Artist: Ras Kass Song: Etc. Year: 1996 Album: Soul On Ice
Another world premier from Representative Sample. The only reason I was able to find this sample is because I'm a big fan of both Ras Kass and Herbie Hancock. I made the connection eventually. I've never bought into the argument that Ras Kass is the greatest lyricist with the weakest production. Also, sampling Buckshot Shorty on a chorus is usually a good idea: "Pen Predator, Etcetera, Yeah Right".
This song is long but a good listen. Herbie is in outer space. There are two samples here. The main loop can be found at 4:59. Right after that loop, starting at 5:02, is another loop that Ras Kass samples briefly to change up the groove (1:39 and 2:37 in "Etc.")
Artist: Big L Song: The Big Picture (Intro) Year: 2000 Album: The Big Picture (1974 - 1999)
Today's post is a lesson in beat chopping by two of the best to ever do it, DJ Premier and 9th Wonder. Here's some magic from DJ Premier who produced this song for Big L.
Artist: Little Brother Song: Sincerely Yours Year: 2005 Album: The Minstrel Show
This is one of the best albums of the new millennium. If you stopped following Hip Hop seriously when the nineties ended, listen to this album. 90's quality music is still being made, even in 2012. This track was produced by 9th Wonder.
Most of this song is another sample, I'm only highlighting the end of this song which starts at 4:03. This chopping masterpiece is tough to recreate, details below. Speaking of 9th Wonder, remember that song by Digable Planets called "9th Wonder (Blackitolism)"?
Artist: Jerry Butler Song: Whatever Goes Around Year: 1973 Album: Power Of Love
Big L uses a 2-bar loop made from 3 pieces. The first bar comes from the 0:50 mark. The second bar starts with the piece from 0:53 with one of the notes repeating. The end of the second bar contains one note from 0:00.
Little Brother uses a more complicated arrangement. The song starts with a long sample from 0:13 (singing). The verses are composed of an 8-bar loop with various pieces. Bars 1 and 2 start from 4:33. Bar 3 is a repeat of bar 1. Bar 4 is made up of two pieces from 0:05 then 0:14. Bars 5, 6 and 7 are repeated from bars 1, 2 and 3. Bar 8 is made from two pieces, 0:12 and then 4:20. The chorus is a 2-bar loop that starts from 4:22 to 4:28 and then is followed by 4:20 to 4:22.
9th Wonder gets even more complicated on "Reminisce" because each of the 4 beats within a bar are different samples. I'm going to break down most of the samples starting when the main song ends. The outro begins with a long sample from 1:24 (singing). Now come really short samples. The next 2-bars (8 beats) begin with beats 1 to 3 starting from 0:01, beat 4 from 0:19, beat 5 from 0:06, beat 6 from 0:22, beat 7 from 0:10 and beat 8 from 0:30. These 2 bars then repeat. The third set of 2 bars are the same except beat 8 is from 0:37. The fourth set of 2 bars is the same as the first set except beats 1 and a bit of 2 come from 1:54 and the 2 bars end with the drums from 0:44.
