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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)
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One of the 80s most widely known, yet least likely to be properly identified, breaks is Liquid Liquid's 1982 breakbeat jam 'Cavern'. Liquid Liquid, along with another heavily sampled band called ESG (who will be covered in a future post) were part of a short-lived, minimalistic early 80s post-punk movement centered in New York City. 'Cavern''s signature bassline and chant would be most notably replayed by the Sugar Hill band as the backing for Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel's single 'White Lines (Don't Do It)'. 'White Lines', remarkably, never broke the top 40 in America, but was a giant hit in the UK which further ignited their burgeoning electro scene.
A decade later, 'Cavern' would be sampled by a new stable of artists. LL Cool J reinterpolated the chorus of 'Cavern' for his hit 'Phenomenon' from the album of the same title (which is in the running for the worst use of a lens flare on an album cover award). The Notorious B.I.G.'s 'Nasty Boy' also interpolates 'Cavern'. Not oddly enough, both of these tracks from 1997 were produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs. Havoc has production credits for 1999's 'Quiet Storm' by Mobb Deep. The 'Quiet Storm' remix has a guest verse from Lil' Kim, part of the Diddy / Biggie stable.
2006 saw one of the more unusual interpolations of 'Cavern', bringing it back to its NYC rock roots. 'Phenomena' from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' album 'Show Your Bones' uses Liquid Liquid's familiar chant during its slow motion chorus.The Lowdown:
Liquid Liquid 'Cavern'
from 'Optimo' (1982) (MP3 Not available/CD not available)
Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel 'White Lines (Don't Do It)'
LL Cool J 'Phenomenon'
from 'Phenomenon' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Phenomenon'
Notorious B.I.G. 'Nasty Boy'
from 'Life After Death' (1997) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Nasty Boy'
Mobb Deep 'Quiet Storm' and 'Quiet Storm' (Remix)
from 'Murda Muzik' (1999) (MP3/CD)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Phenomena'
from 'Show Your Bones' (2006) (MP3/CD)
BONUS CUT:
'Cavern' is the cut, but it is not the only track from Liquid Liquid's short career with floor filling beats. Check out 'Optimo', also from their 1982 EP that produced 'Cavern'.
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This is the first post in this blogs new serial titled The Future that will cover new, noteworthy acts in hip-hop and beyond. The group I'm covering in this post is none other than the blog-hyped Cool Kids from Chicago aligned with A-Trak's Fool's Gold Record label and Chicago's Chocolate Industries. 'Black Mags', the Cool Kids' latest single, makes flossing on BMX bikes seem suddenly possible. Fool's Gold single '88' (referencing / interpolating Nas' 'Made You Look' in its chorus) is a striking boom-bap throwback. One of the new tracks from the latest Cool Kids EP, 'The Bake Sale', is a house party anthem titled 'Jingling' that lifts some party fun from LL Cool J's '88 single 'Jingling Baby' from 'Walking with a Panther'. I admit that I'm not fond of the exploits of the internet's blog rap explosion, most artists littering the web with poor flows disguised as clever hipsterisms. The Cool Kids, though calculated, never dresses their music like it's a joke - their throwback 'Paid in Full' sound seems like it belongs. Check it out to see if you agree.The Lowdown:
The Cool Kids 'Black Mags', '88', and 'Jingling'
from 'The Bake Sale' (2008) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Black Mags', '88', and 'Jingling'
Nas 'Made You Look'
from 'God's Son' (2002) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edit: 'Made You Look'
LL Cool J 'Jingling Baby'
from 'Walking with a Panther' (1988) (MP3/CD)
