Rewind: Lil Wayne 'Tha Carter III'

Maybe it's me, but it does not at all feel like 'Tha Carter III' was released on this date last year - Lil Wayne has easily given the American consciousness three years worth of crazy in just the last 12 months since his album finally dropped. This post will cover the sample material used by Wayne and his production cohorts for 2008's massive album 'Tha Carter III'.

The album's undeniable cut is the throbbing smash single 'A Milli' produced by Bangladesh. The song contains a sample from Norman Cook's remix of 'I Left My Wallet in El Segundo' from A Tribe Called Quest's 1989 UK version of the single. The Kanye produced track 'Comfortable' that posts Lil Wayne up with Babyface (uh?) includes a sample from another Kanye West produced track: 'You Don't Know My Name' from Alicia Keys' 2003 album 'The Diary of Alicia Keys'. As previously covered on this blog, Swizz Beatz produces a very un-Swizz sounding beat for Lil Wayne's 'Dr. Carter' by looping fragments of David Axelrod's 'Holy Thursday' bass and drum breakdown.

Kanye West also produced the song 'Let the Beat Build' on 'Tha Carter III' using a sample from ex-Temptation Eddie Kendricks' 'Day by Day' from the 1972 album 'People... Hold On'. Probably the most well known use of another song on the album is Wayne's vocal interpolation of the Rolling Stones' 'Play with Fire' on his own track 'Playing with Fire' produced by StreetRunner. Since the interpolation was never licensed, the track has been removed from newer copies of 'Tha Carter III' and undoubtedly there is some kind of cash settlement (lesson: clear those samples). Finally, Rodnae and Moussa produce a scorcher for Lil Wayne, the nearly ten minute 'DontGetIt', by sampling Nina Simone's 1964 cover of 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' from her classic album 'Broadway - Blues - Ballads'.

In a year when record sales were few and far between, Wayne managed to do the unthinkable: go platinum in one week (I'm going to date myself, but I remember when 'Doggystyle' did the same thing, and it was a HUGE deal - and that was when people actually bought CDs). So far, the album is three times platinum and Lil Wayne is showing no signs of slowing down with more albums planned and mixtapes released.

The Lowdown:
Lil Wayne 'A Milli', 'Comfortable', 'Dr. Carter', 'Let the Beat Build', 'Playing with Fire', and 'DontGetIt'.
from 'Tha Carter III' (2008) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'A Milli', 'Comfortable', 'Dr. Carter', 'Let the Beat Build', and 'DontGetIt'.
A Tribe Called Quest 'I Left My Wallet in El Segundo' (Vampire Mix)
from 'I Left My Wallet in El Segundo' (1989) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Alicia Keys 'You Don't Know My Name'
from 'The Diary of Alicia Keys' (2003) (MP3/CD)
David Axelrod 'Holy Thursday'
from 'Songs of Innocence' (1968) (MP3/CD not available)
Eddie Kendricks 'Day By Day'
from 'People... Hold On' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Rolling Stones 'Play with Fire'
from 'Out of Our Heads' (1965) (MP3/CD)
Nina Simone 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'
from 'Broadway - Blues - Ballads' (1964) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: David Axelrod (Part 2, 1968-1969)

Producer Profile: Kanye West (Part 2, 2001-2002)

Kanye West's commercial breakthrough as a producer came in 2001 when he contributed a number of tracks and charting singles to Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint', often cited a sea change in Jay-Z's career thanks, in part, to the sound of West and Just Blaze. 'The Blueprint' will be covered in depth in a future post of this blog, so I will only cover one of Kanye's beats: the excellent 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)' which samples generously from Bobby Bland's 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City' from his 1973 album 'Dreamer'. Although he produced stellar singles for Jay-Z, his stock was set to rise even more in 2002.

Talib Kweli's 'Get By' was inescapable in 2002, thanks to Kanye's swift edit of Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' from her album 'Pastel Blues'. The single, laced with then newcomer / future Kanye collaborator John Legend's background vocals, was a new high water mark for both West and Kweli and the track is arguably Talib Kweli's career defining moment to date. 2002 also saw the release of some of his production work for Scarface for his 2002 album 'The Fix'. Kanye samples 'Sunrise' by the Originals for Scarface's single 'Guess Who's Back' with guest appearances from Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel. In 2002, Nas' 'The Lost Tapes' album saw release, which included one of Kanye West's ghost productions for Deric 'D-Dot' Angelettie. 'Poppa Was a Playa' from 'The Lost Tapes' contains a sample of 'The Newness is Gone' by Eddie Kendricks from his album 'Goin' Up in Smoke'.

Check back for the next look at Kanye's production output and also be on the lookout for future posts covering his albums.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
from 'The Blueprint' (2001) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)'
Bobby Bland 'Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City'
from 'Dreamer' (1973) (MP3/Import CD)
Talib Kweli 'Get By'
from 'Quality' (2002) (MP3 not available/CD)
Nina Simone 'Sinnerman'
from 'Pastel Blues' (1965) (MP3/CD)
Scarface 'Guess Who's Back'
from 'The Fix' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Guess Who's Back'
The Originals 'Sunrise'
from 'Down to Love Town' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Nas 'Poppa Was a Playa'
from 'The Lost Tapes' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit:'Poppa Was a Playa'
Eddie Kendricks 'The Newness is Gone'
from 'Goin' Up in Smoke' (1976) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

BONUS CUTS:
Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman' was a popular track to cover by reggae artists (like many soul singles from the United States). Peter Tosh delivers a classic cover with the slightly rewritten 'Downpressor Man' while Tosh's one time collaborators Bob Marley and the Wailers delivered their own 'Sinner Man'.

Producer Profile: Pete Rock (Part 1, 1991-1993)

Like many facets of hip-hop, Pete Rock's history is linked to Jamaica. Peter Phillips is the son of a Jamaican father who DJed in the Bronx. At the age of 17, he caught the ears of producer Marley Marl and at 21, he released the 'All Souled Out' EP with C.L. Smooth. 'The Creator' was covered in a previous post (Rewind: Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'The Creator'), so for this post I am going to cover another of 'Souled Out''s many standout tracks: 'Good Life'. 'Good Life', like many of the tracks from Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's catalog, is dense with soul samples from Pete Rock's deep crates. It's mind boggling to me, but it took 20 posts in this blog to mention the Meters. The Meters track 'Same Old Thing' provides one of this track's samples, along with Eddie Kendrick's 'Girl You Need a Change of Mind' and O'Donel Levy's 'I Wanna Be Where You Are'.

Another big break for Pete Rock came courtesy of his cousin, already established rapper Heavy D, who used some of Rock's beats for his 1991 album 'Peaceful Journey'. Pete Rock's production on the Heavy D and the Boyz posse cut 'Don't Curse', which includes guest spots from an all-star cast of emcees including Big Daddy Kane, Grand Puba, Kool G. Rap, Q-Tip, and C.L. Smooth. 'Don't Curse' draws a sample from 'Hip-Hug-Her' by Booker T and the M.G.'s. The track was a charting hit, but was ultimately overshadowed by the album's much bigger hit 'Now That We Found Love'.

In 1993, Pete Rock contributed to Run D.M.C.'s "gangsta" comeback album 'Down with the King', that may not have been all it was cracked up to be, but showcased some incredible production talent (including tracks by the Bomb Squad, Q-Tip, Jermaine Dupri, and others). 'Down with the King' was the first of three singles released from the album and is THE best late career Run D.M.C. track. 'Down with the King' samples 'Where Do I Go?' by James Rado and Company from the soundtrack to 'Hair'. It might seem like 'Hair' would be an odd place to pick up samples, but a contribution from Galt MacDermot turns up the funk quotient considerably. MacDermot will no doubt be covered in a future post on this blog.

Check back for the next installment on Pete Rock's career, including information on his contributions to 'Illmatic' and 'The Main Ingredient' - two of 1994's most important hip-hop releases.

The Lowdown:
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth 'Good Life'
from 'All Souled Out' (1991) (MP3/CD)
The Meters 'Same Old Thing'
from 'Struttin'' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Eddie Kendricks 'Girl You Need a Change of Mind'
from 'People... Hold On' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
O'Donel Levy 'I Wanna Be Where You Are'
from 'Dawn of a New Day' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Heavy D and the Boyz 'Don't Curse'
from 'Peaceful Journey' (1991) (MP3/CD not available)
Booker T and the M.G.'s 'Hip-Hug-Her'
from 'Hip-Hug-Her'(1967) (MP3/CD)
Run D.M.C. 'Down with the King'
from 'Down with the King' (1994) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
James Rado and Company 'Where Do I Go?'
from 'Hair' Soundtrack (1969) (MP3 unavailable/CD)