Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 4, 1995-1996)

Welcome to our fourth look at DJ Premier's production career, this look will cover the years 1995 and 1996 of Primo's beats.

In 1995, KRS-One collaborated with DJ Premier again for his album simply titled 'KRS ONE'. The track 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' utilizes a sample from Clifford Brown's 'Yesterdays' from his 1955 album 'Clifford Brown with Strings' and Kurtis Blow's old school classic 'The Breaks'. Primo's beat for KRS-One's 'Wannabemceez' samples Isaac Hayes' 1974 'Tough Guys' soundtrack cut 'Buns O' Plenty'.

In 1996, Primo produced the single 'Me or the Papes' for Jeru the Damaja's album 'Wrath of the Math' by cutting up the Ahmad Jamal Trio's 1970 'The Awakening''s album cut 'I Love Music' as well as sampling the sound effects from Pink Floyd's 'Money' from 'Dark Side of the Moon'. The same year, Premier sampled Ahmad Jamal again for Nas's 'I Gave You Power', this time sampling Ahmad Jamal's 'Theme Bahamas' from the 1974 album 'Jamaica'. Finally, Primo and M.O.P. also collaborated in 1996 on 'New Jack City'. The song samples the Modern Jazz Quartet's 'Spanish Steps' from the album 'The Comedy'.

The Lowdown:
KRS-One 'MC's Act Like They Don't Know' and 'Wannabemceez'
from 'KRS ONE' (1995) (MP3/CD)
Clifford Brown 'Yesterdays'
from 'Clifford Brown with Strings' (1955) (MP3/CD)
Kurtis Blow 'The Breaks'
from 'Kurtis Blow' (1980) (MP3 not available/CD)
Isaac Hayes 'Buns O' Plenty'
from 'Tough Guys' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Jeru the Damaja 'Me or the Papes'
from 'Wrath of the Math' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Ahmad Jamal Trio 'I Love Music'
from 'The Awakening' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Pink Floyd 'Money'
from 'Dark Side of the Moon' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Nas 'I Gave You Power'
from 'It Was Written' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'I Gave You Power'
Ahmad Jamal 'Theme Bahamas'
from 'Jamaica' (1974) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
M.O.P. 'New Jack City'
from 'Firing Squad' (1996) (MP3 not available/CD)
Modern Jazz Quartet 'Spanish Steps'
from 'The Comedy' (1962) (MP3/CD)

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)

Source Material: James Brown 'Hell' (Part 1)

Welcome to our first installment of James Brown week. As the godfather of soul and the undisputed champion of mentions on this blog (this post will be his 30th mention in 146 posts, meaning he is mentioned in more than 1 in 5 posts), I thought we should celebrate his birthday, May 3rd, annually with James Brown week which will look at some of his lesser known breaks and releases. Today is the first look at a two part arc covering James Brown's 1974 double album 'Hell' and the producers who sampled it.

One of 'Hell''s standout tracks is the break laden 'Coldblooded' which is a prime slice of JB mid-70s funk. In 1990, DJ Premier sampled 'Coldblooded' for Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth's 'Baby, You Nasty' from the album 'Funky Technician'. Easy Mo Bee used the same break in 1994 for the Notorious B.I.G.'s classic album cut 'Gimme the Loot' from his debut album 'Ready to Die'.

Another heavily sampled track from 'Hell' is James Brown's 'My Thang'. The song was sampled by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince for 1988's 'Brand New Funk' and a year later for Heavy D and the Boyz' cut 'We Got Our Own Thang' produced by Teddy Riley. In 1992, EPMD used the sample for their cut 'Gold Digger' and in 1993, it was sampled again by K-Def for the Lord of the Underground's single 'Funky Child' from the album 'Here Come the Lords'. Premier sampled 'My Thang' in 1996 for Jeru the Damaja's 'The Frustrated N----' and in 1997, J Dilla (as Jay Dee) sampled the song for Slum Village's 'I Don't Know' from their debut album 'Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1'.

Check back to this blog for more 'Hell' breaks.

The Lowdown:
James Brown 'Coldblooded' and 'My Thang'
from 'Hell' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth 'Baby, You Nasty'
from 'Funky Technician' (1990) (MP3/CD)
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Gimme the Loot'
from 'Ready To Die' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Gimme the Loot'
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince 'Brand New Funk'
from 'He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper' (1988) (MP3 not available/CD)
Heavy D and the Boyz 'We Got Our Own Thang'
from 'Big Tyme' (1989) (MP3/CD)
EPMD 'Gold Digger'
from 'Business As Usual' (1992) (MP3/CD)
The Lords of the Underground 'Funky Child'
from 'Here Come the Lords' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Jeru the Damaja 'The Frustrated N----'
from 'Wrath of the Math' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Slum Village 'I Don't Know'
from 'Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1' (1997) (MP3/CD not available)

Bonus Cut:
'Brand New Funk' by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince got a makeover in 2007 by DJ Jazzy Jeff for 'Brand New Funk 2k7'.

Related Posts:
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Casear' (Part 1)
Source Material: James Brown 'Black Casear' (Part 2)
Producer Profile: DJ Premier (Part 3, 1994)