Rewind: Rick Ross 'Deeper Than Rap'

In April 2009, Rick Ross released his Third album, 'Deeper Than Rap', which can also boast being his third straight #1 Billboard charting full length. This post will cover the sample sources of 'Deeper Than Rap''s singles and deep album cuts, produced by some of the hottest producers out at the moment.

The single 'Maybach Music 2' was produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and features the heavy hitter line up of T-Pain, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. sample Dexter Wansel's 1978 cut 'Time is the Teacher' from his album 'Voyager' for the cut. On the album's lead single 'Magnificent', a top 10 R&B and Rap charting hit, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League laces Ross and John Legend with a backing featuring samples from Angela Bofill's 80s song 'Gotta Make it Up to You' from her 'Teaser' LP. J.U.S.T.I.C.E. also provide the beat for 'Yacht Club', which utilize Johnny Pate's 'El Jardia' from the 1973 blaxploitation soundtrack 'Shaft in Africa'. Rick Ross rides a sample of Willie Hutch's 'Color Her Sunshine' on 'Rich Off Cocaine'. Finally on the album cut 'Valley of Death', DJ Toomp samples Barry White's 'I'm So Blue and You Are Too' from his album 'Let the Music Play' to great effect.

Ross is already scheduled to release a new album in 2010, tentatively titled 'Teflon Don'.

The Lowdown:
Rick Ross 'Maybach Music 2', 'Magnificent', 'Yacht Club', 'Rich Off Cocaine', and 'Valley of Death'
from 'Deeper Than Rap' (2009) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Maybach Music 2', 'Magnificent', 'Yacht Club', 'Rich Off Cocaine', and 'Valley of Death'
Dexter Wansel 'Time is the Teacher'
from 'Voyager' (1978) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Angela Bofill 'Gotta Make it Up to You'
from 'Teaser' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Johnny Pate 'El Jardia'
from 'Shaft in Africa' (1973) (MP3/CD not available)
Willie Hutch 'Color Her Sunshine'
from 'Color Her Sunshine' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Barry White 'I'm So Blue and You Are Too'
from 'Let the Music Play' (1975) (MP3/Import CD)

Related Posts:
Rewind: Jay-Z 'American Gangster' (Part 2) (DJ Toomp appearance)
Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 1) (DJ Toomp appearance)
Rewind: Kanye West 'Graduation' (Part 2) (DJ Toomp appearance)

Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 5, 1997)

After a successful string of production credits and Gang Starr albums, DJ Premier was high profile in 1997, but there was still room to achieve more success. 1997 yielded two of Primo's most unstoppable beats, which will be covered in this post looking at his production credits from that year.

One of Jay-Z's most underrated cuts is the DJ Premier produced 'Intro/A Million and One Questions', the intro to his second full length album 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1'. This banging track samples its share of unusual sources: Dorothy Ashby's 'Cause I Need It', Latimore's 'Let Me Go', and the Main Ingredient's 'Car of Love' (sorry, no download links for any of these tracks). Primo produced the beat for O.C.'s 'My World' by sampling 'Killer's Lullaby' by Love Unlimited Orchestra on Barry White's 1974 soundtrack 'Together Brothers'. On Rakim's solo album, Premier provides the beat to 'New York (Ya Out There)' which samples the excellent James Brown cut 'Down and Out in New York City' from the soundtrack to 'Black Caesar' as well as the huge drum break from Mountain's 'Long Red'. Finally, one of Primo's oddest yet most banging beats wallops behind Notorious B.I.G. on 'Kick in the Door' on his posthumous album 'Life After Death'. The track samples Screamin' Jay Hawkins 1956 hit 'I Put a Spell on You' to great effect.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Intro/A Million and One Questions'
from 'In My Lifetime, Vol. 1' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Intro/A Million and One Questions'
Dorothy Ashby 'Cause I Need It'
from 'Dorothy's Harp' (1969) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Latimore 'Let Me Go'
from 'It Ain't Where You Been... It's Where Your Goin'' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Main Ingredient 'Car of Love'
from 'Music Maximus' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
O.C. 'My World'
from 'Jewelz' (1997) (MP3 not available/CD)
Love Unlimited Orchestra 'Killer's Lullaby'
from 'Together Brothers' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Rakim 'New York (Ya Out There)'
from 'The 18th Letter' (1997) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Down and Out in New York City'
from 'Black Caesar' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Mountain 'Long Red'
from 'Mountain Live' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD)
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Kick in the Door'
from 'Life After Death' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins 'I Put a Spell on You'
from 'I Put a Spell on You' (1956) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 1, 1989-1990)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 2, 1991-1993)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 3, 1994)
Producer Profile: Dj Premier (Part 4, 1995-1996)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 1)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 2)
Rewind: The Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 3)

Rewind: Mary J. Blige 'My Life' (Part 1)

Following the runaway success of her debut album, Mary J. Blige returned two years later with her second album titled 'My Life' which was produced almost entirely by Puff Daddy and the Hitmen and generated six singles. This two part arc will cover the hits and samples from Mary's 'My Life'.

The album's second single 'Mary Jane' samples the Rick James produced 80s hit 'All Night Long' by the Mary Jane Girls. 'You Bring Me Joy', which floated just outside of Billboard's Top 50 singles in 1995, samples Barry White's hit 'It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me' from his breakout hit album 'Sings a Song for Someone You Love' from 1976. As an aside, doesn't 'Sings a Song...' have one of the worst covers from the 70s - a locket on some discolored shag carpeting? Damn. The album track 'I'm the Only Woman' samples Curtis Mayfield's 'Superfly'-era single 'Give Me Your Love', a standout from his film soundtrack.

Check back for our second batch of Mary J. Blige tracks from 'My Life' and their sample sources.

The Lowdown:
Mary J. Blige 'Mary Jane', 'You Bring Me Joy', and 'I'm the Only Woman'
from 'My Life' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Mary Jane Girls 'All Night Long'
from 'Mary Jane Girls' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD)
Barry White 'It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me'
from 'Sings a Song for Someone You Love' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Give Me Your Love'
from 'Superfly' (1972) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Source Material: Curtis Mayfield 'Superfly'

Rewind: Jay-Z 'American Gangster' (Part 1)

A concept album based loosely on the themes of Ridley Scott's movie of the same name, Jay-Z's 10th studio album 'American Gangster' debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, has sold over a million copies, and served as a return to Jay-Z street sound from 2006's critical disappointment 'Kingdom Come'. This two post arc will cover the samples used for the album 'American Gangster'.

Jay-Z's 'American Dreaming' is one of the albums many collaborations with P. Diddy and the Hitmen, who served as the production crew for much of the album and lends a soulful sound reminiscent of Jay-Z's early work. 'American Dreaming' samples Marvin Gaye's 'I Want You''Soon I'll Be Loving You Again' and is co-produced by Mario Winans. The Hitmen also handle production for 'No Hook', which samples 'Love Serenade' by Barry White. The album's biggest hit, though not the highest charting single, is 'Roc Boys (and the Winner Is)...'. The track's excellent backing comes from a large sample of Menahan Street Band's 'Make the Road By Walking' which was released only months before 'Roc Boys' and did not appear on an album until this year. The Hitmen dig deep for the beat for 'Party Life' by using Little Beaver's 1974 track 'Get into the Party Life'. Just Blaze again collaborates with Jay-Z on this album by producing the track 'Ignorant S---', utilizing the Isley Brothers' classic 'Between the Sheets' album track ('Between the Sheets' was covered more in depth on September's Five On It blog post).

Check back for part 2 of our look at 'American Gangster'.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'American Dreamin'', 'No Hook', 'Roc Boys (and the Winner Is)...', 'Party Life', 'Ignorant S---'
from 'American Gangster' (2007) (MP3/CD)
Marvin Gaye 'Soon I'll Be Loving You Again'
from 'I Want You' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Barry White 'Love Serenade'
from 'Just Another Way to Say I Love You' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Menahan Street Band 'Make the Road by Walking'
from 'Make the Road by Walking' (2008) (MP3/CD)
Little Beaver 'Get into the Party Life'
from 'Party Down' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
The Isley Brothers 'Between the Sheets'
from 'Between the Sheets' (1982) (MP3/CD)

Producer Profile: J Dilla (part 3, 1998-1999)

Dilla, along with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, continued their production as the Ummah by producing A Tribe Called Quest's 1998 album 'The Love Movement'. The lead single 'Find a Way' barely made a dent into the top 100 and although 'The Love Movement' peaked as #3 on the Billboard album charts, it didn't make much of a mark on the ever-changing landscape of hip-hop. 'Find a Way' begins a trend of odd, recent sample choices for Dilla - it nicks from Towa Tei's solo hit 'Technova (La Em Copacabana)' from only three years earlier. An album track from 'The Love Movement', 'His Name is Mutty Ranks', samples Aswad's 'Not Guilty'. A year later, Q-Tip would drop his solo album 'Amplified' with a heavier hitting single produced by Tip and Dilla: 'Vivrant Thing' (which samples portions of the Barry White produced 'I Wanna Stay' by the Love Unlimited Orchestra).

The Ummah lent production to Heavy D's second and final solo album in 1999 titled 'Heavy' (does production from the Ummah seem like the kiss of death to anyone else?). 'Listen' from 'Heavy' is typical of the Ummah style from the era. After the dissolution of the Ummah, both Q-Tip and J Dilla joined the loosely defined production collective known as the Soulquarians. Another artist from the collective is the Roots' ?uestlove. The link led to Dilla's production credit on the Roots' 'Dynamite!' from their critically acclaimed 1999 album 'Things Fall Apart'.

Check back for part 4 of our look at Dilla's career, including production work for Common, Erykah Badu, and De La Soul.

The Lowdown:
A Tribe Called Quest 'Find a Way' and 'His Name is Mutty Ranks'
from 'The Love Movement' (1998) (MP3/CD)
Towa Tei 'Technova (La Em Copacabana)'
from 'Future Listening!' (1995) (MP3 not available/CD)
Aswad 'Not Guilty'
from 'Live and Direct' (1983) (MP3 not available/CD)
Q-Tip 'Vivrant Thing'
from 'Amplified' (1999) (MP3 not available/CD)
Love Unlimited Orchestra 'I Wanna Stay'
from 'Music Maestro Please' (1975) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Heavy D 'Listen'
from 'Heavy' (1999) (MP3/CD not available)
The Roots 'Dynamite!'
from 'Things Fall Apart' (1999) (MP3 not available/CD)