Mobb Deep - Keepin' It Real (1994) sampled Bob James - Feel Like Making Love (1974)

Artist:  Mobb Deep
Song:  Keepin' It Real
Year:  1994
Album:  The Infamous Demo Tape

Honorary mentions to "Hazardous" by Godfather Don and "Can't Stop Rockin' (Tribute) (Goldfinger's Remix)" by Jemini The Gifted One, but I want to highlight those who sampled this song the best. Imagine if this song had made it on to The Infamous album? Perfection might have been even better. Excuse the sound quality, it's from their demo cassette.

Artist:  Termanology (featuring Skyzoo, Torae and Reks)
Song:  Get Away
Year:  2014
Album:  Shut Up And Rap

This is the song that inspired the blog post.  I was listening to this for the past 2 months constantly.  Termanology has a good ear for music to put his killer flow on.  This song has a good video as well.

Artist:  Rapper Big Pooh
Song:  My Mind
Year:  2005
Album:  Sleepers

Sleepers is a classic album, in part because of this song.

Artist:  Main Source
Song:  Scratch & Kut
Year:  1991
Album:  Breaking Atoms

Speaking of classic albums, this song uses a different sample, a one-bar loop that could repeat forever and still sound good.

Artist:  Bob James
Song:  Feel Like Making Love
Year:  1974
Album:  One

I don't even know where to start with this album, it has been sampled hundreds of times.  I still remember the first time I heard this record back in Hip Hop's golden era.  The Mobb Deep and Termanology sample is the four-bar loop from 0:00.  The Rapper Big Pooh sample appears at 4:11.  The Main Source loop is the one bar at 1:16. 

Mobb Deep (1st Infantry) - Fourth Of July sampled Brothers By Choice - Take A Little More (1978)

Artist:  Mobb Deep (1st Infantry)
Song:  Fourth Of July
Year:  2003
Album:  Free Agents: The Murda Mixtape

Prodigy is on the chorus and this song appears on a Mobb Deep album, but it is really a 1st Infantry track on the bonus disc.  1st Infantry is Alchemist, Evidence and Big Twins.  Great combination.

Artist:  MED
Song:  Yeah
Year:  2005
Album:  Push Comes To Shove

This is a good album full of beats by Madlib and J Dilla. 

Artist:  Brothers By Choice
Song:  Take A Little More
Year:  1978
Album:  Brothers By Choice

Mobb Deep used the one-bar loop from 0:13 and the four-bar loop from 0:00.

MED used chopped pieces to form a half-bar loop that is kept interesting with more samples from the same four-bars starting at 0:00. 

Tha Alkaholiks - No Hand Outs (1995) sampled Eric Gale - Forecast (1973)

Artist:  Tha Alkaholiks
Song:  No Hand Outs
Year:  1995
Album:  One Million Strong

Check out the young Phil Da Agony in the first verse.  Also check out Snagglepuss on this rare Liks track from the compilation album "One Million Strong".

Artist:  Mobb Deep
Song:  It's Over
Year:  2003
Album:  Free Agents: The Murda Mixtape

The same sample is used here but it is interesting how they shifted the loop back one beat from what I had grown used to with "No Hand Outs".  Shifting the loop changes the feel of the song.

Artist:  Nas
Song:  I Gave You Power
Year:  1996
Album:  It Was Written

The samples used were just for the intro to this song.

Artist:  Eric Gale
Song:  Forecast
Year:  1973
Album:  Forecast

Note in the bottom right corner of the cover it says Kudu 11.  Kudu was a record label associated with Creed Taylor (CTI Records).  There was a time where I would buy any record on Kudu.

Tha Alkaholiks used the two-bar loop starting at 0:51.

 

Mobb Deep used the same loop but added a few more samples.  Sometimes there are horns punctuating the loop, these samples are from 1:14 and 1:18.  Also, at the end of each two bar loop, there is a short sample from 1:13.  When Mobb Deep's song is ending, you can hear Eric Gale's song playing from 1:23 onwards.

 

Nas used a short loop from 0:17 in the intro and then adds five of the first six notes from the Mobb Deep sample (the first note is not heard).

Mobb Deep - Trife Life (1995) sampled Norman Connors - You Are My Starship (1976)

Artist:  Mobb Deep
Song:  Trife Life
Year:  1995
Album:  The Infamous

When a Hiphop artist's second album fails to live up to the expectations set by their first album, people talk about the sophomore curse.  If this curse exists, then my favourite exceptions are: A Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory", Gang Starr "Step In The Arena", Common "Resurrection", Public Enemy "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" and Mobb Deep "The Infamous".  When Mobb Deep released this record, I think everybody knew it was a classic immediately.

Artist:  Norman Connors
Song:  You Are My Starship
Year:  1976
Album:  You Are My Starship

Norman Connors put out some good jazz in the early 1970's.  He also made a great commercialized tune here.  Mobb Deep used the sample at 0:00 for their introduction.  The sample used for the rest of their song occurs at 1:58.  Most of the time, the bassline is audible and high end is filtered out, but during the chorus and for brief moments in the verses, they let the saxophone be heard.  One more thing, if you listen to the rest of the Norman Connors album, you'll come across the sample for Das Efx "Real Hip-Hop".