Rewind: Nightmares on Wax 'A Word of Science'

This year, independent electronic label Warp Records will be celebrating their 20th anniversary. This may not mean a lot to hip-hop fans, but Warp has released some great downtempo hip-hop albums. One of them is 1991's debut album by Nightmares on Wax titled 'A Word of Science'. This post will cover the sample sources of some of N.O.W.'s classic cuts and may even turn a few hip-hop heads towards Warp's direction.

The opening song to the album is 'Nights Interlude', a fantastic downtempo joint that pounds out live. The song samples 'Summer in the City', the highlight from Quincy Jones' 1973 album 'You Got it Bad Girl'. Look below for more on this track and the songs that have sampled it. On 'Coming Down', Nightmares on Wax samples Bob James' breakbeat extravaganza 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras' from his 1975 album 'Two'. 'A Case of Funk' samples the proto-disco track 'Sing Sing' by Gaz, which has in the last two decades come to be the defining sample in Baltimore Club's brash club beats. For 'Playtime', N.O.W. samples the popular break from Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' 'Sneakin' in the Back' from their eponymous 1974 album. Nightmares on Wax's earliest hit single is the throbbing 'Aftermath', which famously samples vocals from Cuba Gooding's 1983 single 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend'. Finally, on 'Back into Time', Steve Miller Band's 'Fly Like an Eagle' weaves its way in and out of the mix.

Since 1991, Nightmares on Wax has gone onto release five more albums, each with lazy day hip-hop speed instrumentals that are perfect for backyard barbecue soundtracks. Don't sleep on N.O.W. and don't sleep on these samples!

The Lowdown:
Nightmares on Wax 'Nights Interlude', 'Coming Down', 'A Case of Funk', 'Playtime', 'Aftermath', and 'Back into Time'
from 'A Word of Science' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Quincy Jones 'Summer in the City'
from 'You Got it Bad Girl' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Bob James 'Take Me to the Mardi Gras'
from 'Two' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Gaz 'Sing Sing'
from 'Gaz' (1979) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express 'Sneakin' in the Back'
from 'Tom Scott and the L.A. Express' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Cuba Gooding 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend'
from 'Happiness is Just Around the Bend' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Steve Miller Band 'Fly Like and Eagle'
from 'Fly Like an Eagle' (1974) (MP3/CD)

Bonus Cuts:
Quincy Jones' haunting rendition of 'Summer in the City' is the choice for most funk and hip-hop fans, but classic rock people are more familiar with the original 'Summer in the City' by the Lovin' Spoonful (although, it too was sampled by J Dilla for De La Soul's 'Thru Ya City'). Quincy Jones' track was sampled by Nightmares on Wax in 1991, but has been sampled many more times since: most famously on the J-Swift produced 'Passin' Me By' by the Pharycde, in 1996 on the Roots' 'Clones', and on the 2000 Allstar produced remix of Joe's 'Stutter' with Mystikal.