To say Stevie Wonder is a good artist would be an understatement. Over five decades, Wonder has amassed a catalog that not only includes over 30 albums but numerous songwriting and production credits. Fans in the District were treated last month to a two-and-a-half hour trip through a slew of rhythms and emotions.

Wonder’s musical mastery has touched people worldwide, probably no two more than Brooklynites Bobbito Garcia and DJ Spinna. Both have made names for themselves in the world of hip-hop, but their love of everything Wonder has compelled them to release a two volume CD set of rare Stevie cover tunes and grow a simple tribute party in New York into a globe traveling show, Wonder-Full, that has become a must-have experience for people who love soul music. Tonight, they’ll be bringing the party to Liv for its D.C. debut. I caught up with both of them via telephone to talk about their careers and what makes their Wonder-Full sets, as well as Mr. Wonder, so special.

Bobbito, you’re probably best known to hip-hop heads for the radio show you did with Stretch Armstrong in the 1990s. You gave a lot of people their first break. Could you name a few of them?

Bobbito: Wow. It’s a long list. Some of the biggest names I can drop, because they came up when they were unsigned, would include Biggie Smalls, Nas, Jay-Z when he only had a 12-inch deal, Wu-Tang when they had a white label test pressing, and Killa Cam and Murda Mase (a.k.a. Cam’Ron and Ma$e). I could go on and on and on. Anybody who really mattered in the ‘90s in New York basically came through our show as unsigned artists and that was the first time anybody had heard them live.

Have you sat back and thought about your contribution to hip-hop music?

Bobbito: Yeah, I think about it daily because I can’t escape it. People write to me on MySpace or stop me on the train and will be like, “Yo! I used to listen to you and Stretch back in the day. The first time I heard that demo was on your show.” There’s constant, constant love.

And DJ Spinna, your career got started in the mid-‘90s and you even did production for a pre-Dr. Dre Eminem. What compelled you to work with him?

Spinna: It came as a result of working with Rawkus Records. They were the championing underground label at the time and they were working with anybody that was up and coming. He happened to be one of those guys who were making a name for himself. But it was cool. He was cool. He was sharp in the studio, that’s for sure.

Both of you started out being known just for hip-hop music but it seems as though your latest endeavors, such as the Wonder-Full party and DJ Spinna’s house music production, have you headed in a different direction. Was there a specific moment when either of you felt it was time to broaden your horizons?

Bobbito: There was never a transition for me because I was playing and loving soul music before hip-hop even existed. Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions was the first album I ever heard. The radio show was never exclusively hip-hop. We would play old funk and soul records, jazz records. If DJ Premier had sampled Jimmy McGriff we would play the original. People didn’t know me for soul music but that didn’t mean it wasn’t me.

Spinna: As a deejay, I’ve always had an eclectic taste for music. When it came to production, I shifted a little bit in the late ‘90s when hip-hop got really boring to me. Even on the underground scene, which had been flourishing and unique for six years, everyone started to sound the same. The market was saturated. I'm grateful I did shifted styles. I got the chance to see a lot of things because of it, especially when it comes to traveling.

How did the Wonder-Full party come to be?

Bobbito: Back in 1999 a deejay by the name of E-Love, who I was mentoring, fell in love with Songs In The Key Of Life. I was telling her it was a great album but it was only one out of, like, 40. She came up with an idea to do a tribute to Songs and brought me and Spinna on. We did it once for about 200 people, then two years later Spinna’s wife Keita decided to do it on a larger scale.

Spinna: The first Wonder-Full was in 2001. We decided to make it a Stevie Wonder thing as opposed to just celebrating Songs. It expanded from there. Every year it gets bigger. We’ve taken it all over the place. This year we did it in L.A. for the second time. We’re doing it in D.C. and the following day we’re doing it in New York.

Why do you think the parties are so highly regarded?

Bobbito: We’ve had people faint in the crowd. We’ve had people have orgasms in the crowd.
(DCist chuckles)
I’m dead ass. I’m not even joking. Spinna and I have cried in the deejay booth. It’s a very deep and emotional party.

Spinna: It may not be the man himself but you’ll capture the same type of emotions as you would at his show.

What is it about Stevie Wonder’s music that resonates with you?

Bobbito: It’s pretty simple. I interviewed Michael Bolton, who's not exactly my favorite artist, once for an article in Vibe magazine. I played him a Stevie Wonder song and he said, “If God had to pick one voice to represent him on Earth, it would be Stevie’s.” I really can’t say it any greater than that. Through my childhood and my adult years, there’s one artist that continually hits my core and it’s him. And I think a lot of people feel that way.

Spinna: The main thing is his subject of love, universal love. He’s pretty much the most prolific artist of our time because he can talk about anything from politics to having a good time to relationships. He’s a broad artist. He’s made a lot of records that are club-friendly and there aren’t many classic artists of his caliber that you can play all night. His music is quite spiritual and not too many artists can move people the way he does.

Since the show includes a number of rare covers and other songs that don’t appear on Stevie’s albums, how do you go about finding the music?

Spinna: Part of it is research. Listening to old records and reading credits and seeing what songs he might have written for people.

And now, the final three questions. What's your favorite:

1) Stevie album cut?

Bobbito: It’s impossible to answer that question. It’s not feasible. How do you answer that? He has such a body of work that you can’t.

Spinna: Wow! I really can’t say “As” from Songs because every album has some really magical moments that can break you down. That’s a hard one. I’ve been asked this question before and I think I said the same thing Bobbito said.

2) Song that Stevie has either written or produced?

Spinna: For some reason I can’t get over Michael Jackson’s “I Can’t Help It.” That record really butters me up every time I play it.

3) Cover of a Stevie Wonder song?

Bobbito: The first one that comes to mind is Ray Barretto’s cover of “Pastime Paradise.” The Randy Watson Experience played over “You've Got It Bad Girl” and made it a seven minute song. I’m going to play it in D.C. They made it into a danceable record. It’s going to blow people’s minds. That’s probably my number one right now.

Spinna: The Jose Feliciano version of “Golden Lady.”

The first photo was taken from Fusicology and the second from KeiStar Productions.
The Wonder-Full party will take place at Liv tonight. Doors open at 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.