Music
Anthony Shakir
born 1966 · techno producer
Underrecognized architect of early Detroit techno who worked on Metroplex records from the start and mentored the second wave.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Also known as
- Shake · Sequence 10 · Da Sampla
- Detroit years
- birth–present
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Anthony “Shake” Shakir began producing in 1981 and worked with Juan Atkins and other Detroit musicians on many early releases of the Metroplex label. Under the name Sequence 10 he appeared on the landmark 1988 Virgin compilation Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit. Nicknamed Da Sampla, he treated “every record I owned” as an instrument, building sample-based tracks that blended electro, hip-hop and funk, partly on an E-mu SP-12 sampler borrowed from Kevin Saunderson. While many peers chased success in Europe, Shakir stayed close to home and to the city's second generation, working with Mike Banks and mentoring Claude Young. He founded the Frictional label in 1995 and Puzzlebox in 1996 with Keith Tucker of Aux 88, remixed Telex and Inner City, and co-produced Urban Tribe's 1998 album for Mo' Wax. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000, he was honored by fellow Detroit DJs at a benefit in March 2026.
Highlights
- Appeared as Sequence 10 on Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit (1988).
- Worked on many early Metroplex releases from 1981 on.
- Founded Frictional (1995) and co-founded Puzzlebox (1996).
- Co-produced Urban Tribe's The Collapse of Modern Culture (Mo' Wax, 1998).