Five On It: January 2009's Essentials

January was a burner on this blog! On some months, it's a no-brainer to pick five essential beats, but this month we covered so many heavy beats that it was hard to pick a top five. That being said, this months Five On It is all killer.

For our review of James Brown's classic blaxploitation soundtrack 'Black Caesar', we mentioned the influence of James' 'The Boss', a career defining bad ass anthem. During our review of the samples used on Spice 1's 'Spice 1', we mentioned the classic Funkadelic cut 'One Nation Under a Groove' that should already be a part of your party rocking playlist. James couldn't be confined by one beat on is month's list: 'Funky President (People It's Bad)' was mentioned in our second look at DJ Premier's production work and coincidentally during the month of the inauguration of America's funky president. A happy coincidence, I assure you.

During our first look at Ghostface's 'Supreme Clientele', we mentioned the breakbeat party starter 'Do the Funky Chicken' by Rufus Thomas, one of the many serious Stax breaks by the king of dances that will no doubt be covered in future blog posts. Finally, from the second look at 'Supreme Clientele' is the Curtis Mayfield produced 'Hard Times' by the Living Legend Baby Huey. Look below for more Baby Huey breaks.

The Lowdown:
James Brown 'The Boss'
from 'Black Caesar' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Funkadelic 'One Nation Under a Groove'
from 'One Nation Under a Groove' (1978) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
James Brown 'Funky President (People It's Bad)'
from 'Reality' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Rufus Thomas 'Do the Funky Penguin'
from 'The Crown Prince of Dance' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Baby Huey 'Hard Times'
from 'The Living Legend' (1970) (MP3/CD)

BONUS CUTS:
'The Living Legend' by Baby Huey is full outstanding breaks used regularly by producers. 'Listen to Me' was sampled for both Eric B. and Rakim's 'Follow the Leader' and Public Enemy's 'Revolutionary Generation' while the wah guitar squall and heavy drums of 'Runnin'' and the full out funk party of 'Mighty Mighty' are ripe for the plucking. 'The Living Legend' is the lone album by Baby Huey, released after his untimely death. One can only imagine the albums he could've made if his career wasn't cut so short.