Jo Jo Gunne - High School Drool

June 15th, 2013 | By illtal

Jo Jo Gunne was a rock group out of Los Angeles, CA. Two of the members were formerly of the group Spirit, which has been sampled more than a few times. The group didn’t have much commercial success and their album Jumpin’ the Gunne (pictured above) is often credited with putting the nail in the coffin. The cover is a gatefold and if you open up the album, the full picture is the band laying in a bed starring at a flying fat, naked woman. She’s looking down at a small pig on the floor, basically making a reference to the common phrase “when pigs can fly“.

Regardless of the weird cover, the track “High School Drool” has a really dope drum break in the intro. Check it out.

Curren$y - Living for the City

June 2nd, 2013 | By illtal

“My World is Empty Without You” was penned by the Motown powerhouse Holland-Dozier-Holland. The song was written for the superstar girl group The Supremes but only peaked at number 5 on the charts. The track was covered by The Smith Connection on their 1972 release Under My Wings.

I couldn’t find much info on the group. They were on the Music Merchant label, which was a subsidiary of the short-lived Invictus, ran by Holland and Dozier. Their album was produced by Ronald Dunbar who did a lot of work for Holland-Dozier-Holland and also appeared on several Parliament-Funkadelic songs. Regardless, The Smith Connection’s cover of “My World is Empty Without You” is a blazer.

The track was sampled most recently by Curren$y for his cut “Living for the City“. It was also sampled by Keith Murray and P Brothers. The song has several change ups and break downs which give it a ton of sampling flexibility.

It’s worth mentioning that the Smith Connection album is straight heat. Other tracks have been used by Pete Rock, Rakim, Evidence, AZ, and Cormega. If you see it, pick it up.

Pharcyde - 4 Better Or 4 Worse (Remix)

May 20th, 2013 | By illtal

Ray Bryant was a Jazz pianist from Philly. He started playing at the age of 6 and his career spanned 50+ years. He worked with several well known Jazz names including Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, and Charlie Parker. He also worked with a few (sampled) soul singers including Carmen McRae and Aretha Franklin. If that wasn’t enough, he has a bunch of musician nephews including Kevin Eubanks (of Jay Leno fame). His 1967 album Slow Freight, released on Cadet featured the track The Fox Stalker. The intro was looped for the Pharcyde‘s underground remix of “4 Better or 4 Worse“.

The original version of “4 Better or 4 Worse” appeared on the classic 90′s LP Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. DJ Nu-Mark produced the remix which didn’t surface on official vinyl till 2008. For those who don’t know, DJ Nu-Mark is a member of the underground hip-hop group Jurassic 5. Check out the original Jazz cut by Bryant to see how it was flipped.

Fat Joe - Bronx Tale

May 12th, 2013 | By illtal

Sammy Nestico has a very long and prestigious music career. He’s best known for his arrangements of the Count Basie Orchestra and tons of work with film/television music. There is even an award named after him! Despite his lengthy career as a Jazz/big band composer and arranger, his first solo album didn’t drop till 1982. The album has a lengthy list of guest musicians, but the only one I recognize is Bud Shank. Most of it is traditional Jazz, with the cut “Shoreline Drive” being the exception. The track sounds more like something off of a CTI release than a big band composer album. The song was famously sampled for Fat Joe‘s intro track to Jealous One’s Envy, “Bronx Tale“.

Joe’s sophomore release Jealous One’s Envy is usually regarded as his best work. “Bronx Tale“, the first song on the album, sets the tone for the rest of the classic LP. Diamond D loops the Nestico track to perfection while KRS-One spits some bars. Ironically, the track sounds more like KRS-One featuring Fat Joe, as it’s mostly him doing the rapping. Diamond didn’t add any drums or chop the sample, but in his defense, it really didn’t need to. Either way, check out the original cut.

Tragedy - They Force My Hand

May 1st, 2013 | By illtal

Hodges, James, & Smith was an all-girl group out of Detroit. The group was formed by Mickey Stevenson, who was Motown‘s A&R during their hit-making years. Using his connections, he was able to get Hodges, James, & Smith high-visibility performances at the best venues. His goal was to mold a group similar to The Supremes. However, they really never struck it big, even though they released several albums. Later in their career, they sang backup vocals for Bobby Womack and Sylvester. Their debut album featured the cut “Signal Your Intention” which was used for the Tragedy Khadafi track “They Force My Hand“.

“They Force My Hand” featured fellow Queens rapper Cormega and appeared on several mixtapes at the time. It was released on white labels and bootlegs, but would eventually end up much later on the album Against All Odds. The track was produced by Spunk Bigga and featured the intro of the sample looped with some light synths and non-sampled drums. Even though you may not recognize the name, he’s actually worked with a dope list of artists including InI, G Dep, McGruff, and AZ. Take a listen to see how he flipped the original.

Roger Saunders Drum Break

April 23rd, 2013 | By illtal

Been a while since I posted a drum break, so felt I was due! This one is a killer and lasts for a full 20 seconds. I don’t have much info on Roger Saunders other than what I found on the back of this album. Saunders hails from London and started playing guitar and piano at the age of 14. He was a member of the British rock group Freedom which was comprised of 2 dudes who were kicked out of Procol Harum. He left the group and decided to embark on an unsuccessful solo career. Regardless, he left us with a dope drum break! Check it out.

Gang Starr - Work

April 15th, 2013 | By illtal

The Manhattans were a soul group out of Jersey City, NJ. I guess the Jersey Cities didn’t have the same ring to it as their New York-inspired group name… They had an incredibly successful career due to their ability to adapt to whatever sound was popular at the time. Starting with doo-wop inspired R&B, they morphed into more traditional soul, up-tempo, disco, and eventually 80′s R&B – similar to groups like The Spinners or The Four Tops. The album Love Talk was released in 1979, when they were already well established. The album didn’t contain any hits, but did contain the ballad “Devil in the Dark” which was sampled by the master DJ Premier.

Premo flipped a very small piece, about 1 minute into the ballad, for the classic Gang Starr track “Work” off of Moment of Truth. Premier EQ’d the sample in such a way that the vocals are hidden from the loop. He layered over some trademark boom-bap drums and added in a horn hit from the Apocalypse Now Soundtrack. Throw in Guru’s (RIP) verses and you have a certified banger. Take a listen to the original to see how it was flipped.

Naughty by Nature - Clap Yo Hands

April 7th, 2013 | By illtal

You may have never heard of Ronnie McNeir, but his career is something to be envied. He recorded for several labels including Motown and RCA. He also recorded a duet with Teena Marie and more recently joined the Four Tops. His debut self-titled album featured background vocals from the oft-sampled female group Hodges, James, & Smith and Kim Weston. The sweet soul track “In Summertime” was sampled by Naughty by Nature for their single “Clap Yo Hands“.

“Clap Yo Hands” was the first single off Naughty by Nature’s 3rd album, Poverty’s Paradise. The album would later go Gold and earn the group a Grammy for the best rap album of 1996. The LP is often regarded as their last great work. Check out the McNeir sample (which was hard-panned) to see how they flipped it.