Freedom Writers - Wake Up! (2010) sampled The John Schroeder Orchestra - Lovin' You Girl (1966)

Artist:  Freedom Writers
Song:  Wake Up!
Year:  2010
Album:  Not Officially Released

It's time to pay respect to some local Toronto guys who are making great music.  If you like conscious Hip Hop then check out www.freedomwritersmusic.com.  These guys are not paying me, I simply like their music.  They are supposed to be putting out an album sometime soon and it should be great.  Don't sleep on Toronto, Wake Up!

Artist:  The John Schroeder Orchestra
Song:  Lovin' You Girl
Year:  1966
Album:  Working In The Soul Mine

I first became interested in John Schroeder's music when I discovered that he had a version of "Get Out Of My Life Woman".  That song appears on the same album as "Lovin' You Girl".  Freedom Writers used the 4-bar loop that begins at 1:31 as their main loop.  Occasionally, they change the 4-bar loop as follows.  Bar 1 is from 1:31, bar 2 from 2:03, bar 3 from 1:31 and bar 4 from 2:08.  Good production work.

Smif-N-Wessun - Nothing Move But The Money (1995) sampled Heatwave - The Star Of A Story (1978)

Artist:  Smif-N-Wessun
Song:  Nothing Move But The Money
Year:  1995
Album:  Not Officially Released

"It's all about the cash, still don't nothin' move but the money".  I have heard that this song was supposed to be on the Dah Shinin' album but the sample couldn't be cleared.  This song was released anyway on a white label 12-inch single.  It is inconceivable to think that this "5-mic" album could have been improved.

Artist:  A Tribe Called Quest
Song:  Verses From The Abstract
Year:  1991
Album:  The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest also had trouble clearing the sample but solved the problem in an interesting way.  They brought in Ron Carter to play the bassline and added the same guitar and xylophone to recreate the sample.  I saw Ron Carter perform in New York and he is amazing with the bass.  Tribe also added Vinia Mojica in the chorus for some aural pleasure.  In my opinion, this is the best Hip Hop album ever made.

Artist:  Heatwave
Song:  The Star Of A Story
Year:  1978
Album:  Central Heating

Da Beatminerz put in some good work when creating the Smif-N-Wessun song.  The beginning uses some chopped vocal and guitar samples from 2:48.  The bassline is the 2-bar loop at 0:35 and is accompanied by the singing loop from 0:18.  Another 2-bar loop that appears in the song starts at 0:29.  Also, the 2-bars starting at 0:24 is occasionally thrown in the mix.  A Tribe Called Quest didn't sample this song directly, but they did replay the loop at 0:35 with startling accuracy.  I also want to note that this song was also sampled for Slum Village "Star" and 9th Wonder "9th Wonder's Shoutro".