To longtime fans of New Haven rap icon Steven Williams, a.k.a. Stezo, who died in April 2020 at the age of 52, the voice from his 1996 song “Where the Funk At” is instantly recognizable, the flow easy yet urgent. But so much else has changed: the sound and pattern of the drums, the introduction of a bubbling organ part, and perhaps most poignant, a chant at the beginning of the song: “Clap your hands for Steven,” they say. “It’s all right.”
“Where the Funk At” is one of 20 cuts on The Last Dance, a posthumous release from Stezo masterminded by his close friend and producer Chris Lowe. They along with Allen Jackson, a.k.a. Dooley‑O, were part of a crew of New Haven musicians, dancers, and artists who grabbed their own places in the history of hip hop in the late 1980s. Jackson credits Stezo for “breaking the barrier” for Connecticut hip hop to enter the larger scene. He was a dancer for the rap group EPMD and scored a hit with his own song, “It’s My Turn,” which unleashed the Skull Snaps drum break on an unsuspecting world. Williams released a single, “Bop Ya Headz,” in 1994 and two more albums — 1997’s Where’s the Funk At and 2005’s C.T. (The Lost State) — before leaving the hip hop industry to become a barber. He had just opened a two-man barbershop in Charlotte, N.C. when he died.
In June 2020 the New Haven community honored Stezo with a mural installation on Route 1 and a gathering to remember him. At the time of Stezo’s death, Jackson had said that he had lost none of his ability to DJ and make beats, and that he had been working on new music.
Thanks to Chris Lowe, that music is now seeing the light of day. As the liner notes to the album explain, The Last Dance “features five tracks that he completed before his passing as well as some unfinished songs and miscellaneous recordings, which provided Lowe with plenty of material to create The Last Dance. And in doing so, he called upon fellow hip hop legends including LL Cool J, Pete Rock, Edo G, Special Ed, Just Blaze, and Chubb Rock for guest features and vocal tributes.”
“I’m just grateful for being able to capture his voice one last time,” Lowe is quoted as saying. “When he passed away, I felt obligated to finish the new album we already started…. I want Stezo to be remembered as a hip-hop pioneer…. Steve was around for a short period of time, but for the time he was here I saw him shake the game!”
The Last Dance is testament to that. In Lowe’s 2021 remix of “It’s My Turn,” he dispenses with the Skull Snaps drum break that made it famous, opting instead for a single, stripped-down rhythm that has the effect of showcasing Stezo’s abilities as a rapper. It makes the case for the versatility of Stezo’s talent; take away the genre-changing element, and the song still stands strong. “Check One, Two” finds fellow MCs paying homage to Stezo in grand style, with humor and deep affection, telling the story of how his talent opened doors for him.
“Rapzone” is maybe the most likely to send a tingle up some spines. Rappers Special Ed and Tash deliver urgent verses, energized by Lowe’s production. But it’s the first verse, from Stezo himself, that shines. It sounds like it was recorded as a demo, possibly even on a phone. But Stezo’s flow is as polished as ever. It shows that, though he stopped making albums, he never stopped making music. And The Last Dance shows that Stezo’s early hits may have put him on the map, but his legacy continues.
The Last Dance is available everywhere on Aug. 27, but can be sampled on Bandcamp now.
