http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnC8Hm8GxNc
This is the best sample I've ever heard. I'm going to say it again: this is the best sample I've ever heard. In case you missed it, the words 'best sample' back in that first sentence were a link to the sample itself. Here it is again.
It's brilliant because it sees the source material and edits out the bad parts. The song itself quickly becomes too busy and incoherent, with bass and chorus and drums. But the sampler (here, Sha-Liek the Engineer) takes only the good part, like an intelligent hunter who knows they don't need to use every part of the animal. The lyrics of the rap song, while good, are nowhere near as impressive as the sample.
Like, dang.
Showing posts with label das racist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label das racist. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Unwind Yourself — Marva Whitney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7IOodKeWI
I like rap. No, no apologies. I love rap. But normally I love rap for the poetry of its lyrics; I'm a fan of De La Soul and The Pharcyde and Das Racist and Aesop, for their lyricality. It's the largest modern source of poetry there is, and it's relevant and clever and unique.
I was listening to History of Rap, and they played the song Let Me Clear My Throat — DJ Kool. What caught me here weren't the lyrics, it was the sample. ?uestlove and The Roots were imitating (live) a sample used in the 1996 song (which was recorded live) which used a sample from The 900 Number — The 45 King, a mid-80s sampling artist, who took a sample from the instrumental behind Marva Whitney's Unwind Yourself, a 60s funk track.
And yet the original shone through, translated three times. It hadn't lost its rhythm, it hadn't lost its tonality, it hadn't been desecrated in any way. I wonder for how many other oft-sampled riffs the same is true.
I like rap. No, no apologies. I love rap. But normally I love rap for the poetry of its lyrics; I'm a fan of De La Soul and The Pharcyde and Das Racist and Aesop, for their lyricality. It's the largest modern source of poetry there is, and it's relevant and clever and unique.
I was listening to History of Rap, and they played the song Let Me Clear My Throat — DJ Kool. What caught me here weren't the lyrics, it was the sample. ?uestlove and The Roots were imitating (live) a sample used in the 1996 song (which was recorded live) which used a sample from The 900 Number — The 45 King, a mid-80s sampling artist, who took a sample from the instrumental behind Marva Whitney's Unwind Yourself, a 60s funk track.
And yet the original shone through, translated three times. It hadn't lost its rhythm, it hadn't lost its tonality, it hadn't been desecrated in any way. I wonder for how many other oft-sampled riffs the same is true.
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