Audio Mixers: Koichi "Oppenheimer" Matsuki; Chris Bemand; Eliud "Lou" Ortiz; Toshihiko Miyoshi; Brandon Abelin; Ken Ifill.

Audio Remixers: DJ Krush; Toshihiko Miyoshi.

Recording information: Ameraycan Recording Studios, LA; Anticon's 59th St. Chemist Studio; Battery Recording Studio, NY; Boca Music, IL; Definitive Jux Studios; Hal Studio, Tokyo, Bunkamura Studio, Tokyo, Japan; Platinum Island Studios, NY; Show-on Studio, Tokyo, Japan; Studio Shangri-La, Tokyo, Japan; The Deadcloud Studio, Oakland, CA; The Studio, Philadelphia, PA; Vehicular Lab.

Photographer: Daisuke Ishizaka.

As Japan's most acclaimed hip-hop emissary, DJ Krush has been expanding the lexicon of turntablism, loops, samples, and boom-bap since the early 1990s. Taking his early inspirations from the concrete jungle of the South Bronx, and charting them into distinctly jazz-influenced waters, Krush has influenced legions of like-minded hip-hop renegades. STEPPING STONES is a unique career retrospective spanning nine albums and a myriad of styles, moods, and tones. Expanding the very notion of a "best-of album," Krush has re-cooked the originals, lending his distinctive touch once again to tracks that have outlasted musical trends and have become classics in their own right.

Approaching his musical canvas like a painter, DJ Krush contrasts soft-focus atmospherics with hard-edged beats. On the track "Duality," an orchestral sample swells over an arpeggiated synth stab--a contrast between light and shadow akin to an aural chiaroscuro. STEPPING STONES, however, is not just for the blunted chill-out set. On the updated "Shinjiro," a slinky double-time bass groove provides a sinuous counterpoint to Mos Def's languid rapping, evidence that Krush has the chops for club bangers as well. Showcasing the full breadth and Zen-like depth of Krush's hip-hop artistry, STEPPING STONES is a diverse collection by one of the genre's true originals.