Five On It: March 2009's Essentials

Welcome to March's Five On It: the top five breaks we mentioned over the last month for your downloading ease.

On our review of Scarface's debut album 'Mr. Scarface is Back', we mentioned the rarer break 'Sexy Coffee Pot' by Tony Alvon and the Belairs. Check out the breakdown two-thirds of the way into this one - it's a breakbeat bonanza for producers. In our first look at Madlib and MF Doom's 'Madvillainy', the Dramatics slo-mo 'In the Rain' from 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get' was mentioned - a classic Volt/Stax side. In the second part of our look at 'Madvillainy' we mentioned 'PSK (What Does It Mean)' by Schoolly D. 'PSK' is the first classic hip-hop break to make it to the Five On It list, but its echoey drum machine boom bap is necessary for producers and DJs. During our exhaustive look at 'I Want You' by Marvin Gaye, we mentioned the often sampled single 'After the Dance'. Finally, during our look at the Wu's debut album 'Enter the Wu-Tang', we mentioned the essential breakbeat 'I Got the (Blues)' by Labi Siffre. Check out our bustling bonus cuts section below for more uses of 'I Got the (Blues)'.

The Lowdown:
Tony Alvon and the Belairs 'Sexy Coffee Pot'
from 'Boom-Boom-Boom' 7" (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Dramatics "In the Rain'
from 'Whatcha See is Whatcha Get' (1971) (MP3/CD)
Schoolly D 'PSK (What Does It Mean)'
from 'Schoolly-D' (1985) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Marvin Gaye 'After the Dance'
from 'I Want You' (1976) (MP3/CD)
Labi Siffre 'I Got the (Blues)'
from 'Remember My Song' (1975) (MP3/Import CD)

Bonus Cuts:
'I Got the (Blues)' is probably best known for its use (let's be real... its unadorned loop) on Eminem's 'My Name Is' produced by Dr. Dre, but it's been used plenty of times before and after. Two years before Eminem, Ski used the beat for Jay-Z 'Streets is Watching' which, of course, spawned the independent movie of the same name (bringing "f--- out of here" to the mouths of every rap fan within a 300 mile radius of Brooklyn). In 1998, Erick Sermon sampled 'I Got the (Blues)' for the Def Squad's 'Countdown'. In 1999, the beat was used by the Beatnuts for the Violator compilation track 'Beatnuts Forever' and Irv Gotti and Lil' Rob for Foxy Brown's 'Hot Spot'.