Rewind: Madlib 'Beat Konducta Vol 1-2' (Part 3)

Welcome to our third and final look at Madlib's 2006 album of movie soundtrack beat sketches titled 'Beat Konducta Vol 1-2'.

For the track 'Understanding (Comprehension)', Madlib samples Black Ivory's 1972 cut 'You and I' from their album 'Don't Turn Around'. Madlib samples another soul joint on 'Snake Charmer (Heads Up)', which uses bits of the Stylistics' 'You're as Right as Rain' from their album 'Round 2'. On 'Old Age (Youngblood)', Madlib samples the similarly titled rock cut 'Old Age' from Rhinoceros' 1970 album 'Better Times are Coming'. Always messing with material considered unsampleable, Madlib again shines by using 'Hitler was a Vegetarian' by the Residents on his track 'Fukwitus (The Eights)'. Moving back to classic soul, 'Whutkanido (Can Do It)' samples the Sam Cooke single 'You Were Made for Me'. The Residents appear again with their track 'End of Home' from 1980's bugged out (and possibly sample-laden in the right hands) 'Commercial Album' which was used for 'The Forest (Greens)'. Finally, the track 'Outerlimit (Space Ho)' cuts up 'An Afterthought' from Black widow's eponymous 1970 album.

To date, Madlib has 6 installments in his Beat Konducta series with further installments in the works. Look for more information on Madlib's production work in upcoming posts on this blog.

The Lowdown:
Madlib 'Understanding (Comprehension)', 'Snake Charmer (Heads Up)', 'Old Age (Youngblood)', 'Fukwitus (The Eights)', 'Whutkanido (Can Do It)', 'The Forest (Greens)', and 'Outerlimit (Space Ho)'
from 'Beat Konducta Vol 1-2' (2006) (MP3/CD)
Black Ivory 'You and I'
'Don't Turn Around' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Stylistics 'You're as Right as Rain'
from 'Round 2' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Rhinoceros 'Old Age'
from 'Better Times are Coming' (1970) (MP3/CD)
The Residents 'Hitler was a Vegetarian'
from 'The Third Reich n' Roll' (1977) (MP3/CD)
Sam Cooke 'You Were Made for Me'
from 'You Were Made for Me' 7" (1958) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Residents 'End of Home'
from 'Commercial Album' (1980) (MP3/CD)
Black Widow 'An Afterthought'
from 'Black Widow' (1970) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

Rewind: Nas 'It Was Written' (Part 1)

On July 2, 1996, Nas's sophomore album 'It Was Written' was released. Though not as revered as his debut album 'Illmatic', 'It Was Written' is still Nas' biggest selling album and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts upon its release, thanks in large part to the single 'If I Ruled the World' (which will be examined in the second part of this two part post).

The Trackmasters produced the bulk of the album, including the 'Album Intro' that samples 'A Change is Gonna Come' by Sam Cooke from his album 'Ain't That Good News'. Additionally, the 'Album Intro' taps the Lost Generation's 'The Sly, the Slick, and the Wicked'. One of the album's odder sample sources is Sting's 1993 album track 'Shape of My Heart' on 'The Message'. The second single for 'It Was Written' is the slick 'Street Dreams' that features a chorus interpolated from the Eurythmics' 80s synth-pop hit 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)'. Nas and Foxy Brown appear on the Trackmasters produced 'Watch Dem N----s' that mines Bob James and Earl Klugh's 'Sponge' from their 1992 smooth jazz album 'Cool' (note to the Trackmasters: I guarantee my dad owns this album, thanks for bridging the generational gap). It's not one of the beefiest Bob James samples, but its perfect for a low-key interior album track.

Check back in for part two of this 'It Was Written' rewind.

The Lowdown:
Nas 'Album Intro', 'The Message, 'Street Dreams', and 'Watch Dem N----s'
from 'It Was Written' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Album Intro', 'The Message', 'Street Dreams', and 'Watch Dem N----s'
Sam Cooke 'A Change is Gonna Come'
from 'Ain't That Good News'(1963) (MP3/CD)
The Lost Generation 'The Sly, the Slick, and the Wicked'
from 'The Sly, the Slick, and the Wicked' (1970) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
Sting 'Shape of My Heart
from 'Ten Summoner's Tales' (1993) (MP3/CD)
Eurythmics 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)'
from 'Sweet Dreams' (1982) (MP3/CD)
Bob James and Earl Klugh 'Sponge'
from 'Cool' (1992) (MP3/CD)