Shareef Islam

Shareef “Azteknique / TekMaschine” Islam is a Bronx-born, Brooklyn-raised producer, engineer, musician, and educator whose career bridges the golden era of hip-hop and today’s evolving music landscape. He began as a dancer and choreographer in the late ’80s and early ’90s—an era when hip-hop and dance music were exploding—performing and working with artists such as Paula Abdul, Jody Watley, Heavy D, Sybil, Color Me Badd, and Kid ’n Play.

After an injury on a video set shifted his trajectory, Shareef turned his focus to production and engineering. Starting with local talent, he steadily sharpened his craft and went on to collaborate with major artists including AZ, Big Daddy Kane, the ICONZ’s SuperStar, the Bush Babees, Busta Rhymes, Rampage, Q-Tip, De La Soul, Zab “Super” Judah, Lin Que (ISIS of X-Clan), Mos Def, Onyx, and Jay-Z. His remix credits span D’Angelo, TLC, Brandy, Lil’ Sammy, Missy Elliott, Onyx, and Raphael Saadiq, and he served as an assistant engineer on releases for Flipmode Squad and Busta Rhymes.

A versatile musician, Shareef brings together drum programming, mixing, recording, editing, keys, and bass guitar. In addition to his studio work, he is a longtime instructor and music educator, previously teaching at Dubspot Electronic Music Production and DJ School in NYC. He is also the co-creator and host of the hit web series Reclaiming The Mix with Maschine and The Beat Bang Theory, where he continues to share his deep knowledge of production, engineering, and the art of the groove.