Rewind: Spice 1 'Spice 1'

1992's 'Spice 1' is the proper debut album from Bay Area rapper Spice 1 if one excludes the independent release 'Let it Be Known' from a year previous. The controversial, gritty lyrics of 'Spice 1' are matched perfectly with the production of Ant Banks throughout the album. This post will cover the sample basis of this album.

The album opener 'In My Neighborhood' samples the 1977 George Duke song 'Reach for it' from his album of the same title. 'Peace to My Nine' is injected with a bit of G-funk via Funkadelic's 'One Nation Under a Groove'. Ant Banks samples two legends on 'Money of Murder': Isaac Hayes' post-'Shaft' single 'Joy' and Curtis Mayfield's 'Sweet Exorcist'-era album cut 'Make Me Believe in You'. Finally, Spice 1's nightmarish 'City Streets' makes use of the title track from the Dramatics' 1971 Stax/Volt album 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get', one of my personal favorite soul singles of all time (why aren't more people using this one?).

Spice 1 would go on to release six albums on a major label through the rest of the 90s and early 00s and has released many more albums via independent labels since.

The Lowdown:
Spice 1 'In My Neighborhood', 'Peace to My Nine', 'Money or Murder', and 'City Streets'
from 'Spice 1' (1992) (MP3/CD)
George Duke 'Reach for it'
from 'Reach for it' (1977) (MP3/Import CD)
Funkadelic 'One Nation Under a Groove'
from 'One Nation Under a Groove' (1978) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Joy'
from 'Joy' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Make Me Believe in You'
from 'Sweet Exorcist' (1974) (MP3/CD)
The Dramatics 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get'
from 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get' (1971) (MP3/CD)