Masters at Work consists of the talents of Kenny Gonzales, also known as “Dope”, and “Little” Louie Vega. Both Vega and Gonzalez were born to parents living in New York, though of Puerto Rican heritage. Consequently, both were early influenced by the Big Apple’s fertile salsa scene during the ’70s.

During the early ’80s, both were noted DJs around New York, though Vega immersed himself in house and freestyle while Gonzalez entered the rap scene. (The separate interests came in handy later, as dance fan Vega concentrated on songwriting and groove-making while hip-hop head Gonzalez programmed beats and samples.) The pair were also working separately as producers, and Vega had already made a name for himself working on dozens of freestyle tracks and remixes by Nice & Smooth, Information Society and India. Gonzalez, working as a mobile DJ with a team calling themselves the Masters at Work, founded his own Dope Wax Records and worked on production for all of the major New York dance labels: Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Cutting and Big Beat. In 1987, he loaned out the name Masters at Work to Todd Terry for the 1987 single “Alright Alright", then Terry returned the favor one year later by introducing him to Vega.

One could say that Nuyorican Soul, a Latin DJ team, was formed in 1996 in New York, but it’s not quite so simple as all that. Really, the band plays Latin influenced house music and there are enough aliases to keep you ruminating for a while. The team itself is better known as Masters at Work. And they were already prominent DJs in the early 80s, well before they became NuYorican Soul.