Street Smartz - Metal Thangz (Remix) (1997) sampled Deniece Williams - I Believe In Miracles (1982)

Artist:  Street Smartz
Song:  Metal Thangz (Remix)
Year:  1997
Album:  Tru Criminal Records EP

More Street Smartz!  This blog is becoming a shrine to F.T.  I still recite parts of these verses while walking down the street 14 years later.  These are classic lyrics that still hold up today.  F.T. kills it.

Artist:  Rob-O
Song:  World Premier
Year:  2006
Album:  Rhyme Pro

I believe Rob-O created this song well before 2006, but I heard it first on this album.  Rhyme Pro is a compilation of some of Rob-O's older material which I recognize from the late 1990's.  Some good Pete Rock production appears elsewhere on this album.

Artist:  Deniece Williams
Song:  I Believe In Miracles
Year:  1982
Album:  Niecy

There is quite a gap between the lyrics of Deniece Williams and those of F.T.  The Street Smartz sample is a two-bar loop starting at 0:08.  Occasionally, the two-bar loop at 0:17 can be heard.  Rob-O used four-bar loops in his song.  The verse loops start with two bars from 0:08, then one bar from 0:05 repeats twice.  The chorus loop starts with two bars from 0:17 and is followed by a mix of two samples: the one bar from 0:05 and the one bar from 0:22 repeat twice.

Heltah Skeltah - Prowl (1996) sampled Lalo Schifrin - Danube Incident (1967)

Artist:  Heltah Skeltah
Song:  Prowl
Year:  1996
Album:  Nocturnal

In the summer of 1996, I thought that the Boot Camp Clik was at the top of the Hiphop hierarchy, especially since they had Da Beatminerz making great music for the past 4 years.  Heltah Skeltah were my favourite Emcee's in the crew.  Rock (Da Rockness Monstah) had the voice and Ruck (Sean Price) had the lyrics.  This song also has an appearance from Louieville Sluggah.

Artist:  CRU
Song:  Straight From L.I.P.
Year:  1997
Album:  Da Dirty 30

I think that this is one of the best album covers in Hiphop because it is a careful arrangement of photos to produce the letters CRU.

Artist:  Portishead
Song:  Sour Times
Year:  1994
Album:  Dummy

This is where I first heard the sample back in 1994.  This post was birthed recently when I was at the bar with my buddies and this came on.  It took me a second to remember where the sample was from.  They did a great job of taking the samples and seamlessly integrating them into their additional instrumentation.

Artist:  Lalo Schifrin
Song:  Danube Incident
Year:  1967
Album:  More Mission: Impossible

This song also appears on rereleases such as Music From Mission: Impossible Anthology and Mission: Impossible ... And More!  Heltah Skeltah kept it simple by looping the 4-bar sample at 0:00 and keeping it slow.  CRU and Portishead both sped up that sample and used the sample at 1:33 for an intro.  Portishead also switched between the 2 samples at various points in their song.

Capone -N- Noreaga - Driver's Seat (1997) sampled Willie Hutch - Do The Thing That's Best For You (1974)

Artist:  Capone -N- Noreaga
Song:  Driver's Seat
Year:  1997
Album:  The War Report

C.N.N. Network, Channel 10.  What!  What!  This is my favourite song from Capone -N- Noreaga, it triggered me to buy the album the next day.  It has always seemed odd to me that Busta Rhymes jumps on the song at the end to bark.  It would have been nice to have a verse from Busta.  On a side note, I think that Akinyele makes a brief appearance in this song's video.

Artist:  Willie Hutch
Song:  Do The Thing That's Best For You
Year:  1974
Album:  The Mark Of The Beast

I listened to this song many times and didn't make the connection to Capone -N- Noreaga. One day, I listened to the song and finally heard it.  Funny how the brain works.  This Willie Hutch album isn't as good as "Foxy Brown" or "The Mack", but it's the next best thing.  The samples used by Capone -N- Noreaga break down like this:  In the intro to the song, the sample is just a vocal and piano sample from the 0:20 mark played repeatedly.  The main sample is a bass and vocal sample for 2 bars.  The first bar (plus a little bit into the second bar) is at 0:19.  The remainder of the second bar is made up of the sample at 0:21 played twice.

Pete Rock - Markd4Death (2003) sampled Norman Connors - Butterfly Dreams (1973)

Artist:  Pete Rock
Song:  Markd4Death
Year:  2003
Album:  Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics

This one is a bit confusing.  Pete Rock was not able to release the InI "Center Of Attention" album or the Deda "The Original Baby Pa" album back in 1995/1996 when I was looking forward to both projects.  Fortunately, my friend RGH acquired a cassette of the InI album and that satisfied me for years before this album finally gave me the Deda record.  Both albums are classics if you like Pete Rock.  The strange thing is that this song is on the Deda album but he doesn't appear on it, instead it seems to be a song by a group called Ex Cons.

Artist:  Norman Connors
Song:  Butterfly Dreams
Year:  1973
Album:  Dark Of Light

This is a great jazz album and very different from his later work.  The Pete Rock song put in some labour.  The intro is a small sample that occurs at 0:12 for a half bar, repeated 4 times at increasing pitches.  During the main part of the song, this same sample serves as the final half bar of the two-bar loop.  The first bar and a half comes from the sample starting at 0:06.

Ras Kass - Life & Bullshit (2005) sampled Leon Ware - Instant Love (1976)

Artist:  Ras Kass
Song:  Life & Bullshit
Year:  2005
Album:  Institutionalized

I heard this song for the first time in the summer of 2005 and loved it, but the same beat was used that same summer by another artist.  Years earlier, Ras Kass put out a song called "Home Sweet Home" and Jadakiss released the same beat with "We Gonna Make It".  I heard that Alchemist initially produced "Home Sweet Home" for Ras Kass but later sold it to Jadakiss because Ras Kass's label didn't pay up.

Artist:  Tragedy Khadafi
Song:  The Game
Year:  2005
Album:  Thug Matrix

I don't know the story for why Tragedy Khadafi also put out a song with the same music around the same time.  It may be a coincidence in this case because Havoc produced this gem (Havoc is one of the most underrated producers in the game).  Ras Kass's version is produced by someone else but it sounds almost identical.

Artist:  Leon Ware
Song:  Instant Love
Year:  1976
Album:  Musical Massage

I consider this to be the Marvin Gaye album that should have been.  Leon Ware could have given any of these tracks to Marvin Gaye but he instead chose to sing over them himself.  I recommend this album for baby-making.  The Ras Kass and Tragedy Khadafi songs both use the same three elements: an introduction sampled from the 1:54 mark, a main verse loop from 1:20 and an alternative verse loop from 1:43 (includes some singing - "instant love, like we're feeling".

Pete Rock - Strange Fruit (1998) sampled David Axelrod - The Smile (1968)

Artist:  Pete Rock
Song:  Strange Fruit
Year:  1998
Album:  Soul Survivor

Continuing the Pete Rock and Sticky Fingaz collaboration from my last post, here is another jewel.  Pete Rock assembled a diverse and interesting cast for this haunting beat:  Tragedy Khadafi, Cappadonna and Sticky Fingaz (sounds great here).

Artist:  Lord Finesse
Song:  Actual Facts
Year:  1995
Album:  The Awakening (Hidden Bonus Track)

Three years earlier, Lord Finesse assembled an All-Star team on a similar beat:  Sadat X, Large Professor and Grand Puba.

Artist:  Royce Da 5'9"
Song:  Shake This
Year:  2009
Album:  Street Hop

There is some good music in the David Axelrod song outside of the piano samples and Royce Da 5'9" took advantage of that.

Artist:  David Axelrod
Song:  The Smile
Year:  1968
Album:  Song Of Innocence

David Axelrod is responsible for some of the greatest Hiphop samples.  I also admire him for the concepts he brings to his albums (i.e. religion, environmentalism, etc.).  Pete Rock used two samples:  The two note piano sample located at 3:08 and the other piano at 3:13.  Lord Finesse used the 2-bar loop starting at 3:07 and added to that foundation.  Royce Da 5'9" used 4 samples.  The first is for his chorus, it appears at the 1:16 mark, but he also uses the note at 1:27 to start subsequent loops.  The verse uses three samples as it builds, located at 2:01, 2:09 and 2:19.

Onyx - Shout (Pete Rock Remix) (1996) sampled Hubert Laws - Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (1976)

Artist:  Onyx
Song:  Shout (Pete Rock Remix)
Year:  1996
Album:  Not officially released

I don't know much about this song's history.  What I do know is that I first heard it on a Chubby Chub mixtape from 1996 called "Get Dirty".  I'm assuming it is an unreleased song that has been later unofficially released.  Nice beat from Pete Rock.

Artist:  Onyx
Song:  Shout (Album Version)
Year:  1995
Album:  All We Got Iz Us

I like when a song and its remix are sampled from the same source.  The album version of Shout sounds similar to the remix.

Artist:  Ras Kass
Song:  Drama
Year:  1996
Album:  Soul On Ice

A Coolio appearance on the blog!  Ras Kass invites Coolio to rhyme on his classic album and I think that Coolio never sounded better.  It goes without saying that Ras Kass is in my Top 10 Emcees of all time.

Artist:  Hubert Laws
Song:  Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again
Year:  1976
Album:  Romeo & Juliet

A member of the Creed Taylor crew, Hubert Laws has been sampled a lot.  The Pete Rock Remix of "Shout" uses the sample located at 5:37 and repeats it before letting the rest of the loop play.  The album version of "Shout" uses the loop at 5:35, you can hear flute at the beginning, and I think they played the bassline, copying the notes from the sample at 1:47.  Finally, the Ras Kass used the loop at 1:38.