Five On It: August 2009's Essentials

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)

Rewind: Cypress Hill 'Cypress Hill' (Part 2)

Welcome to our second of three looks at Cypress Hill's debut album 'Cypress Hill'.

One of the album's biggest singles is 'The Phuncky Feel One', which features samples of Kool and the Gang's 'Give it Up' and 'Life is What You Make It', The Meters' classic 'Look Ka Py Py', James Brown's 'Blues and Pants', Rufus Thomas' essential heavy drums on 'The Breakdown', The J.B.'s 'More Peas' and 'La Di Da Di Day' (both from their unfortunately rare album 'Doing it to Death'), and 'Fight the Power' by the Isley Brothers. A sample clearance nightmare to say the least, but chock full of excellent source material. On Cypress Hill's 'Break it Up', DJ Muggs samples Les McCann and Eddie Harris' 'Compared to What' from their 1968 album 'Swiss Movement'. For 'Real Estate', the crew rhymes over Sly and the Family Stone's 'Underdog', the Bar-Kays' 'Humpin'', Tony Alvon and the Belairs' 'Sexy Coffee Pot', and All the People's excellent 'Cramp Your Style'. On 'Stoned is the Way of the Walk', Cypress Hill rides a sample of Grant Green's 'Down Here on the Ground' from his 1970 album 'Alive!'.

Check back for our final look at 'Cypress Hill'.

The Lowdown:
Cypress Hill 'The Phuncky Feel One', 'Break it Up', 'Real Estate', and 'Stoned is the Way of the Walk'
from 'Cypress Hill' (1991) (MP3/CD)
Kool and the Gang 'Give it Up'
from 'Kool and the Gang' (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Kool and the Gang 'Life is What You Make It'
from 'Wild and Peaceful' (1973) (MP3/CD)
The Meters 'Look Ka Py Py'
from 'Look-Ka Py Py' (1970) (MP3 not available/CD)
James Brown 'Blues and Pants'
from 'Hot Pants' (1971) (MP3/CD not available)
Rufus Thomas 'The Breakdown'
from 'Did You Heard Me?' (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The J.B.'s 'More Peas' and 'La Di Da Di Day'
from 'Doing it to Death' (1973) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
The Isley Brothers 'Fight the Power'
from 'The Heat is On' (1975) (MP3/CD)
Les McCann and Eddie Harris 'Compared to What'
from 'Swiss Movement' (1968) (MP3 not available/CD)
Sly and the Family Stone 'Underdog'
from 'A Whole New Thing' (1967) (MP3/CD)
Bar-Kays 'Humpin''
from 'Gotta Groove' (1969) (MP3/CD)
Tony Alvon and the Belairs 'Sexy Coffee Pot'
'Sexy Coffee Pot' 7" (1969) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
All the People 'Cramp Your Style'
from 'Cramp Your Style' 7" (1972) (MP3 not available/CD not available)
Grant Green 'Down Here on the Ground'
from 'Alive!' (1970) (MP3/CD)

Related Posts:
Five On It: March 2009's Essentials ('Sexy Coffee Pot' Appearance)