added two extra mixes namely Lesson 2 - The James Brown Remix and Lesson 3 - The History of Hip-Hop in 1984 and 1985 respectively and the 3 ‘Lessons’ have been bootlegged, referenced, sampled and paid homage to by producers and DJs ranging from DJ Shadow, Prince Paul (De La Soul) and Cut Chemist (Jurassic 5) to name but a few.

With the 25th anniversary of Lesson 1 - The Payoff Remix looming large, Nate Patrin of Pitchfork Media conducted an interview with the maestro himself, Steinski. Click here to read the full interview.

And speaking of the 3 remixes:
1. Lesson 1 - The Payoff Remix

2. Lesson 2 - The James Brown Remix

3. Lesson 3 - The History of Hip-Hop