Five On It: August 2009's Essentials

This month was brimming with excellent breaks, so it was difficult to pick just five for this month's edition of Five On It, but we have five sureshot house burners for your listening pleasure.

On the first part of our look at N.W.A.'s 'Straight Outta Compton', we mentioned the Ohio Players' essential 'Funky Worm' from their 1972 album 'Pleasure'. Early Ohio Players material has been rather hard to come by in the past few years, so it's great to see their early work, like this track, is now readily available. The 'Funky Worm' synthesizer sound, along with Parliament, is the foundation of G-Funk; don't miss out. In our second look at 'Straight Outta Compton', we covered Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band's 'Express Yourself' from their 1969 album 'Express Yourself'. On our final look at 'Compton', Dre and Yella sampled Herman Kelly and Life's foundational b-boy break 'Dance to the Drummer's Beat', which still lights b-boy competition dancefloors on fire today. On our second look at Cypress Hill's debut album from this past month, we covered two huge beats: All the People's 'Cramp Your Style' (more info about this one below) and Rufus Thomas' 'The Breakdown', another essential Stax open break from Thomas that needs to be in every producer's sample bank.

The Lowdown:
The Ohio Players 'Funky Worm'
from 'Pleasure' (1972) (MP3/CD)
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band 'Express Yourself'
from 'Express Yourself' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Herman Kelly and Life 'Dance to the Drummer's Beat'
from 'Percussion Explosion' (1978) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
All the People 'Cramp Your Style'
from 'Cramp Your Style' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Rufus Thomas 'The Breakdown'
from 'Did You Heard Me?' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

Bonus Cuts:
'Cramp Your Style' by All the People is a huge b-boy break, but it's also a popular sample for early hip-hop producers and beyond. One of the first notable uses of 'Cramp Your Style' is by KRS-One on Boogie Down Production's single 'Still #1'. Two years later, Marley Marl used the sample on LL Cool J's 'Mr. Good Bar' while Teddy Riley sampled it for Guy's sophomore album R&B track 'D-O-G Me Out'. In 1991, DJ Slip and the Unknown DJ sampled 'Cramp Your Style' on Compton Most Wanted's 'Growin' up in the Hood' while Howie Tee used the sample for Chubb Rock's 'Keep it Street'.

Related Posts:
Five On It: January 2009's Essentials (Rufus Thomas appearance)

Rewind: Ice Cube 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted' (Part 2)

Welcome to part 2 of our three part look at Ice Cube's 1990 debut album 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted'.

Sir Jinx and the Bomb Squad dig deep for Betty Davis' 'Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him' from her sophomore album 'They Say I'm Different' for Ice Cube's 'Once Upon a Time in the Projects'. Look below in the bonus cuts section for further info on Betty Davis. The Bomb Squad pull yet another early Kool and the Gang track on 'Turn Off the Radio', which uses the 1972 album cut 'Rated X'. The track also samples Isaac Hayes' 'Truck Turner' soundtrack cut 'House of Beauty' and late 80s R&B group Guy's 'Piece of My Love'. Chuck D joins Cube on 'Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)', rhyming over the familiar 'Funky Drummer' rhythm by James Brown and the title track from Parliament's 1974 album 'Standing on the Verge of Getting It On'. The album lightens up a bit, for better or worse, with Cube's 'A Gangsta's Fairytale', which samples J.B. associate Maceo Parker's 1974 single 'Parrty' from Maceo and the Macks' album 'Us!'.

Check back for out third and final look at 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted'.

The Lowdown:
Ice Cube 'Once Upon a Time in the Projects', 'Turn Off the Radio', 'Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)', and 'A Gangsta's Fairytale'
from 'AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted' (1990) (MP3/CD)
Betty Davis 'Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him'
from 'They Say I'm Different' (1974) (MP3/CD not available)
Kool and the Gang 'Rated X'
from 'Good Times' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'House of Beauty'
from 'Truck Turner' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Guy 'Piece of my Love'
from 'Guy' (1988) (MP3/CD)
James Brown 'Funky Drummer'
from 'Funky Drummer' 7" (1970) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Parliament 'Standing on the Verge of Getting It On'
from 'Standing on the Verge of Getting It On' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Maceo and the Macks 'Parrty'
from 'Us!' (1974) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

Bonus Cuts:
Extrovert ex-wife of Miles Davis, Betty Davis had a storied, but until recently relatively unknown, music career. Seattle label Light in the Attic has reissued the first two Betty Davis albums with further plans to release previously unissued tracks. Of course, heavy funk from Miles Davis' stable is hard to resist by hip-hop producers, 'Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him' sampled on 'Once Upon a Time in the Projects' was itself sampled by Redman on 'Jersey Yo!'.