Andy asked me to write a little blog to explain how I became such a nerd when it came to remembering where certain samples and drum breaks came from and also to help point out a few good sources to learn more about the origins of hip-hop.
The main reason I know what I know is simply down to the amount of crate digging I’ve done in record stores throughout my life and more importantly piecing together the links between these records, labels, genres etc. Many people know the artists who became famous for certain tracks but it’s often more important to know the producer or who did the arrangement of the track or other info. You start to see patterns or links between records you never knew were there. The key is to never stop asking questions like: what year was this track produced? who was the bass player? etc. etc. You can never get to a point where you know too much and the great thing about music is that your tastes are constantly evolving, I mean, you think back to what you were listening to 5 years back and what you listen to now and the progression you’ve taken. It’s not that u used to like crap but as clichéd as it sounds, music is a journey and as u hear more u understand more of the subtleties etc. Also, try not to get bogged down in genre pigeon-holing, firstly, coz it’s a pain in the ass and secondly, coz it gets u nowhere!! I mean, who cares if its hip-hop/rnb or neo-soul, drum n bass or jungle, House or US Garage…… u either like it or u don’t!!!!!! Listen to as much diverse music as u possibly can get your filthy little hands on coz u will find the weirdest things popping up in tracks u hear. One of the best examples of this is a track u might not know but it’s a killer UK hip-hop track called Lofi Rocka off Lotek HiFi’s debut album on Big Dada Records and well the intro has a sample taken from Rodrigo playing Narciso Yepes’ Concierto De Aranjuez which is a classical Spanish guitar album. Yeah, exactly, random but it works and that’s the key. Anyone can grab well-known samples but to go beyond that and find something no one has uncovered before is the reason why producers like Dj Shadow get to where they are; seriously respected in the industry.
Now if u lookin for the origins of hip-hop, especially in terms of the instrumentals that were used and sampled, then the best place to start is with the funk bands of that era….. people like The Meters, Kool & The Gang, The JB’s, Parliament/Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone……….. the list goes on but seriously, their music has been raped over the last 25 years to produce the music u hear today, from hip-hop to drum n bass, electro to breaks… its all there!
Right, I’m not gonna go into a whole monster history lesson coz u can find it all out for yourself (which is far more fun) but here’s a little top 5 bits of sample history plus my top 5 b-boy tracks so check em out and shout me in the comments sections if there are any questions u need answering, happy to help!
Keep Diggin,
B
My Top 5 Pieces of Hip-Hop Thievery
Eric B & Rakim- Paid in Full (Bassline taken from Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further”)
Common- The Light (Vocal taken from Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes”)
Eminem- My Name is (Basically completely lifted from Labi Siffre’s “I Got The”)
2Pac- Picture Me Rollin (Instrumental taken from Kool & The Gang’s “Winter Sadness”)
House of Pain- Jump Around (Intro horns taken from Bob & Earls “Harlem Shuffle”)
Top 5 B-Boy Breaks
Incredible Bongo Band- Apache
The JB’s- Blow Your Head
Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force- Planet Rock
Kurtis Blow- The Breaks
Jackson Sisters- I Believe in Miracles
