Born in the Bronx NY and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Shareef (Azteknique aka TekMaschine) Islam, started out as a dancer/choreographer. In the late 80’s early 90’s when hip hop and dance music was at its best. He went on to perform and work with artist such as Paula Abdul, Jody Wately, Heavy D, Sybil, Color Me Badd, Kid N Play just to name a few. After an injury he suffered on a video set, Shareef began working on his skills as a producer/engineer. As his skills grew he started out with local talent which would prepare him for the more professional artists he would encounter later on in his career. He has worked with established artists like AZ, Big Daddy Kane, SuperStar of the ICONZ, the Bush Babees, Busta Rhymes, Rampage, Q-Tip and De La Soul. As well as boxing champion Zab “Super Judah, Lin Que (ISIS of X- Clan), Mos Def, Onyx and Jay-Z. Shareef has remixed songs for D’Angelo, TLC, Brandy, Lil Sammy, Missy Elliot, Onyx and Raphael Saadiq. He was also one of the assistant engineers on the Flip Mode Squad’s album and Busta Rhymes album.

Along with drum programming and audio engineering (Mixing, Recording, Editing) he plays the keyboard and bass guitar. Shareef is also an Instructor and Music educator at Dubspot Electronic Music Production and DJ School in NYC. He is the host and co-creator of hit internet web series “Reclaiming The Mix with Maschine and The Beat Bang Theory”