Rewind: Jay-Z 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life'

Released on September 29th of 1998, Jay-Z's third full length, 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life' dropped following the breakout hit of its lead single. This post will look at the producers and the artists sampled for Jay-Z's hit album.

'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)' was the polarizing lead single from the album, featuring Mark the 45 King flipping the song 'It's a Hard Knock Life' from Peter Gennaro's 1977 version of the broadway musical 'Annie'. No one could have foreseen the impact of sampling such a strange song, or the terrible knockoffs it would produce (I'm looking at you 'Anything'). On the J-Runnah produced 'A Week Ago', Jigga and Too Short rhyme over the Isley Brothers deep album cut 'Ballad for the Fallen Soldier' from their own hit album 'Between the Sheets' from 1983. The Erick Sermon produced 'Reservoir Dogs' features Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and innexplicably the Lox on the rhythm of Isaac Hayes' 'Theme from Shaft'. The song also features a sample of '24 Carat Black (Theme)' from 24 Carat Black's lone Stax album 'Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth' from 1973, which has since been a highly coveted beat tool by producers. Jay-Z's 'It's Like That' finds Kid Capri sampling the rock song 'Beggar's Song' from Wet Willie's eponymous 1971 album. Finally, Jermaine Dupri and Jay-Z team up for the bonus track 'Money Ain't a Thing' which has Dupri sampling Steve Arrington's hit 'Weak at the Knees' and has the stuttered drum shuffle of Manu Dibango's African crossover hit 'Soul Makossa' from his 1972 album of the same title.

The Lowdown:
Jay-Z 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)', 'A Week Ago', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'It's Like That', and 'Money Ain't a Thing'
from 'Vol. 2' (1998) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)', 'A Week Ago', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'It's Like That', and 'Money Ain't a Thing'
Peter Gennaro 'It's a Hard Knock Life'
from 'Annie' (1977) (MP3 not available/CD)
The Isley Brothers 'Ballad for the Fallen Soldier'
from 'Between the Sheets' (1983) (MP3/CD)
Isaac Hayes 'Theme from Shaft'
from 'Shaft' (1971) (MP3/CD)
24 Carat Black '24 Carat Black (Theme)'
from 'Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD)
Wet Willie 'Beggar's Song'
from 'Wet Willie' (1971) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Steve Arrington 'Weak at the Knees'
from 'Steve Arrington Hall of Fame I' (1983) (MP3/CD not available)
Manu Dibango 'Soul Makossa'
from 'Soul Makossa' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)

Rewind: Notorious B.I.G. 'Life After Death' (Part 3)

Welcome to part 3 of our three-part look at the Notorious B.I.G.'s album 'Life After Death'.

Puff Daddy, Steven Jordan, and the Hitmen sample the late Delfonics single 'Hey! Love' from their fourth album 'Tell Me This is a Dream' for Biggie's album track 'Playa Hater'. The same production team sampled Liquid Liquid's NYC breakbeat anthem 'Cavern' (previously covered in depth on this blog) for the hit single 'Nasty Boy', complete with one of hip-hop's nastiest intros. Biggie's 'The World is Filled...' with Too Short and Carl Thomas features the use of one of my favorite, unusual breaks: Asha Puthli's 'Space Talk' (not so easy to find, so I'm surprised you can download it from Amazon) from her 1978 album 'The Devil is Loose'. The track's production is credited to D-Dot and Puff Daddy. The Wu's RZA makes a late album production appearance on the track 'Long Kiss Goodnight' and samples Wu-stand by Al Green's excellent 'Green is Blues'-era cover of 'The Letter'.

Released only a few weeks after the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder, the double album debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts and amassed a string of hits. Some verses from Biggie would appear later that year on Puff Daddy's solo outing 'No Way Out' and in the decade proceeding Biggie's death, no less than two terrible cash-in projects were released with unearthed verses and guest vocalists (1999's 'Born Again' and 2005's 'Duets: The Final Chapter'... lets hope it's the final chapter). Despite additional albums produced after his death, the Notorious B.I.G.'s legacy is complete with his two studio albums - two of hip-hop's most endearing works.

The Lowdown:
The Notorious B.I.G. 'Playa Hater', 'Nasty Boy', 'The World is Filled...', and 'Long Kiss Goodnight'
from 'Life After Death' (1997) (MP3/CD)
The Delfonics 'Hey! Love'
from 'Tell Me This is a Dream' (1971) (MP3 not available/CD)
Liquid Liquid 'Cavern'
from 'Optimo' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Asha Puthli 'Space Talk'
from 'The Devil is Loose' (1978) (MP3/CD not available)
Al Green 'The Letter'
from 'Green is Blues' (1972) (MP3/CD)

Five On It: September 2008's Essentials

Wow, September has already come to a close, and that means another installment of Five On It, the five tracks you need most from the last month (though, honestly, this month was a killer and you do need to check out more than five).

Isaac Hayes' gigantic drum drop on 'Walk on By' was mentioned in this blog's first entry to a review of Biggie's 'Ready to Die'. 'Walk on By' will be covered extensively in at least one future post on this blog, but it's an absolutely necessary download if you don't already have it (and if you don't - why not?). Biggie's 'Ready to Die' was laced with another high profile sample: The Isley Brothers' 'Between the Sheets'. 'Between the Sheets' (and the instrumental on the single) are easy selections for sliding into 'Big Poppa' and winding down a night (or building up a party). 'Between the Sheets' was mentioned in the second 'Ready to Die' post, check out the other samples you may have missed.

Our blog covered 'Cavern' by Liquid Liquid in depth for it's post in the Breaks section. I've personally got a mini-mix cooking with 'Cavern' playing a prominent role - it's the perfect 'I know it but I don't know it' track for dancefloors. Eric B. and Rakim's 'Paid in Full' was covered in full on this blog and one of the many James Brown related tracks sampled on 'Paid in Full' is the J.B.'s burner 'The Grunt', perhaps best utilized by the Bomb Squad for Public Enemy. In any case, it's a classic break you need to have. In this blog's extensive producer profile for David Axelrod, his production for David McCallum's 'The Edge' was among the many breaks mentioned. That blog post alone is thick with beats, but 'the Edge' is one of the most notable because of it's use on a gigantic Dr. Dre hit.

The Lowdown:
Isaac Hayes 'Walk on By' (Radio Edit)
from 'Hot Buttered Soul' (1968) (MP3/CD)
The Isley Brothers 'Between the Sheets'
from 'Between the Sheets' (1982) (MP3/CD)
Liquid Liquid 'Cavern'
from 'Optimo' (1982) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The J.B.'s 'The Grunt'
from 'Food for Thought' (1972) (MP3 not available/Import CD)
David McCallum 'The Edge'
from 'Music: A Bit More of Me' (1967) (MP3 not available/CD not available)

BONUS CUTS:
'Between the Sheets' is far from the only sample from the Isley Brother's 80s album 'Between the Sheets' that has been used by hip-hop artists. The Jay-Z and Too Short cut 'A Week Ago' samples the album cut 'Ballad for the Fallen Soldier' while the DJ U-Neek produced 'Buddah Lovaz' by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony samples the single 'Choosey Lover' by the Isleys (which was also notably coverd by Aaliyah). Don't overlook this album as another 80s outing by a band past their peak - 'Between the Sheets' has beats!