Smif-N-Wessun - Bucktown (1995) sampled Jack Bruce - Born To Be Blue (1971)

Artist:  Smif-N-Wessun
Song:  Bucktown
Year:  1995
Album:  Dah Shinin'

This will be my most ambitious post to date.  It features a jazz song that is full of samples.  Even though this Smif-N-Wessun album came out in 1995, the first release was Bucktown during the summer of 1994.

Artist:  Nice & Smooth
Song:  Blunts
Year:  1994
Album:  Jewel Of The Nile

Another Hip Hop duo rhyming over the same sample.  Smif-N-Wessun beat Nice & Smooth to the punch though.  Nice & Smooth are one of my favourite groups from the golden era.

Artist:  Artifacts
Song:  Wrong Side Of Da Tracks
Year:  1994
Album:  Between A Rock And A Hard Place

This Hip Hop duo used different samples.  The horns featured in the chorus and occasionally throughout the verses are 4 separate samples.

Artist:  Cella Dwellas
Song:  Land Of The Lost
Year:  1996
Album:  Realms 'N Reality

Another duo, another sample.  What I remember about this song is how great the video was.  This album is tremendous because it contains a lot of jazz and unique lyrics.  It's a commercial flop and a sub-underground hit.

Artist:  Showbiz & A.G.
Song:  Hold Ya Head
Year:  1992
Album:  Runaway Slave

The duo pattern continues with another two samples.  The bassline and the chorus horns are two separate samples from this same jazz song.

Artist:  Diamond And The Psychotic Neurotics
Song:  Sally Got A One Track Mind (Remix By Showbiz)
Year:  1993
Album:  Sally Got A One Track Mind b/w Check One, Two 12-inch Single

Let's just count this one as a duo because of the "And", he wasn't just Diamond D.  More importantly, imagine how difficult life is for a Psychotic Neurotic.

Artist:  Jack Bruce
Song:  Born To Be Blue
Year:  1971
Album:  Things We Like

Jack Bruce comes from the rock band Cream (with Eric Clapton).  Jazz is also a thing he likes.  The first time I heard this song, I was surprised how many well-known samples were contained within.  Showbiz clearly loves this album because there are more songs he has sampled.  Here are the samples in order:

Artifacts "Wrong Side Of Da Tracks"

0:04 - one of the two note horn samples

0:05 - the other two note horn sample

0:07 - one low note used in the verses

0:10 - the famous horn sample from the chorus

Diamond And The Psychotic Neurotics "Sally Got A One Track Mind (Remix By Showbiz)"

1:19 - used as the main loop

Showbiz And A.G. "Hold Ya Head"

2:26 - the horns from the chorus

2:52 - the bassline of the song

Smif-N-Wessun "Bucktown" and Nice & Smooth "Blunts"

2:57 - used as the main loop

Cella Dwellas "Land Of The Lost"

3:08 - used as the main loop

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".

F.T. - F.T. (The Anthem) (2009) sampled Prince And The Revolution - The Beautiful Ones (1984)

Artist:  F.T.
Song:  F.T. (The Anthem)
Year:  2009
Album:  Purple Pain Mixtape

F.T. AKA Fuc That (Street Smartz) is the Brooklyn Beast.  Black Milk created a mixtape of beats using Prince samples and F.T. rhymed over those tracks.  This one is my favourite but there are other great songs as well.

Artist:  Rapper Big Pooh
Song:  When I'm Done
Year:  2010
Album:  The Purple Tape

Phonte might technically be the better Emcee from Little Brother but Rapper Big Pooh has grown on me over the years to become the one I'm following closely.  After F.T. introduced me to these beats, I was really excited to learn that Rapper Big Pooh blessed them again.

Artist:  Black Milk
Song:  Track 9
Year:  2008
Album:  Music From The Color Purple (Beat Sampler)

When everyone was listening to Thriller by Michael Jackson, I was more into Purple Rain by Prince.  I think that Black Milk is a genius for chopping up Prince's sounds and making a whole album of instrumentals inspired by the Purple One.  F.T. and Rapper Big Pooh did justice to this effort.  Press play and get your freestyle on.

Artist:  Prince And The Revolution
Song:  The Beautiful Ones
Year:  1984
Album:  Purple Rain

Since Black Milk reveals the Prince sample at the end of each track, it wasn't too hard for anyone to figure this out, but he put some work into the construction of this beat.  All three Hip Hop tracks use the same 4-bar loop composed of the following pieces.  At around 3:24, Prince sings "Do you want him?" and the loop starts with the word "him" and continues until Prince sings "or do you want me?"  The "or do you want" is replaced by part of the loop from bar 1 and bar 2 begins with the word "me" (3:28).  After Prince sings "cause I want you" just before 3:34, there are three guitar notes.  Note 3, then note 1, then note 2 conclude the second bar.  The third and fourth bars are the same as the first two except at the end of the fourth bar when the order of the guitar notes becomes 2, 3 and 1.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Check It Out (1994) sampled Young-Holt Unlimited - Bumpin' On Young Street (1973)

Artist:  Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
Song:  Check It Out
Year:  1994
Album:  The Main Ingredient

I think this is a great album but what's really funny to me is how almost every track contains a sample of Biz Markie or Big Daddy Kane.

Artist:  Da King & I
Song:  What's Up Doc
Year:  1993
Album:  Contemporary Jeep Music

I have to mention that these guys used a different sample from the same song and did it earlier than Pete Rock.  93 Flava!

Artist:  Young-Holt Unlimited
Song:  Bumpin' On Young Street
Year:  1973
Album:  Oh Girl

I still remember in the late 1990's walking into Cosmos Records on Queen Street in Toronto and hearing this song.  I quickly asked what it was.  The Toronto version of this song would be "Bumpin' On Yonge Street".  The Da King & I sample occurs at 1:48 and the Pete Rock sample at 1:57.

The Fab 5 - Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka Part 2 (Radio) (1996) sampled Catalyst - Uzuri (1973)

Artist:  The Fab 5 (Heltah Skeltah & Originoo Gunn Clappaz)
Song:  Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka Part 2 (Radio)
Year:  1996
Album:  Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka b/w Lettha Brainz Blo 12-inch Single

I want to remind the world and myself that Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka had a Part 2. This song uses the featured sample only in a few places (0:19, 1:37, 2:18, 3:21 and 4:05).

Artist:  The Fab 5 (Heltah Skeltah & Originoo Gunn Clappaz)
Song:   Leflah
Year:   1995
Album:  Blah b/w Leflah 12-inch Single

This song was released as "Leflah" on a 12-inch single and was later released as "Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka" on Heltah Skeltah's "Nocturnal" LP.

Artist:  Bahamadia
Song:   Spontaneity
Year:   1996
Album:  Kollage

Bahamadia also rhymed over this sample.

Artist:  Catalyst
Song:  Uzuri
Year:  1973
Album:  Perception

This is the type of song that reminds me why I love jazz.  As the main sample, Leflah used the 2-bar loop that starts at 0:11 and occasionally you can hear the noise from 0:00 (0:52 or 1:34 in Leflah).  Leflaur Leflah Eshkoska Part 2 (Radio) uses the second half of the 0:11 sample in a few places and then uses the whole sample towards the end of the song.  Bahamadia's verses also use the sample from 0:11 but between the verses you hear the two-bar loop that starts at 0:00.

EPMD - Rap Is Outta Control (1990) sampled Funkadelic - I Bet You (1970)

Artist:  EPMD
Song:  Rap Is Outta Control
Year:  1990
Album:  Business As Usual

Along with Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" and Public Enemy "Fight The Power", this song makes a strong case for the best Hip Hop song ever made.

Artist:  EPMD
Song:   Rap Is Still Outta Control
Year:   1999
Album:  Out Of Business

EPMD remade "You Gots To Chill" with "You Got's 2 Chill '97" so why not do the same here?

Artist:  Funkadelic
Song:  I Bet You
Year:  1970
Album:  Funkadelic

The main sample is a one-bar loop that starts at 2:54.  Another brief sample is heard at the beginning of "Rap Is Outta Control", right after you hear "Tom J in the house".  I suspect that this comes from the main sample but is slowed and processed.  Also note the sample at 0:11 that was also used by EPMD "Total Kaos" as well as Ice-T "Mind Over Matter" and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien "Dark Skin Girls".