Showing posts with label No I.D.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No I.D.. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2009

Rewind: Beanie Sigel 'The Reason'



In 2001, Beanie Sigel released his sophomore effort 'The Reason'. Like much of Roc-a-fella's output from the early 00s, this album has a soulful sound with numerous contributions from the in house production team of Just Blaze and Kanye West. This blog post will cover the key cuts from 'The Reason' and the samples used to create them.

Just Blaze produced the track 'So What You Saying' for Bean and label mate Memphis Bleek. The track samples B.T. Express' often used 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Ought to Leave It Alone)' from their 1974 album 'Do It ('Til Your Satisfied)'. Blaze also laces Sigel with the bumping 'Get Down' which is cut from Quincy Jones' title track from his soundtrack to 'The Lost Man'. Chicago veteran producer and Kanye mentor No I.D. contributes the beat for 'Man's World' which is deftly constructed from James Brown's 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World' from the 1966 album of the same title. 'Still Got Love For You' finds Just Blaze using the huge break from Isaac Hayes' 'Ike's Mood I' from his album ''...To Be Continued''.

Look out for more Roc classics from this period to be covered in future posts on this blog.

The Lowdown:
Beanie Sigel 'So What You Saying', 'Get Down', 'Man's World', and 'Still Got Love For You'
from 'The Reason' (2001) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'So What You Saying', 'Get Down', 'Man's World', and 'Still Got Love For You'
B.T. Express 'If It Don't Turn You On (You Ought to Leave It Alone)'
from 'Do It ('Til Your Satisfied)' (1974) (MP3/CD)
Quincy Jones 'Lost Man'
from 'The Lost Man' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
James Brown 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World'
from 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World' (1966) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Isaac Hayes 'Ike's Mood I' (Radio Edit)
from '...To Be Continued' (1969) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Producer Profile: Kanye west (Part 1, 2000) (Beanie Sigel Appearance)
Producer Profile: Just Blaze (Part 1, 2000-2001) (Beanie Sigel Appearance)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Producer Profile: David Axelrod (Part 3, 1970-1972)



After two of his most sought after albums, 'Song of Innocence' and 'Songs of Experience', David Axelrod released his final solo album for Capitol records in 1970: 'Earth Rot'. Like much of his output, this album is highly sought after by beat diggers and has been sampled by hip-hop's finest. This post will cover 'Earth Rot', as well as some of his production credits for Cannonball Adderley.

'Earth Rot' is divided into two concept album sides and is not as widely known for its beats. In 1994, No I.D. sampled Axelrod's 'The Signs (Part 2)' on the title track single to Common's sophomore album 'Resurrection'. The same track would be sampled by Madlib among many others (including other Axelrod tracks) on 'Return of the Loop Digga' as Quasimoto, whose album 'The Unseen' is reviewed in depth here, here, and here. In 1999, Diamond D and Mos Def would use another sample from 'Earth Rot', 'The Warnings (Part 2)' for the track 'Hip Hop' from Mos Def's breakthrough album 'Black on Both Sides' (which will be reviewed in depth soon in a future post on this blog).


In addition to producing his own material, Axelrod continued his role as producer on much of Cannonball Adderley's 70s output. Among the many Adderley albums that have been sampled is 1970's 'The Price You Pay to Be Free' whose song 'Exquisition' was sampled for the Pharcyde's 'Pack the Pipe' produced by J-Swift. 'Soul Virgo' from the same album is one of the samples used by A Tribe Called Quest on 'Bonita Applebum' from their debut 'Peoples' Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm'. Six years later, Tribe would sample another Cannonball Adderley track. An untitled track from Adderley's 'Black Messiah' album was sampled by Jay Dee (J Dilla) and the Ummah for Tribe's '1nce Again' from 'Beats, Rhymes, and Life'.

Check back for our next look at David Axelrod's production career.


The Lowdown:
David Axelrod 'The Signs (Part 2)' and 'The Warnings (Part 2)'
from 'Earth Rot' (1970) (MP3/CD)
Common 'Resurrection'
from 'Resurrection' (1994) (MP3/CD)
Quasimoto 'Return of the Loop Digga'
from 'The Unseen' (2000) (MP3/CD)
Mos Def 'Hip Hop'
from 'Black on Both Sides' (1999) (MP3/CD)
Cannonball Adderley 'Exquisition' and 'Soul Virgo'
from 'The Price You Pay to Be Free' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Pharcyde 'Pack the Pipe'
from 'Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde' (1991) (MP3/CD)
A Tribe Called Quest 'Bonita Applebum'
from 'Peoples' Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm' (1990) (MP3/CD)
Cannonball Adderley 'Untitled'
from 'Black Messiah' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
A Tribe Called Quest '1nce Again'
from 'Beats, Rhymes, and Life' (1996) (MP3/CD)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Rewind: Jay-Z 'American Gangster' (Part 2)



Welcome to part 2 of our look at the samples used in the making of 'American Gangster'.

Dirty south extraordinaire DJ Toomp lends his production skills for Jay-Z's 'Say Hello', using samples of Tom Brock's 'The Love We Share is the Greatest of Them All' from 1974's 'I Love You More and More'. Chicago's No I.D. (producer for Common and ghost producer for Jermaine Dupri) works alongside Jermaine Dupri on the beat for Jay-Z's 'Success', which samples an rare funk track called 'Funky Thing' (Part 1) by Larry Ellis and the Black Hammer. Dupri and No I.D. sample the Dramatics' 'Fell for You' from 1972's 'A Dramatic Experience' for the 'American Gangster' album track 'Fallin''. The album's first and most successful single (which, still, failed to break the through the top 50 on the Billboard singles chart) is the Neptunes produced 'Blue Magic', which samples En Vogue's 1990 hit single 'Hold On'. Just Blaze closes the album with the album's title track, sampling 'Short Eyes' by Curtis Mayfield from the soundtrack to the movie 'Short Eyes'.


'American Gangster' was highly acclaimed upon its release, especially compared to Jay-Z's shrugworthy return from retirement album 'Kingdom Come'. If internet rumors are to be believed, Jay-Z will drop another album before year's end titled 'Blueprint 3', which will undoubtedly be reviewed once it is out.


The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Say Hello', 'Success', 'Fallin'', 'Blue Magic', and 'American Gangster'
from 'American Gangster' (2007) (MP3/CD)
Tom Brock 'The Love We Share is the Greatest of Them All'
from 'I Love You More and More' (1974) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
Larry Ellis and the Black Hammer 'Funky Thing' (Part 1)
The Dramatics 'Fell for You'
from 'A Dramatic Experience' (1972) (MP3/CD)
En Vogue 'Hold On'
from 'Born to Sing' (1990) (MP3 not available/CD)
Curtis Mayfield 'Short Eyes'
from 'Short Eyes' (1977) (MP3/CD not available)